The best MLB betting sites offer as many alternatives as the game itself.
You can bet on everything from the outcome of the first three or five innings, full game lines, strikeout props to World Series bets, and who will be the AL or NL Cy Young Award winner.
Here’s how to bet on MLB online plus a rundown of the best MLB betting sites.
Best betting sites for MLB
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Each of the major US online sportsbooks are five-tool players when it comes to Major League Baseball, but each also has different strengths and approaches. Here’s the breakdown of the best sites for betting baseball.
FanDuel Sportsbook for MLB betting
- The first thing you notice on FanDuel is the ability to do a quick tri-bet, which is just another way to assemble a parlay.
- FanDuel is also the only renowned American sportsbook that shows you the money. Just click on the stats arrow below each game and instantly see what percentage of money has been wagered on a team on the moneyline and the run line.
- Do you want to follow the trend? Or buck it? FanDuel lets you see what other people are thinking.
Click here to claim your FanDuel Sportsbook bonus and bet MLB
BetMGM Sportsbook for MLB betting
- BetMGM gives you a one-click option on screen to create your own specific parlay for an individual game. You can combine all your bets into one, thereby increasing your odds significantly.
- While not known for its zany prop bets, BetMGM isn’t shy about having some creative MLB game offers. It asks whether you think the final run total will be an even number or an odd one. You can bet on whether there will be extra innings in the game.
- The user interface on BetMGM is top notch. It won’t take long for you to figure out every signal and how to use it to your advantage.
Click here to claim your BetMGM bonus and bet MLB
Caesars Sportsbook for betting MLB
- Always a bit more studious than the other major American sportsbooks, Caesars gives MLB bettors a shot at betting on a game live, meaning the ability to place a bet even after the game has started.
- In the 2022 playoffs, Caesars let you bet on the spread of the series itself, meaning one team with +1.5 games, and the chance to wager on who would finish with the most home runs in the post-season.
Click here to claim your Ceasars bonus and bet MLB
DraftKings Sportsbook for betting MLB
- DraftKings has the usual offerings–the run line (point spread), moneyline (straight bet) and the over-under. But there’s a lot more. DraftKings lets you pick the exact score at the end of each inning, and exactly how many runs the two teams will finish with.
- The articles below the bets offered are great for picking up tidbits and information before you click on your bet.
- After you click over to the DraftKings sportsbook, check out the MLB daily fantasy contests. DraftKings offers you a chance to draft your own team for the day (two pitchers and eight hitters) within a salary cap and get points for their performance. If your squad is the big winner for the day, so are you.
Click here to claim your DraftKings bonus and bet MLB
MLB betting apps
For each MLB sportsbook, there is a downloadable app that works just like the online sportsbook. The apps are easy to download through the sportsbook for betting on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone/tablet.
The apps have everything you need. They’re updated at the same time as the online sportsbook, so if the odds shift online for an MLB game, they’ll shift on the app too.
You’ll have the option on the apps to bet the game live if the sportsbook offers that function. You can do this from anywhere with a legal betting app. You don’t have to physically be inside a sportsbook.
Click on any of the links above to go to the online sportsbook and download the app.
Best MLB odds boosts and promos
There’s a difference between sportbook promos and odds boosts. A promo is an enticement to create an account and sign up with a sportsbook. Here are a few examples:
- FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM Sportsbook each offered new users up to $1,000 in bonus bets after making a deposit. (You don’t get $1,000 if you bet $100 and lose. You’d get $100 back in bonus bets in that case.)
- In the dog days of summer, BetMGM offered a promo for new users to receive $200 in bonus bets after one $10 MLB bet.
- If you refer a friend and they sign up for the FanDuel sportsbook you’ll get $50 to use on the sportsbook and $25 for the affiliated casino.
An odds boost is a bet pulled out by the sportsbook and sweetened with enhanced odds. Caesars online sportsbook offered MLB boosts for picking the exact correct score of a game. One popular odds boost is to mix professional sports teams in the same market.
Caesars, for example, offered another odds boost in 2022 if the Phillies won the World Series and Eagles won the Super Bowl.
How to bet Major League Baseball online
Setting up an account is quick. Register an account with the online sportsbook via our inks and download the app on your computer or iPhone/Android phone.
For a new account you’ll be asked to provide the following information:
- Name
- Address
- User Name (you pick)
- Password
- Last four digits of social security number (for security check).
You may also need to enable geo-tracking software on your phone. To bet on an MLB game, you’ll have to be in a state where the activity is legal.
After your account is set up, you can cash in your promo offer and then navigate over to the main screen, where you will see all the different sports and wagers offered.
Most sportsbooks list the sport along a rail down the left side. You can find the game you want and then tap the boxes to indicate the bet you are making. You will get a second chance to confirm the bet before it goes through.
How to bet the MLB run line, moneyline or over-under
For MLB, just like most professional sports, there are three main bets for each game. The moneyline is the straight shot. The true outcome as they say in MLB. Pick the team you believe will win the game. The favorite will be marked with a (-) minus sign and the underdog a (+) plus.
For MLB, there is no point spread, it’s called a runline. A runline is the amount of runs the favorite is expected to win by. If you bet on the favorite and the runline, they must win by more than those runs for your bet to pay off. If you bet on the underdog, they must either win outright, or not lose by the number of runs on the runline.
Over-Unders are a popular bet for MLB games. This bet isn’t predicated on a game’s outcome, but rather the number of runs scored. A sportsbook will set a figure, for example, 7.5 runs, and you decide whether you think the total number of runs scored will be more (over) or less (under).
Best MLB props and futures
An MLB prop bet is a wager that isn’t connected to a game’s outcome but to a player’s specific performance. Some popular MLB prop bets are how many strikeouts a pitcher will have in a game (usually an over-under line) or whether a specific player will hit a home run in a game.
Futures bets are just what they sound like, a bet on an event later in the season. You can bet on World Series futures odds when the final pitch is thrown the season before. Some other popular futures odds markets include:
- National League or American League MVP odds
- World Series MVP odds
- Cy Young odds
MLB alternate lines
Sportsbooks set runlines for each MLB game, but their word isn’t the law. You can take matters into your own hands and set your own line – usually by just sliding a bar one way or the other.
This is called an alternate line. If you’re bullish on your team’s performance and think they’ll come up with a big win, more than the oddsmakers, you can make that move.
Be careful though, because, with each slide of the bar, you alter the line, but you also alter the odds that you’re playing with. You’ll want to make sure that it’s worth it for you to set an alternate line.
How to find the best MLB lines
With games just about every day, MLB lines usually remain steady once they are posted in the morning. The sportsbooks rarely change lines on MLB games except in two situations:
- If the announced starting pitcher is changed before the game begins
- There is a weather anomaly that forces the game to be rained out or delayed.
MLB lines don’t move as much as NBA game lines or NFL game lines because of time constraints. There’s usually more time between NFL games and NBA games once the lines for those are set.
MLB in-game betting
Picture it; it’s the second inning of a baseball game featuring your favorite team. You had hoped to put some money on the runline feeling good about how your team is playing but realize you can’t because the game started already. Wrong.
Multiple sportsbooks offer the option of MLB in-game betting, which is the ability to place a wager on a contest even after the first pitch has been thrown. The odds are constantly being updated throughout the game.
Maybe you saw something in the first few pitches that give you a good or bad sign. You can capitalize on that hunch by placing a bet on a game while it’s being played.
What makes baseball betting special or unique
One of the most unique things about MLB betting is the ability to cut the game into chunks and bet on the results after a certain timeframe.
You can bet on which team will be winning at the end of the fifth inning. This is called a First Five bet or an FS bet. This is a bet that people like because they pretty much know who will pitch during that timeframe (the starter).
MLB betting is special, because there are so many different parts of a baseball game, plus there are games all summer long, so you can find a hot team and ride a streak.
Baseball betting rules at online sportsbooks
Most MLB games are still played outdoors, so they are subject to rain delays and postponements. Different national sportsbooks use rules to help handle situations like this.
FanDuel lists its rules in small type underneath its betting platform. It says that the results of an MLB game are official after five innings – or 4.5 if the home team is ahead.
If a game is shortened due to weather, all wagers that have been decided will stand. Wagers will also stand if a game is suspended and finishes the following day, the same goes for suspended MLB playoff games.
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