Explain run line in baseball betting?

Question

Run line betting is one of the famous form of baseball betting. Can you help me know, how run line betting works in the sports of baseball.

Answer 1

The Run Line
The run line is essentially a combination of the point spread and the money line rolled into one. Don't worry, once you see it in action, it's not nearly as confusing as it first sounds.

The run line uses a constant spread of 1.5 runs, although on very rare occasions you may see it jump to 2.5 runs. The team that is favored on the money line will also be the favored team on the run line.

Let's use an example of the Royals playing at the Red Sox. On the regular money line we may see odds like:

Kansas City Royals +165
Boston Red Sox -180

As you remember from your reading on the money line, what this means is that Red Sox bettors are asked to risk $180 to win $100, while Royals bettors will risk $100 to win $165.

But when betting with the run line, we would expect to see the same game looking closer to:

Kansas City Royals +1.5 -125
Boston Red Sox -1.5 +105

Now, those people betting on the Royals are risking more money than they will win, in this case $125 to win $100, but they are receiving 1.5 runs. Even if the Royals lose by one run, those betting Kansas City on the run line will win their bet because of the 1.5 runs.

Looking at another game, this time where the road team is favored, we'll choose the Padres at the Giants. For our purposes, let's say the odds on the game were:

San Diego Padres -115
San Francisco Giants +105

On the money line, Padres bettors will risk $115 to win $100, while Giants bettors will risk $100 to win $105. Using the run line, however, we would see odds resembling:

San Diego Padres -1.5 +135
San Francisco Giants +1.5 -155

The reason the odds didn't change as much for the Padres (-115 to +135) as they did for the Red Sox (-180 to +105) is because the Red Sox are the home team and will not bat in the bottom of the ninth inning if they lead by one run or they will stop batting in the ninth inning if they go ahead by a run, even if the bases are loaded and there are no outs, unless they score by home run.

The Padres, as the road team, will continue to bat all the way through the ninth inning even if they're already ahead, or if the Padres take a one run lead in the top of the ninth, they'll continue to swing away and try to add to their lead.

Betting the run like makes sense when you like a big favorite and can get them at reduced odds by giving the 1.5 runs.

It's also wise to consider the predicted amount of runs scored in a game when looking at the run line. Obviously, 1.5 runs is more meaningful in a contest where the oddsmaker is predicting a total of 7 runs to be scored than it is in a game where the predicted total is 14 runs.

How is the predicted number of runs figured? Simply by looking at the oddsmaker's over/under number on the game. If you don't know anything about over/unders, you're in luck, as that's our next topic.