Wednesday May 16, 2012

Last Odds Update: 05/16 1:59 pm EDT

• Moneyline

  The most popular form of wagering in baseball, it replaces the point spread since most games are very low scoring. The team you choose only has to win the game, not win by a certain number of runs (or points like in basketball or football). You will see negative values and positive values and these relate to favorites (-150) and underdogs (+130). It's easiest to picture the number 100 sitting in the middle of these two values. For example, if you want to bet a -150 favorite, you would wager $150 in order to win $100. On a +130 underdog, you would risk $100 and win $130 if the underdog wins. It's a simple way to have the risk-reward scenario. Instead of a point spread, you have to risk more to back the favorite and you get a higher payoff by backing the underdog.

• RunLine

  This is a combination of the moneyline and a point spread where a team has to win by two or more runs in order to win the wager. The negative value -1.5 indicates that team is favored by 1.5 runs. The positive value +1.5 indicates that team is the underdog by 1.5 runs. Backing the favorite means the team must win by at least two runs to cover the runline spread. The underdog team can lose by one run and still cover the spread. With so many one-run games in baseball, this can be profitable. You will see a -115 or +200 value associated with the runline. This is the moneyline component and indicates how much you need to risk and how much you will profit. For example, if a team is -1.5, +125 and you wagered $100, that means you would profit $125 (+125) if the team wins by two runs or more. On the flip side, a team that is +1.5, -130, you would have to risk $130 (-130) to back the team. If they win the game or only lose by a single run, you have a winning wager of $100.

• Total

  Also known as over-under odds, this is generally believed to be the predicted number of runs oddsmakers think will be scored in the game by both teams combined. Baseball totals typically range from 7 (when two aces are pitching and few runs are expected) to 11.5 or 12 (for games involving high-scoring teams or terrible pitchers). In totals betting, you are predicting whether the combined total score will be more than or less than the total. So when you see 9.5, you are hoping for 10 or more runs if you bet over and hoping for 9 or less if you bet under. Where you see a moneyline value linked to the 9.5, this is the risk-reward amounts for selecting the over or the under. So if you see 9.5, u-110, that means the total is 9.5 runs and you have to risk $110 (-110) in order bet the under (u indicates under). If the final score is 5-3, the total is 8 and you profit $100. You will also sees values for the over such as 9.5, o+105. In this case, you profit $105 by risking $100 if the game produces 10 or more total runs.

• Futures

  These are odds for predicting an event in the future like next year's World Series championship. Oddsmakers produce lines during the year, depending on the strength or weakness of teams, then offer wagers on each team to win. For example, a league's top team may be +150 to win the championship. That means a $100 wager would pay $150 profit. However, a poor team might be +3000, indicating it is not expected to win and a $100 wager would pay $3,000 as a huge longshot. Yahoo! displays World Series futures, although provider OddsShark gathers futures on the NL championship, AL championship, Cy Young winners, MVP odds and more.