Baseball fans across the world share a common dream – to be able to follow their favourite teams and players to the best of their ability, and have the opportunity to place a wager on the game they love. With extra innings often coming as a result of scoring many runs in a short amount of time or keeping the game going due to poor weather conditions, it’s crucial that you know how to calculate your chances of winning if the game goes to the maximum number of frames.
The Basics
The first thing you need to do to fully understand how to play baseball is to learn the rules. Simply put, the official rules of baseball are as follows:
- There are nine innings in a game
- A run is scored whenever a player advances safely to any base during an inning (other than home plate)
- A player is out when:
- He is forced out (tagged, ejected, or escapes) before reaching any base. Or
- He is caught stealing.
- A game ends in a tie; no runs are scored but the players continue playing (till a winner is determined by any means – head to head, best of 3, etc.)
- Player statistics are tracked: batting average, runs batted in, strikeout, and so on
- There are three outs per inning
- Batting and running the bases are not allowed in overtime (unless the team is playing in the playoffs)
- A team is not entitled to more than three overtime innings per game
- If the game ends in a tie, a runner is automatically awarded the victory by touching home plate first
More Information
If you’re looking for more information on how to play baseball, you can visit the following websites:
- Baseball Reference
- Wikipedia
- MLB.com
- Youtube.
Knowing the rules will help you understand how the game is played and how you can apply what you’ve learned. Once you have an idea of how the game is structured, you can begin to think about betting. But first, it’s important to note that the following are NOT legal ways to gamble on baseball:
Predicting the final score
Many bookmakers will try to trick you into thinking that there’s a way to beat the odds and predict the final score of a game that is yet to be played. While it is possible to make such predictions, the smart money says that you won’t be able to do so. After all, the winning team will have already crossed the plate before you’ve finished writing the ticket.
The truth is that you can’t possibly know how the game will turn out. What you can do is to learn more about the strategies that are used by both teams, and how they will affect the outcome of the game. For example, if you learn that the home team is always more favoured in postseason games, you can bet on the underdogs in those matchups instead. This can help you make money even when your team loses.
Betting on teams, players, and hand gestures
Many people think that they can improve their odds of winning by picking certain teams or players to come out on top. While this may be true in some cases, the smart money says that it won’t help you at all. Why? It’s because the bookmakers get paid based on what you wager, and they will encourage you to bet on the favourites more often than not. Do your research before you bet and remember: the more you wager, the more you lose.
As for the hand gestures that some people believe can change the outcome of a game, there’s no evidence to suggest that this is the case. Hand gestures help the pitcher prepare for the hitters, but this is something that the catcher does not need the help of the batter in order to execute.
Using insider information
In some cases, you can get insider information that is not available to the average person. For example, if you learn that the Chicago Cubs have an aversion to facing left-handed pitchers in the postseason, you can use this as a tool to your advantage. You can’t necessarily use this information to affect the outcome of a game, but it can help you make a profit in the long run. It’s important to keep in mind that there are legal and illegal ways to obtain this information.
Short-selling the Underdog
It’s very likely that you’ll hear about short-selling before you even begin to explore betting on baseball. Those who engage in this practice hope to profit from the fact that a team’s price is more likely to fluctuate when they are considered to be long shots. One of the more popular short-selling tactics is to purchase a team’s shares when they are at their cheapest and sell them at their highest. Imagine that you’re a savvy player who follows this strategy and learns that the Cleveland Indians are a far better chance of winning than the public knows. One night, you see that the betting windows for Cleveland are closed, but other games are still active, so you think to yourself – why not?
You make the wager, and you win. Your gain is probably around $75,000, which is more than enough to make it worth your while. This is the beauty of sports betting – you’re playing against the odds, and you can win big without risking too much money. Or can you?
Well-placed sources have indicated that the FBI is doing a lot more than investigating ordinary sports betting fraud. They are actively seeking those who engage in the practice of insider trading. Basically, what this means is that the government is looking to make an example of those who try to profit from inside information. While this may not affect you directly, it’s important to keep in mind that the government can make things very difficult for you if they want to. Maybe what you think is a small wager will end up being used as evidence against you in a courtroom. Keep that in mind.