Handicappers judge how well a baseball team is doing against the number by what is called the “moneyline”. This contrasts with point spread sports such as football and basketball that use what is called “units”. Moneyline betting is present in basketball and football but most gamblers prefer to use what they call the point spread. It is through the point spread that most sports books even out the game. Either team is expected to have about an equal chance of winning the bet.
With the moneyline, you bet on whether a team will flat out win or not. This is because a -240 point spread does not exist in baseball because the scores are so low. With the moneyline comes a lot of intricacies that the average gambler does not realize.
If analyzing a game, the laymen would look at a team, let’s say the Yankees and think they are a lock to win. And then when he or she places a bet will look at the odds and not understand what they mean. Yankees might be a good team to bet on at -150 but a good team to bet against at -210.
You may ask how can the same team be a good bet at one spread and be a bad bet at another spread? Well, the same is true of basketball. If a team was favored by just 2 points, you may be very apt to betting them. But if the same team was a favorite by 10 points, they would be best to be avoided.
With the moneyline, it is all about probability. The laymen does not have the ability to calculate the probability a team has of winning.
One such handicapper that has continually proven his ability to pick winners in baseball is EasyBaseballBetting.com. Their moneyline charts are updated daily.