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Baseball
Baseball is the great summer
sport of the United States, and the 162 game regular season
of Major League Baseball, running from April to September,
offers many betting opportunities to the sportsman. The most
important person in a baseball game is the pitcher, which is
why no baseball betting line is posted without naming the
starting pitcher. Both starting pitchers must make at least
one pitch for the game to be considered "action". If there
is a change of one or other of the starting pitchers, all
run line and total bets are voided and the stakes returned,
while an odds adjustment takes place on the money line
prices.
|
Houston: W Miller |
+1.5 |
-190 |
|
St Louis: M Morris |
-1.5 |
+160 |
In the example above,
Houston, with Wade Miller as their pitcher, is the underdog,
as indicated by the plus (+) sign in the run line. These
figures mean that anyone betting on Houston wins if Houston
either wins or doesn�t lose to St Louis by more than 1.5
runs. The second number, -190, is the price � this means
that if Houston wins or doesn�t lose by more than 1.5 runs
the bettor wins $100 for every $190 wagered.
In the second line St Louis,
with Matt Morris as their pitcher, must win by more than 1.5
runs for the bet to win. In this event, the bettor wins $160
for every $100 wagered.
Baseball betting offers
markets in the money line, run line (the same principle as
point spread betting) and totals. The game must go to the
losing team�s 5th inning at least for the money line to be
considered "action". In run line or totals betting, the game
must go to nine innings (or 8.5 if the home team is ahead)
to be considered "action". Extra innings will count in the
final result for all bets.
Money line
When a bettor bets on the
money line, he or she is betting on the result of a game.
They are betting on who will win a game, irrespective of the
spread.�
|
Houston Oilers |
+130 |
|
St Louis Cardinals |
-145 |
In the above example, the
minus (-) sign in front of the price means that the St Louis
Cardinals are the favourites. The -145 means that the bettor
will win $100 for every $145 bet. If the Cardinals win the
game, a bettor with a $10 bet gets a return of $16.90 � the
original $10 stake, and $6.90 profit.
Point Spread
Some games can be mismatches,
where everybody knows who�s going to win a particular event.
This is not very interesting to bet on, because the return
on betting the favourite is not very high, and the underdog
is highly unlikely to win in the first place.
The spread is what a sportsbook uses to make an event
interesting for bettors.
Consider the example below�
|
Houston Oilers |
+3.0 |
-110 |
|
St Louis Cardinals |
-3.0 |
-110 |
In the example, the run
spread is set at three points. The +3.0 after the Houston
Oilers means that the Oilers are the underdog in this game;
the Oilers must either win, or not lose by more than three
runs, for a bet on the Oilers to win.
The �3.0 after the St Louis Cardinals means that the
Cardinals are the favourite; the Cardinals must win by more
than three runs for a bet on the Cardinals to win.
If Cardinals win by exactly three runs, then the bet is said
to have fallen on the spread and is deemed a push. All bets
are voided and the stakes returned in this instance.
The second number, -110, after each team is the price of a
winning bet. A winning bettor will win $100 for every $110
bet. |
