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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.
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Roulette
