Baseball odds are bet by professional gamblers every year. The sport of baseball has changed as have the baseball betting lines. Let’s take a look from a professional perspective of what is required when you bet baseball odds. MLB odds are much sharper than they were many years ago. It used to be that professionals could make a living simply by scalping. MLB scalping is where a gambler bets a team at one price and then bets the other team at another price and gets MLB odds good enough to make money no matter the result of the game.
Those days are pretty much gone. Another factor that has hurt the pros in baseball odds is the high prices. Favorites are no longer undervalued. You also routinely see teams favored at more than two dollars in MLB betting lines. That makes underdogs worth a look in baseball odds but the problem for the pros is that many times the underdogs just aren’t very good teams.
Another factor that has made MLB odds more difficult for the pros to bet is the changing nature of baseball. It used to be that bullpens weren’t so much of a factor. Now they are critical as you look at MLB betting lines. Twenty years ago a team’s closer was important but now the game is so specialized that you really have to keep tabs on the bullpens as a starter rarely gets past the sixth or seventh inning. Many gamblers have a tough time looking at MLB odds and considering the bullpens.
Professionals keep their eyes on value in MLB odds. Oftentimes the professional gambler will bet quality teams on the road as they can get better baseball odds on good teams when they are on the road versus when they are at home. Most professionals will just not bet power home teams as there is not much value laying big baseball odds on a regular basis.
MLB betting lines still appeal to the professional gambler but not nearly to the extent they did a decade ago. Picking and choosing value spots can still be done but it requires discipline.