When the latest MLB season opens, baseball bettors are looking for the best bets and biggest edges they can find. Many start with two of the most popular MLB futures bets at legal online sportsbooks:
- Betting on a team to win the World Series.
- Betting the over/under on MLB team win totals.
Betting on MLB win totals can be a safer wager overall, as you just have to predict whether a team will reach a win target that a sportsbook has set.
Is a win total bet a smart bet?
Which books post the highest or lowest win totals?
Here’s how to bet on MLB season win totals and where to bet on them in Massachusetts.
2024 MLB win total odds
Below see the latest win total odds at online sportsbooks in Massachusetts. Just click on any odds to go right to that sportsbook and place a bet if you wish.
Massachusetts sportsbooks for MLB win total betting
Legal Massachusett sports betting sites give you decent odds and over/unders for MLB win totals. Here are a few possibilities that stand out.
DraftKings Sportsbook
One of the largest legal betting sites in the US, DraftKings MA online sportsbook generally offers a solid selection of lines and bets. Win total odds here can vary depending on what side you take with what team.
For example, last year, the odds were as low as -143 on one side and as high as +110 on the other side. A couple of notable win total lines at DraftKings last year:
- The Los Angeles Dodgers were at 102.5 last year rather than the 103 that many other sportsbooks had (finished at 106).
- The eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers were at 85.5 wins (finished at 90).
FanDuel Sportsbook
Another large name in the sports betting world is FanDuel. This book also offers the standard bets that you would expect to see, including over/unders on MLB team wins.
FanDuel Sportsbook Massachusetts had similar lines to DraftKings for last season.
WynnBET Sportsbook
WynnBET Sportsbook jumps out because of a deal that it’s offered in the past. Basically, you can wager on MLB win totals at +101 odds no matter which way you bet. It was a temporary deal early in the offseason, but nevertheless, it was notable.
BetMGM Sportsbook
MGM is one of the big players Bay Staters can look forward to placing online bets with. The self-proclaimed “King of Sportsbooks” has all of the features you’d expect from a premier sports betting book. You’ll be able to live bet, earn bonuses, cash out early, and even stream games.
The BetMGM app isn’t quite as intuitive as some of the other leading sportsbooks, but what it lacks in navigation, it makes up for with betting options. There are already dozens of MLB futures listed on the site – including team win totals.
While most of the win total odds are set at a standard -110, there is variance on a few teams. For instance, the Detroit Tigers total is 81.5, with -126 for the over and -110 for the under.
Vegas win total odds vs. local sportsbook odds
How is betting from a sportsbook in Las Vegas different from betting at a legal online sportsbook in Massachusetts? In many ways, it’s not. While Nevada used to be the only state in the US where you could legally bet on sports, that is no longer the case. As a result, the sports betting odds at legal online sportsbooks often aren’t too different from what you’d see in Vegas.
However, one potential difference can stem from local fans tilting the lines for certain teams. When it comes to betting on baseball or any other sport, many fans like to back their local team. So, for MLB win totals, potential Massachusetts sportsbooks are likely to have more fans who bet on the Boston Red Sox to finish over a win total line rather than under. You might see a similar trend up or down for MLB player prop odds.
If enough people did that, then the Red Sox could have a slightly higher win total at local sportsbooks, as the books adjusted upward to attempt to even out the action.
How to bet on MLB win totals
A sportsbook will set a line for each team’s total wins for the season. You can wager on whether a team will finish with a win total that goes over or under its line at the sportsbook.
One of the main rules for these types of bets is that teams usually have to play at least 160 games for the bets to be valid. Another thing to keep in mind is that the money you wager will be tied up until the end of the season or near the end of the season. A typical MLB season is 162 games.
Additionally, a lot of things can happen over the course of such a long season. If a team’s star player is injured, you could be out of luck depending on what side of the bet you were on.
Do MLB win totals change over the season?
Win total lines can change in the offseason for various reasons, such as a big free agent signing. It can also go the other way if a team loses too many of its key pieces. You can bet from the beginning of the offseason to just before the start of the regular season to try to account for any injuries that come up during spring training.
MLB win total betting trends
Many things can affect how many games a team wins, and strategies for team building and competing in MLB can change over time. However, here are a couple of recent trends in total team wins:
- Except for 2017 and, for obvious reasons, 2020, every playoff team since the addition of the second wild card has had at least 84 wins.
- There have been at least three teams with 100 wins or more in each of the last five full seasons.
In the five prior seasons, there were only five teams with over 100 wins. This may indicate that the league is getting more top-heavy. However, there’s no guarantee that such a trend will continue.
In 2023, eight of the top 10 teams in runs scored and runs allowed made the playoffs.
More MLB futures odds
Here are some other futures bets that you can place before the start of the MLB season:
- World Series winner
- American League champion
- National League champion
- AL/NL MVP odds
- AL/NL Cy Young odds
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