MLB Odds and Sports Betting
This MLB odds tool was developed as a resource for comparing odds among legal US online sportsbooks. The page you are on now shows all legal US online sportsbooks that have made their MLB odds feeds available to us. You can also sort to view New Jersey MLB odds.
With the fall of PASPA in 2018, we’ve experienced an influx of visitors searching for information on legal US sports betting. Anybody looking to use MLB odds for sports betting purposes should head over to our online sports betting section, where you can find MLB betting picks resources.
For sports bettors in New Jersey, we have a page dedicated to NJ sports betting.
MLB Odds Glossary
Moneyline (or Line) – Unlike sports such as football or basketball, baseball doesn’t have a spread. Wagers are usually taken on the moneyline, which simply states the odds a bettor must lay to win their bet. For example, a -140 moneyline means a player would have to lay $14 for each $10 they’d like to win. If the underdog is +130 in that game, the bettor would win $13 for every $10 they lay.
Total – The number of runs scored by both teams. The bettor can either go Over or Under the given total.
Runline – This is the baseball bet most like the spread in other sports. The bettor can choose to lay or take a set number of runs, most commonly 1.5, in order to gain a more beneficial moneyline. For example, if a favorite is -200, but the bettor doesn’t wish to risk $20 to win $10, they might find a more attractive bet at -1.5 (-110), though their team would have to win by at least two runs.
Favorite – The team with the higher moneyline. The favorite will always be minus money (ie -140).
Underdog or dog – The team with the lower moneyline. The dog will always be plus money (ie +120).
Over – A bet made for a team or game to score more runs than the game total. (ie Over 8.5 runs).
Under – A bet made for a team or game to score fewer runs than the game total. (ie Under 8.5 runs).
Action – A baseball bet can either be made with the intention or action or specifying one or both listed pitchers. An action bet plays no matter who the starting pitchers are.
Listed – A baseball bet can either be made with the intention or action or specifying one or both listed pitchers. Bettors can choose either or both listed pitchers. If the pitcher(s) chosen as listed do not start the game for some reason, the bet does not count.
Vigorish (Vig or Juice) – The fee or commission a player has to pay to the house. This is generally baked into the moneyline in baseball bets and is considered the book’s advantage. Savvy players can limit or rarely even eliminate the size of the advantage by shopping around.
Parlay – A bet that combines a number of teams, all of which must win for the bet to win. The attraction is a larger payout.
Round Robin – A special kind of parlay which makes betting combinations for every team listed in the bet. For example, a three-team round robin would feature a three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. Bettors signify how much they wish to risk or win for each leg of the parlay.
Sportsbook (Book or House) – The entity offering the bets.
Shopping – Using several books to look for the best lines.
Live Betting – When action is offered after a game starts, while it’s in progress.
Proposition (or Prop) – These are individual bets within a game, usually centering around a team, player or the game itself. For example, most team props revolve around runs. A batter prop will often offer a moneyline on whether a certain player will hit a Home Run or not. A popular pitcher prop lists the total of strikeouts he might have, similar to a run total.
How DFS Players Use MLB Betting Odds
For years, daily fantasy players have been making use of the lines to shape their lineups. While the moneyline can be somewhat useful in projecting pitcher Wins, it’s really the total that DFS players are most interested and even more specifically, the individual team totals.
Lineup builders love to stack and team run lines provide players with a quick and easy way of doing so. Of course, there’s more strategy to it than that, especially in larger prize pool tournaments, but the individual team run lines will generally inform players as to which lineups they’ll want more or less exposure to absent any other research.
However, the opposite is not always true because strikeouts are supreme for pitchers. Even though a pitcher might be forecast to surrender fewer runs than another pitcher, they might not have the upside of a pitcher implied to allow more runs, but with the highest strikeout rate.
Savvy DFS players can also use player props (like strikeout totals for pitchers or HR pricing for batters) to assist in evaluations as well.
Lastly, line movement can also alert players that something might be up. For example, if a heavily favored pitcher sees the moneyline on his team dropping throughout the day, it could be something a daily fantasy player might want to look into or even avoid in favor of another pitcher. The same can be true for lineups players are considering stacking as well.