Baseball Totals

Since this is the baseball season and I like to wager on total runs, I thought that I would provide a brief article on total betting.

Placing a wager on baseball win totals has increased over the years, as many smaller and recreational bettors have found that such a bet can give them rooting interest in a particular team for almost the entire season.

Baseball wagers use the same principal as football and basketball overs/unders, where the bookmaker posts a number and you can bet either over that total or under the total, but there is one essential difference and that rests in the amount of money a bettor must risk to win $100.

Scoring in baseball is so much lower than in football or basketball, the bookmakers are reluctant to change the number of a total and instead will adjust the odds. Thus, if the over/under number on say the Dodgers and the Giants is 10 and a sports bettor places a $500 wager on the over, the bookmaker is unlikely to raise the total to 10.5. Instead, the bookmaker will make bettors who wish to wager over 10 risk $120 to win $100, which is written as -120. Those wishing to bet the under would then be able to wager at even money or +100, as totals nearly always use a difference of .2, commonly called “20 cents.”

If people continue to bet the over, the bookmaker will continue to adjust the odds upward and eventually bettors may have to risk $145 to win $100, or -145. In this case, an under bettor would risk $100 to win $125. The bookmaker will generally raise the odds up to -145 before raising the total to the next number, which in this case would be 10.5.

Betting overs/unders is another way to add some excitement to a game and many times will offer more betting value than trying to pick the winner. Many serious sports bettors concentrate on totals, believing they are easier to win than picking which team is going to cover the spread. Now that you understand overs/unders, you are closer to experiencing the “total” sports betting adventure.
During the 2014 MLB season you might consider the following totals as good bets based on the season up to the middle of May:

One team that could be a decent over wager is the Miami Marlins, who should be able to win at least 70 games this season.

As for an under wager, I would be tempted to look at the Seattle Mariners, who have Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, Hisashi Iwakuma and play in a tough division.

This article along with other sports betting articles can be found on http://www.24-7wagering.com