Almost every team in the majors will do two things in a regular season; win at least 60 games and lose at least 60 games.
The best teams will win between 90 and 100 games in a season, which means that they'll lose between 60 and 70.
And they'll probably be favored in most of those games. So it becomes apparent that betting on those teams every day,
even though they may win most of the time, won't necessarily produce a profit, thanks to the odds they have to lay each game.
On the other end, the worst teams will lose 90-100 games. But because of the odds they receive as underdogs each day,
backers can stay close to the break-even mark, and with a little luck even make money. There, in a nutshell, is the
purpose of the money line; to even things out in the long run.
There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball. Each team, barring excessive rainouts or cancellations, plays 162 games.
That comes to 2,430 regular-season games. Now, it's also generally accepted that a healthy percentage of those games
will be part of a streak of some kind, either winning or losing, on the part of at least one of the teams in a game.
Three-game winning streaks often become runs of four, five, six, seven and more. The same goes for losing streaks.
Some bettors prefer to wager that streaks will come to an end, but they can only win that bet once. Betting on a hot team,
after they've won three games in a row, can be profitable. The Oakland A's a couple of years ago won 20 games in a row.
Can you imagine backing the A's every day for 17 days in a row, and winning all those bets?
A baseball bet that's becoming more popular is the "run line" wager. Simply put, the run line is a combination of the
point spread and the money line. Instead of taking a favorite to win a game at -150 and above, the bettor can choose
to bet the run line, in which that favorite gives 1 ½ runs to the opponent. In exchange, the bettor gets better odds.
A favorite of -150 can become an even-money play when bet on the run line. Underdogs, too, can be played, and instead
of having to win the game outright, need to either win outright or lose by less than the 1 ½ runs. Most run-line
bettors, however, use the run line to take favorites, conceding the danger of losing the bet if the favorite wins
by exactly one run.
A note here about pitchers. The probable starting pitchers are listed in sportspages and sportsbooks.
The line on each game is based in large part on who is scheduled to take the mound. But sometimes the
listed starting pitcher is, for one reason or another, replaced with little notice. Fortunately, bettors
have protection against this. They can specify that their bet only take place if the "listed" pitchers
take the mound. If both or even one of the listed pitchers doesn't start the game, the bet is off.
Be sure to know if this option is available to you.
Also, totals are posted on almost every MLB game. Baseball over/unders are not only based on the teams,
the pitchers, the line-ups, and the ballparks, but also on the weather, the home-plate umpires, and other things.
Umpire stats and rotations can be somewhat difficult to find, but they are available on the Internet.
Finally, a word of advice; as mentioned above, there are over 2,400 Major League Baseball games during the regular season.
Be patient. Be picky. Don't bet 10 games a night. If you don't like tonight's schedule, take a pass.
There's always 15 more games tomorrow.
