Do's and Dont's of Betting the MLB Over/Under

Do’s and Dont’s of Betting the MLB Over/Under

If you are new to MLB total betting, check out this pro baseball online betting preview, taking a succinct look at the essential details you need to know about OVER/UNDER betting in Major League Baseball.

Betting on the MLB Over/Under

What is MLB Total Betting?

MLB total betting is a popular type of MLB line that involves wagering on the total number of combined runs scored by both teams in an MLB game. The Odds makers usually set a total number of runs for any given MLB game and you will have the option of betting whether the total will go OVER or UNDER the number of runs set by the Odds makers.

For example, a sports betting site can have the following OVER/UNDER number for a baseball game between the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays:

• 9.5
• Over (-120)
• Under (+140)

In this case, the MLB line means that you will either bet on the total runs to be OVER or UNDER 9.5. If the final score is 6-3, then the total runs would be 9, which is lower than 9.5 so the UNDER bet will win. However, if the score was 5-6, then the total number of runs would be 11, which is higher than 9.5 so the OVER bet will win. If you are betting that the score will be over 7.5, then you need to bet $120 to win $100. For an UNDER bet in our example, you will need to bet $100 to win $140, while the OVER will pay you $140 for every $100 bet. The .5 in 9.5 is simply meant to avoid any ties, commonly known as a ‘push’. Not all bets will come with a .5 next to it, though.

Tips for Betting MLB OVER/UNDER

Online betting sites, just like casinos, will set lines to attract maximum betting action. To do so, they play on everything from team and player reputations to the popularity of off season moves made by certain teams (especially at the start of the season). As a bettor, you have to design a strategy that will quiet all the noises from the general public and help you into placing sound and calculative OVER/UNDER bets.

With the advances that have been made in the world of saber metrics, we have seen an upsurge in the number of companies that claim to have foolproof projection systems that will guarantee you winning picks throughout the season. Don’t be fooled; there’s nothing foolproof about the world of betting. Every once in a while, you will find good tidbits of information and explanations that can inform your bets and picks, but that’s as far as you should go.

To get the best picks, you should do your own research and know how the teams fare against each other or what could be the possible score in the game, depending on the players and their offense vs. defense match ups, with the projection sites only acting as a way of counter-checking your picks.

Another way to ensure best bets is by shopping for good odds. Sometimes, a difference of 1 or even .5 runs can be the difference between an OVER and UNDER, so getting the best lines is very paramount to success in total betting.

On a final note, it is advisable to place bets mostly when the first weeks of the season are done and teams begin to settle in the season. This is because the OVER/UNDER MLB lines at the beginning of the season tend to be inflated and over-hyped due to off season expectations, which could easily lead to sucker bets and wrong lines that dupe you into wrong picks.