Imagup General Magazine 2024
Sports come in all sorts of varieties and different nations have different sports as their favorites. There are universally loved and adored variations as well as culture and country-specific games that are not even known outside of the borders. For example, while most of the planet is crazy about football (association football, soccer), the USA does not care for it nearly as much as other sports. The same could be said about cricket, rugby, and winter sports which are extremely popular in certain countries while at the same time, they have no recognition or interest from most other regions of the globe.
Baseball and Betting
One sport that the Americans are crazy about but most of the world does not care one bit for is baseball. Japan loves the sport too and it could be said that it is the second capital of the sport outside of the States. While there are variations to the baseball formula in other lesser sports that are played around the world, the game of baseball is almost reserved to the few countries that love it. This is not to say that gambling on it is also not popular though. On the contrary, when it comes to wagering on different sports, national and cultural boundaries and traditions do not apply.
As a matter of fact, gambling is equally popular in most countries of the world and the players gamble on all sorts of sports despite the lack of professional leagues or widespread fame of a certain discipline in their own country. In terms of baseball, people enjoy wagering on the games despite not being the fans or even knowing all the rules. This is obviously a bad way of doing things if you expect to win some money from your bets. If you are serious about betting you have to know the proper baseball terminology and rules.
In order to help you and everyone else who plans to get involved in the sport more and understand the rules, mainly for betting purposes, we decided to make this article a guide for the basic baseball terminology that every beginner has to know. Make sure to read through it carefully and if you wish to find out more info on the matter, definitely check this list of the best baseball betting sites available.
Basic Baseball Terminology
Before we mention the betting terminology, you have to get familiar with the sports terminology. We will assume that you know how long the game lasts, the size of the teams, the most notable positions, and the layout of the field. Pithing, offense, and defense terms are next.
For example, the strike zone is the area above the home plate where the pitch is thrown toward the batter. It is an imaginary area between the knee caps of the player, the torso midsection, and the width of the home plate. This is where the pitcher has to throw the ball. If a better makes contact with a pitch and hits it outside of the foul lines, there is a foul ball. Bunting is when the batter holds the bat horizontally for a tactical but risky play.
When the pitcher and the defense prevent the batter from winning a base, an out is recorded. Errors come in many forms and are charged for dropping fly balls, making poor throws, and mishandling ground balls. Stealing bases happens when the battery reaches a new base before the defense gets the ball to the player standing on the said base. The home run occurs when the batter runs the entire field and across all bases before the defense manages to get the ball back. There are other terms and situations to know but this is enough for betting on baseball.
Baseball Betting terminology
Now we get to the good part and the words you will actually come across while making betting tickets. You will want to memorize all of these so that you can make different bets based on different situations in any given baseball game.
Most baseball betting deals with teams winning the game and this is where the best and most lucrative odds are. This is also known as the money line and it works in relation to $100 bets. For example, if the odds are -250, it means that for every $100 you want to win you have to risk $250. Alternatively, if the odds are +250 for example, you need to risk $100 to win $250.
The run line is the point spread form of betting where the odds are different. This is where you not only bet on the final winner but also the number of runs a team wins by. If the odds are -1.5 for example, the team has to win by two runs at least for you to win. Combined with the money line, you can get some big money on rather specific betting scenarios.
The total refers to the famous over and under-betting that you can find in football or basketball bets. The total runs both teams, a single team, or a specific player records is bet on. If the odds are 9.5 combined runs by the Yankees and the Sox, you can either bet on more than that or less than that. The winner does not matter in this form of baseball betting.
First 5 betting refers to the wagering on the outcome of the first five innings of a game. Proposition or prop bets are those in which you bet over or under on the number of strikes of the starting pitcher. Combined totals of hits, runs, or errors are also possible, as different betting services allow different wagering opportunities.
Conclusion and Takeaways
From what was said in the article it may seem that betting on baseball is complicated. However, it is anything but and it is actually quite similar to other sports. You will have to watch a handful of games and learn about the general rules of the sport more closely if you mean to make meaningful and strategic bets, but most things in the world require preparation and strategizing. Learning the lingo is a good start and the best thing to do as a complete beginner, but this is only the start of the road towards your routine baseball betting winnings.
