Best MLB Betting Sites in Canada

MLB baseball is the highest level of the sport in the world, though many quality players come from Latin America and Japan, who have some decent leagues of their own. Baseball is a unique sport in the pantheon of team athletics because it’s one of the only ones that does not employ a game clock. This, along with the routines of hitters and pitchers, have contributed to some games lasting far too long. However, the MLB has recently tried to curb that by instituting a 15-second pitch clock when the bases are empty, which is bumped up to 20 once there are players on the base paths.

A game of baseball consists of nine innings, each with two halves. The away team hits in the top half of each inning, and the home team goes up to bat in the bottom half. In the National League, each team employs nine starting players including the pitcher, while in the American League, pitchers are not required to hit, with each team instead using a designated hitter for that spot in the batting order.

Each team has a batting order which remains the same throughout the game, and when a player is subbed out, they cannot return to the game, much like European football. The goal of the game is for your team’s batters to get a hit, which means once they hit a ball into play, they reach base safely before the defending team gets the ball there.

Teams then try to get those hitters from first base, to second base, to third base, and eventually to home base, where they will score a run. Players are ruled out if they are struck out by the pitcher, if the defending team gets the ball back to the base before the runner, or if a defender catches a hit out of mid air.

In the MLB, 30 teams play 162 games in a season, usually playing the same team three or four games in a row at a time. The top six teams in the AL and NL make it to the postseason. The first round is a one-game playoff, the second round features best-of-five series, and the league championship series and subsequent World Series are best-of-seven series.

Sports gambling has been progressively legalized across Canada over the past few years, and now sports betting sites are allowed to take on a very wide range of sports wagers, including baseball bets. You can bet on MLB as well as a variety of lesser leagues as well. The only caveat being that you must be placing your bets with a sports betting site or betting app that has been registered and licensed by the proper authorities.

If you want to enjoy baseball betting, you need to find the top MLB betting sites that are offering the best MLB odds. To help you on your journey, we’ve weeded out some of the lesser MLB betting sites and put together our top ten list for the best MLB sportsbooks where you can make the best MLB bets.

Now that we’ve covered the best of the best when it comes to MLB betting sites and betting apps, it’s time to take a closer look at how to bet on MLB. It’s a pretty unique game, so there are some pretty unique parameters that should be followed when placing your bet on MLB. We’ve broken down MLB odds, different MLB betting markets, as well as tips and strategies for successful MLB betting.

MLB Odds

MLB odds are crucial when betting on baseball, as they are essentially the indicators of how much value your bet is offering as well as how much you can expect to win from a given bet.

Essentially, it is the implied probability that your bet has of being successful. Every MLB betting site offers odds, but not every MLB betting site offers the same odds on the same betting markets, which is a crucial distinction.

This means that depending on which MLB sportsbook you’re using, you might be getting different odds on your bets. Some betting apps offer better odds than others, so it’s smart to note which ones usually offer the most value on the types of MLB bets you like to make. 

MLB odds are like odds for any other sport and they are generally communicated in three different ways: fractional, decimal, and American, the latter of which is by far the most popular way to do it in most of North America, though decimal odds are somewhat prevalent in Canada.

For decimal odds, which are most popular in continental Europe, the number you see next to your betting market is the amount you win for every $1 you wager. This makes decimal odds arguably the simplest to use to determine payout. To determine payout (including your stake), all you need to do is multiply your stake by the decimal odds and voila, you know exactly how much you stand to win.

For example, if you bet $100 on the Toronto Blue Jays to win on the moneyline against the New York Yankees at 3.00 odds, you stand to win $300 including your stake, meaning a profit of $200.

For fractional odds, which are most popular in the British Isles and are displayed in a fraction such as 8/1 or 7/2, the process is the same as for decimal odds. Simply divide the fraction shown, and the number you get becomes your decimal odds.

For American odds, which are the most relevant for North American bettors, the process is slightly more complicated. The odds for favorites display a negative (-) sign and represent the amount you need to stake to win $100, while the odds for underdogs display a positive (+) sign and represent how much you can win on a $100 bet.

For example, if you bet on the Toronto Blue Jays to beat the Red Sox at +200 MLB odds, a $100 bet would bring you $200 in profit on top of your stake. Conversely if the Jays were -150 favorites, you’d need to bet $150 to make a $100 profit.

MLB Betting Markets

There are many different ways to do your baseball betting, so we’ve broken down the most common bet types or betting markets you’ll find when you bet on MLB.

• Moneyline: The simplest kind of bet. In moneyline you are simply betting on which team you expect to win that particular game, no matter what the score is.
  
  
• Runline: Much like the puckline or point spread, this is a bet on how much a team will lose or win by, thereby allowing people to bet more reasonably on massive favorites or underdogs.
  
  For example, if you bet on the Blue Jays at a -3.5 runline, your bet wins if the Jays win by 4+ runs. On the flip side, if you bet on the Jays at a +3.5 runline, you just need them to lose by no more than three runs for your bet to hit.
  
  
• Totals: Also called over/unders, this is a bet you make on how many runs will be scored in a game. The baseball betting sites will set a run total for the game, and you have to bet on whether you think it will finish with over or under that number of runs. For example, if you bet the over on a game with a 10.5 total, you need the teams to combine for 11+ runs to win, whereas an under bettor would need 10 or fewer runs.
  
  
• Futures: This is a long term bet on a season long outcome. Common futures bets include who will win the AL or NL, who will win the World Series, who will win a division, who will win the Cy Young Award, who will be MVP, or over/unders on season win totals.
  
  
• Player Props: These are bets specifically on the performance of one player in the game. You can bet on if a player will have a hit, smash a home run, how many strikeouts a pitcher will have, how many runs a player will score, whether they’ll steal a base, and more.
  
  
• Parlays: This is a type of wager that many people betting on MLB and other sports are becoming far too enamored with. Basically, you’re combining several bets into one package that offers higher payouts and much higher risk due to the fact that you need every single bet in your parlay to win for your bet to cash.
  
  If you have a six-way parlay and hit on five of your picks that’s pretty good, but it still results in a loss. Steer clear of parlays.

We’re going to keep pushing you toward MLB betting success here with a few of our go-to strategies and tips when we’re betting on MLB.

• Beware Of Big Favorites: People who don’t know much about betting on MLB will often just blindly throw down on big favorites. Sportsbooks know this and will shade their odds accordingly knowing a lot of people will bet on big teams like the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, or Los Angeles Dodgers at -200 without a thought. Avoid these bets as they offer very little value.
• Pick Divisional Dogs: As in any sport, familiarity breeds competition. What that means is that teams in the same division play each other more often and therefore know each other better and can prepare for each other more intelligently. Divisional games are usually played much tighter than others, so keeping an eye on underdogs in divisional matchups is a good rule of thumb.
• Line Shopping: As we mentioned earlier, there are different MLB odds at nearly every sports betting site, so to help give yourself an easy leg up, you should sign up with several of the top MLB sportsbooks and check out the lines or odds for the bet you want to make at each one to see which is offering you the most value and therefore the largest payout.
• Check The Weather: Wind is a huge factor in how many runs are scored in an MLB game, so it’s an important aspect of the game to know before betting on over/unders. When the wind is blowing towards home plate at 5 mph or more, the under is usually a good bet because it contributes to turning home runs into warning track outs. However, when the wind is blowing towards the outfield at 8 mph or more, the over is a good bet, as it can contribute to turning some weaker fly balls into home runs.
• Know Your Personnel: It’s a bit of a cliche, but it’s important! What we mean by this is that first, you should know the umpire calling your game and see if you can check on their tendencies. How umpires react to crowds can swing the pendulum on a home or away team bet and whether an umpire has a historically small or big strike zone can have a major effect on how many runs are scored. You also want to make sure you take note of the starting pitchers for the game you’re betting on, as they have the biggest impact on whether a game is won or lost.

As with betting on any sport, a big part of how you choose where to make those bets is whether they’re offering good promotions and bonuses for the sport you want to bet on most. To help get you started on your search for the best MLB betting bonuses, we’ve highlighted a couple of the best ones we’ve found while scouring the internet.

Sports Interaction Sportsbook

Sports Interaction is one of the better known sportsbooks in Canada. The sportsbook starts you off on the right foot when you join up, offering a big-time $1000 first deposit match. That means the first time you make a deposit on Sports Interaction, they’ll match that deposit 100% in free bet credits for you.

LeoVegas Sportsbook

Another sportsbook that hasn’t quite hit the mainstream, it certainly will soon if they continue on the path they’re on now with their mobile betting app. You’d have a tough time finding a more well put together sports betting app than the award-winning one LeoVegas has created. Not to mention they’ve also got arguably the best welcome bonus available, a $500 first deposit 100% match that also comes with 100 free spins at their casino as well. That’s value if we’ve ever seen it.

As with anything, there are rules when betting on the MLB or any other baseball league the world over. These rules can also change depending on the sportsbook you’re betting with, so we’ve outlined a few of the more common MLB betting rules that most sports betting sites will employ.

• If a game does not go the full nine innings (or 8.5 if the home team is winning at that point) because of rain or lightning delays, which are more common in baseball than any other sport, your runline and over/under bets will be voided, which means you get your stake back.
• Conversely, if a game goes at least 5 innings (or 4.5 if the home team is ahead), which is essentially half the game, wagers on the moneyline will be honored and paid out as expected.
• Baseball is all about pitchers, and depending on which starting pitcher is playing for each team, that will affect the odds immensely. Therefore, if a sports betting site has the starting pitchers listed and you make a moneyline bet, the bet will be voided if the two listed starters don’t throw at least one pitch.
• On action bets, where you make a bet regardless of who the starting pitchers are, the odds you get when you place your wager are subject to change at some sportsbooks if the starting pitchers are changed at the last minute, so we would advise against making these types of bets.
• All bets on the MLB will include extra innings if they are played, unless otherwise stated.
• If a postponed game is rescheduled less than 36 hours later, all bets will remain intact.
• If a game is halted before completion but you placed a bet on a specific inning that was already finished, your bets on that inning will be honored.

We’ve attempted to cover everything you need to know about baseball betting and MLB betting more specifically, from the best sports betting sites to bet on MLB, how to get started with your baseball betting, where to find the best MLB betting bonuses, and even the basics of understanding baseball and the MLB.

To supplement our detailed guidelines, we’ve cobbled together a list of the most common questions about baseball betting below.