If you want to place a bet on MLB at Canadian betting sites, it is always best that you understand exactly what it is that you are betting on. Even a base level of knowledge is helpful to start things off as most betting is not easy to learn on the fly.
In baseball, there are lots of bet markets that you can choose from and the MLB odds come in all different formats, but what do all the numbers actually mean? This is the perfect place to start.
Formats of MLB odds
There are three main types of MLB odds display that you will find on sports betting sites and these are generally used in different parts of the world. While most bettors in Canada will not come across all three of them, it is worth knowing each and how you can convert one to another so that you always know what odds you are taking on an MLB bet.
Decimal MLB odds
You can find decimal MLB odds on offer across most of the sports betting world given that it is by far the most common method across the vast majority of countries that have legalised online betting. The MLB odds are displayed as an odds that includes your stake so a 2.0 will return $2 for a $1 bet. They are by far the most simple for a novice bettor to understand so we would advise anyone who has not got much experience with betting sites to find the odds on their site in question and make decimal odds the default setting.
American/Vegas MLB odds
These are the MLB odds that you will see on a lot of North American sites, displayed as a + or a – figure. The + figure is what will be won for a $100 stake but this time without the stake included in the figure. So, +100 odds would return $100 if the bet on MLB is a successful one plus the stake back so $200 in total.
Fractional MLB odds
These are not MLB odds that you will see very often in Canada as they are most often used in the UK and Ireland for horse racing betting. They are made up of a numerator and a denominator with the former being the return for the stake which is the latter. For example, MLB odds of 1/1 would be the same as 2.0 or +100 with 1 returned for every 1 staked, plus your stake back.
What betting markets can I get MLB odds on?
There are many different markets which can be bet upon when it comes to baseball betting. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of all of them, there are the most popular that you will find MLB odds on.
Moneyline odds
This is the most simple bet market in MLB that you will be able to find. A Moneyline odds is just about finding the winner of the game. It is just picking either Team A or Team B to come out on top and with extra innings in play and no draw possible, it is as straightforward as any market that can be found.
Run line odds
The run line odds is also known as a handicap market which bids to make things more of an even playing field between the two teams that are playing. For example in a MLB game, if the Los Angeles Dodgers are taking on the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers would be the favourite.
As such, they might have a theoretical run line of -2.5 to give up to the Padres so if you back the Dodgers, you would need them to win by three or more runs. If you back the Padres, they could lose by two runs and you would still win the run line bet as they would win by 0.5 runs.
Under/over odds
This is a market where the total runs scored in a MLB game is what the bettor is after. The sports betting sites in Canada will set a line and it is the task of the bettor to decide whether the teams will score more or less runs than that over the course of the game.
For example, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are playing in Yankee Stadium, the betting sites for MLB are expecting runs so they set the line at 12.5. If you think that the teams will combine for 13 or more runs you would bet on the overs but if you think that there will be 12 or fewer runs scored in the MLB game, than you would bet on the unders.
MLB prop bets
Prop bets in MLB cover a wide range of things that can happen during a game but without the need to wait for the final score to win or lose the bet in question. These can be split down to just an inning at a time so you can bet on Team X to score a run in the first inning for example.
A lot of the prop bets that you can find MLB odds on are player-specific ones. These range from a player to hit a home run in a game, to driving in a number of runs, to get X hits or to get a certain number of strikeouts.
You can also find some fun MLB prop bets for things like the All-Star Game and even props that last just a single pitch like predicting if the first pitch of a game will be a ball of a strike. That is not for everyone but it is worth looking over some of the many options out there on each game for odds on something that is a little different.
MLB parlays
This is a much more difficult type of MLB bet to land that is also called an accumulator in certain markets. The aim is to put a number of bets together into one bet. These are available on a number of markets so you can place bets on with moneyline, run line and under/over all possibilities for a MLB parlay bet market.
You can put together any number of odds selections that you like but they all have to be winning selections if you are to win the MLB bet. You can start with just two selections as a double or three for a treble with most sports betting sites accepting MLB parlays up to about 20 different selections of odds.
The more selections that you put in, the harder the MLB bet is to win but the higher the potential reward is so there has to be a balance struck between a big return and making it an achievable one. On a day where all 30 MLB teams are playing, you could do a 15-team parlay and try to pick the winner of each game but that kind of sports bet takes a lot of luck to win.
