Baseball Series Betting
Betting MLB
Adding baseball series betting to your optional baseball strategy is not used enough by bettors. Top betting trends are comprised of moneylines, run lines, total run lines for over or under and the series betting lines.
Using the series bet is not a common wager and some bettors are not aware of this option.
Wagering on which team you think will win a 3 game series by winning at least 2 games out of 3 played is a good bet if the pitching rotation and odds are favorable. A series bet is listed as a moneyline on the favorite. Usually a home team with good pitching playing a weekend series will be listed as a -150 to -250 for the series bet and needs at least 2 wins to win the bet.
Baseball has a different schedule format than all other sports. It has the longest season of any major sports and designs the schedule with teams playing each other 3 or 4 games in a row. This allows the road or visiting team to play the series against the home team without traveling every other day to a new location. Other sports like the NFL or NBA play one game and move on to their next opponent.
A series bet might seem inviting when the top teams with the best pitching should win most series bets. The books will post a heavy line on a top favorite team at home to win a series as high as -350. The bigger the perceived different between two teams playing a series, the more juice you will have to face in betting the elite teams.
However, elite teams only win around 60% of games while lower teams win 40% of games.
Your selection should be based on the previous two weeks of play and the possibility of a winning streak or a losing performance from either team. Baseball is a game of winning streaks and losing streaks for all teams no matter what the standings say.
The series bet is placed in advance of the first game and if an elite team decides to rest a top player or the listed rotation is changed, you can be at a slight disadvantage. If a projected starter gets sick or an injury flare up sidelines the pitcher, a rookie from double-A who was just called up or an inferior bench player will replace the starting player. But you can afford to lose one game due to the situation but it puts pressure on your series bet for the elite team to win the next two games in the series.
When a series matchup is between two similar teams who are playing well, the series odds will be low on either teams. However, the home team will usually be the slight favorite. This betting situation is about looking for the hedge to control your losses. If a series is tied at one game each, then you can bet or hedge on the final game by betting opposite game. This hedge bet allows you to eliminate a possible loss if you lose the series. You can win the deciding game and lose the series but offset your series loss with an individual bet on the third game. There might be a small vig loss but a hedge salvage on last game will cut your losses.
There are many series betting options especially on a weekend series when all teams are playing. The choices are there for finding good value.
