Baseball Money Lines
Betting on the baseball money line is one of the most popular pastimes in the US. While point spread wagering is the norm in sports like soccer, baseball has a strong presence in the money lines. This is because of the prevalence of thinner victory margins in the game of soccer, more often than not the winning team in a soccer match has a margin of victory of less than 2 runs. As such, pegging a point spread is impractical and less than ideal. Moneylines is more favored in baseball as a practice because gamblers are given the option of wagering on their favorite team using a whole number.
Reading Money Lines Correctly
They are considered to be the amount of money that must be laid down in order to win a predetermined amount. Expressed in numerical terms, it is the price at which a gambler is willing to bet on the contest on their preferred side-be it the underdog or the favorite. It is frequently seen that the moneylines of teams are expressed with either a positive or negative sign attached to it. Conventionally, positive signs are used for the underdog and negative signs are used for the favorites. In some matches both teams could have negative numbers; in this case the higher negative number is used to connote the team that is better poised to win the game. Negative and positive numbers are used to indicate whether money has to be put down up front while purchasing a bet. Common sense suggests that the gamblers would have to wager more on the favorite team in order to collect their bets.
How Are They Calculated
Money lines are based on a standard $100 bet. This is merely for easier computation and an ordinary practice the bets may be scaled up or down using the $100 denominator. This can be expressed with the help of an example. In the Red Sox versus Dodgers match-up let us assume that the moneyline offered on the Red Sox was -150 and that offered on the Dodgers team was +120. By looking at the odds it is evident that the Red Sox are the favored team in this game. Say a bettors spends $150 on a moneyline bet on the Red Sox. Say the Red Sox win, they will take home a total of $250 (including the $100 base). On the other hand, they can purchase a bet at their favorite baseball sportsbook on the underdog Dodgers team by paying $100. If the Dodgers team comes through, contrary to expectations, the total winnings collected by the gambler would be $220.
In the example above, the sportsbook would have it listed as:
- Los Angeles Dodgers +120
- Boston Red Sox -150
Money Management is Very Important
If you’re looking to place a lot of wagers you need to weigh each bet carefully while also considering the state of your bankroll. Over extending your bankroll while over estimating the efficacy of any type of wager you place is a mistake frequently committed by bettors. The baseball season is jam packed with games, with some days having more than fifteen games, and as such gamblers don’t need to participate in every game. There is plenty of opportunity for income earning provided bettors exercise prudence while placing their bets. Experts are always talking about the need for discipline and patience while entering the betting scene in baseball.
Some people follow a technique of picking one or two teams and sticking with their games only during the course of the baseball season. In this scenario it is very possible that they encounter losing streaks and winning streaks. The thumb rule during a depressing losing streak is to wager only a small portion of the bankroll. Because money lines are often a little unpredictable, bettors should try to limit their bankroll exposure to less than 5% at any given point of time.
