Best MLB Betting Sites

Baseball is regarded as one of the greatest pastimes in American history and remains one of today’s most popular sports. This includes Major League Baseball (MLB), which Americans across the country watch and cheer on. Of course, with a sport that holds this level of popularity, sports betting and baseball go hand in hand. Many Americans buckle in and start placing their bets online, but how do you identify the best MLB betting site?

This article will explain what Major League Baseball betting is, how to identify the best site to bet on and how to read and understand betting odds. We will explain why we recommend certain requirements and what we look for from the best MLB betting sites that the industry has to offer.

Best MLB Betting Site Requirements

While there are certain common elements all sportsbooks should comply with, there are specific elements we look out for when finding the best MLB betting site. This includes the odds offered when the lines are released and the types of bets offered.

MLB Odds

The best sportsbooks should offer competitive odds on MLB. This means it’s time to do some odds shopping, and we ensure that you receive the best odds possible. Since there are different types of bets, the MLB betting site mustn’t just offer one type of odds, like for moneyline betting, which is a simple minus/plus number, but also other types. This includes OVER/UNDER odds and Runline odds. 

We ensure that the site has researched the market themselves before offering odds, including what the market thinks about the match and their research on the match odds. While the odds on different sportsbooks are usually relatively close to another, some might be drastically different because of the bets that the bookmaker already accepted. This means if they have a large influx of bets on one team winning, they might adjust the odds to balance the books again. It might also be more lucrative to bet at another site.

MLB Lines

Looking at when the lines are released is another factor we consider. We want a bookmaker that releases the lines early, or at least in the expected period that other sites release their lines. It’s also better if the sportsbook has a variety of lines available to bettors. We want access to both a diverse set of information as well as lines to ensure you will receive the latest market updates.

MLB Bets

Multiple bet options are the way to go at online sportsbooks. We found it’s best when you have your choice between futures betting or live betting, between Totals betting and Runline betting. This is also vital if you want to make Parlay bets, where you combine different bets on one bet slip. Not all bets have to be related to a match’s outcome, as there are also Prop bets. 

Prop bets usually revolve around individual player statistics, like the number of runs a particular player will get or how many strikeouts they will have. This makes betting on a game more exciting and great for making a Parlay bet. 

Another favorite where prop bets can crop up is during live betting. Live betting refers to bets placed during a match. Multiple bets can be placed in real-time and allow players a more invested match experience. This can range from making a bet if a player who scored two runs will also manage to score a third or fifth run.

A wide variety of betting options only ensures you have the best possible experience when betting on Major League Baseball to ensure it stays fun.

Find the Best MLB Betting Sites 

With the MLB betting market being as big and as popular as it is, it’s easy to be lost and unsure when trying to find a reliable and good sportsbook. This is why we outlined several factors to consider when choosing the best online MLB betting site and did the research for you. The MLB betting site should not only be licensed and have various banking options and bonuses, but it should also offer you a variety of odds, betting lines, and bets.

If the MLB betting site has all these elements, we assure you that it will be a worthwhile experience to play there. Remember, it’s vital to ensure the sportsbook is legal in your state and that it offers what you’re looking for in an MLB betting site. Keeping the above requirements in mind, we identify some of the best MLB betting sites to start your bet slip at.

MLB Betting

Major League Baseball has a six-month-long season, making it the perfect sport to bet on when the NBA and NHL are shut down in summer. With the volume of games that MLB offers bettors, there’s always something happening to bet on. In a standard season, teams play 162 games each. Adding this together with the play-offs for the world series gives you multiple betting opportunities over the six-month period. 

It also provides you with a variety of bet types available when making bets. While there are many betting types, this article will explain four of the most frequent bet types for MLB sportsbooks. The best MLB betting sites will offer you all possible bets, including live betting, futures betting, and prop betting.

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline bets are, simply put, wagers that are made on which team will win a match. It is one of the favorite types of bets for Major League Baseball, as it doesn’t have any margins by which the bettor can win or lose. Their bet will either be a win or a loss depending on if their chosen team wins, regardless of how they won.

The odds for this bet are generally American minus/plus odds, with the favorite to win having minus odds and the underdog having plus odds. It can also happen that both teams have minus odds, which usually only happens if the teams have about an equal chance of winning.

Totals Betting

Totals betting, or OVER/UNDER betting, is when you bet on if the total number of runs will be more or less than the bookmaker’s selected total. This means it doesn’t matter which team wins, as all that matters is the cumulative amount of runs scored between the two teams. 

If a bookmaker sets the total runs scored at 7.5 and the match ends with a score of 5-3, the total runs scored is eight and therefore OVER the bookmaker’s total. If you had a bet UNDER, you would lose your bet. However, if you bet OVER, you would win your bet. If the exact number of runs is scored as the bookmaker predicted, it results in a tie, and all bets are returned. This is why most bookmakers set the estimate at a half-point number, like 7.5 instead of seven or eight, to ensure there are no ties.

Runline Betting 

Runline betting is similar to point spread betting in basketball and football, but for baseball. A runline bet is when you make a bet on which team will win or lose and the number of runs they will win or lose by. The bookmaker will set the underdogs to receive more runs, with the favorite receiving fewer runs. This means that the bookmaker will set the run odds for the favorite and the underdog. 

Generally, the favorite is set at -1.5 runs, while the underdog is set at +1.5 odds. This means that you can either bet that the favorite will win by two or more runs or that the underdog will lose with precisely one point in order to win your bet.

Parlays Betting

With the vast amount of games being played in a Major League Baseball season, parlay bets are a popular option when trying to score a big win. Parlay bets refer to when you have a betting ticket that contains multiple bets. You can combine the bet types and bet on two to ten matches. This means you can make several bets on different matches or several different bet types on one match. 

For example, you can bet which team you believe will win, whether the total runs will be OVER/UNDER the bookmaker’s runs, and that the winner will win with more than two runs. However, the catch in this bet type is that all your bets have to result in a win for the bet slip to be considered a win. If you made ten bets and only one resulted in a loss, the entire slip will be settled as a loss.

Betting Site Requirements

Many real money online sportsbooks are available to American players, so it becomes more critical to ensure you are playing at the best MLB betting sites possible. There are several betting site requirements that we recommend the best sportsbook have, whether you’re betting on MLB or any other sport. We will be looking at the different requirements and explaining why it’s important. We’ve done the research for you to deliver the best MLB betting sites.

Licensing

One of the first things we check with any online betting site is whether they are both licensed and regulated. The licensing authority always regulates a licensed online casino, which ensures the casino is fair and follows all legislation and regulations. There are several licenses a casino can hold, from US licenses to offshore licenses.

There are seven possible US licenses issued by the online gaming authorities in Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Nevada. With US federal law stating no interstate sports betting is allowed, these licensing authorities can only license online casinos or online sportsbooks available in their state. This means it’s not available to players from other states.

However, that is not a problem, as you can still bet at offshore licensed casinos or sportsbooks. Offshore licensing refers to when a non-US gaming authority licenses a casino. Some of the best offshore licenses are the United Kingdom Gaming Commission, Curacao eGaming, Malta Gaming Authority, and the Gibraltar, Kahnawake, and Panama licenses. There are many more offshore licenses, but these are the ones encountered most frequently and are the most trusted outside the US.

Banking

Playing in the US, it is essential to find out what banking methods are available to you. With the federal law on sports betting restricting or outright banning financial transactions with online gambling providers, many banks and credit card companies don’t allow transactions with online casinos or sportsbooks. This means that US players often have no choice but to use a middleman payment method. As a result, the most popular payment method is PayPal, seeing as most US citizens have easy access to PayPal.

We recommend that the online casino or sportsbook must offer many different payment methods so that you have different options even when some are not available to you. This includes Skrill, Neteller, Online banking (ACH), and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which is regularly seen throughout offshore sportsbooks.

Bonuses

Arguably, one of the best aspects of online casinos and sportsbooks is their bonuses. Bonuses act as incentives for players to sign up, with welcome bonuses offered, as well as other bonuses like free bets to keep the bettors betting at that sportsbook. This includes bonuses like a cashback and VIP/loyalty program and daily, weekly or monthly bonuses. We’re always on the lookout for the best possible bonuses.

Many welcome bonuses at online sportsbooks either offer you free bets or risk-free bets. You can receive a risk-free bet up to a certain amount in the first 24 hours, or the online sportsbook will state that all bets up to a certain amount in the first 24 hours are risk-free. This means if your bet results in a loss, you will be credited your bet amount. This is generally a first deposit bonus.

Free bets refer to when the sportsbook awards you with a certain amount of bonus cash to make bets with. This can be either a no deposit bonus you receive when signing up, or it can be part of your first deposit bonus, where between 100% and 500% of your deposit will be given to you as bonus cash to make free bets with.

FAQ

How do I register at an MLB betting site?

After choosing your sportsbook, simply click the “Sign Up” button and enter your details. This will often include your name and surname, birth date, email, mobile number, and address. After that, you can check the welcome bonus and make your first deposit before you start betting.

How do I identify the best MLB betting sites?

The best MLB betting sites will have competitive odds and various lines and bet types available. They will offer not only a welcome bonus but also other bonuses to keep you enjoying the site. There will be a variety of deposit and withdrawal methods available and their interface will be easy to use.

Is betting on MLB legal in the US?

If you’re an MLB player or employee, it’s illegal for you to place bets on Major League Baseball. However, MLB betting is legal in all states where sports betting is legalized.