Baseball’s the third-most-popular sport to bet on in the United States. It helps that the baseball season runs 26.5 weeks, with each team playing 162 games in a typical year. Then there are the playoffs, of course, and the World Series to cap it all off.
You can be a casual baseball fan or an Arizona Diamondbacks expert and still find a love for the game. Thanks to the recent launch of sports betting in Arizona, and the availability of online sportsbooks, you can both root for your team and bet on them.
This page will help you to familiarize yourself with betting on MLB in AZ, including the ins and outs of how MLB bets work. We also provide a list of the top online sportsbooks to bet on MLB in Arizona.
MLB betting sites in Arizona
Here is a rundown of all available online sportsbook apps for Arizona bettors. Check back regularly for an up-to-date list of books where you can place your bets and the latest bonus offers.
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Baseball betting for beginners
Major League Baseball is one of the most popular sports to wager on. That means you have a bevy of choices when it comes to the bets you can choose from. From moneyline bets to run line wagers and total runs, traditional bets await you at Arizona sportsbooks. You’ll also find more advanced types of bets, such as props and futures.
Since the baseball season extends from spring until fall, there are a ton of chances to place wagers. You don’t even have to worry about only betting in-season if you want to make some long-range predictions and place some futures bets.
When the season rolls around, you’re not stuck making bets only before the game starts, either, though that will always remain an option. Now you can also partake in live betting, AKA in-game betting.
These wagers take place while the game is in progress. You can wager on things like if the next batter will get a hit or strike out, if there will be a home run in the inning, or if there will be a stolen base.
That’s one of the reasons having access to an online sportsbook is important. Arizona will have retail sportsbooks, but they can’t keep up with the quickly changing odds that live betting brings. But electronic sportsbooks can update and offer odds in real-time.
In-game betting has been a pretty smooth transition for the two sportsbooks that made the transition from daily fantasy sports (DFS). DraftKings and FanDuel in Arizona both started as DFS providers. When the opportunity presented itself for those companies to move into the realm of sports betting, they did so pretty seamlessly. The interfaces for their apps and websites are very user-friendly and easy to navigate. Customer service at both sportsbooks is also top-notch.
Opening an online betting account in AZ
Signing up for an account at a legal online sportsbook is about as easy as signing up for a new email address. The steps are simple to follow, and the process runs smoothly overall. Sportsbooks don’t want to drive potential customers away by making things too difficult after all.
When it comes time to sign up, you can click on one of the sportsbook links in the list above. This will take you to the book’s homepage, and you can start the registration process from there.
The sportsbook will need to obtain personal information from you that includes your name, email and physical address, along with your Social Security number. These are standard field requirements across the board, and you’ll find them at every sportsbook.
You’ll be able to then claim any bonuses and promotions for new players. At this point, you can deposit into your account. Then you’ll be ready to start MLB betting online.
Common types of baseball bets
When it comes to making MLB wagers, you’re going to discover you have a variety of options. You’ll have the basics, of course, but there are also more advanced bets available.
We’re going to go over a few of them in this section so you can get a better understanding of what you’re going to see. For a more detailed breakdown of the various bets, you’ll find several pages on this site that will go into more depth.
- MLB run line: There aren’t many bets that are made specifically for a particular sport, but baseball has one of them. The run line is a combination of the moneyline and the point spread. You’ll see teams listed with either a negative or a positive number. The number is always 1.5 for standard run lines. If it is negative, that team is favored and must win by two runs or more. If the number is positive, that team is the underdog and must avoid losing by two runs or more. Each side will also have odds attached.
- Moneyline: Place a bet on one side or the other to win the game. One side is the favorite (indicated by a negative odds number, such as -140) and the other is the underdog (a positive number, like +130).
- Total runs: Sportsbooks will list a game with a combined number of runs they expect the two teams to score. For this bet, it doesn’t matter which team wins. Instead, you are wagering on whether the final total score will be over or under the sportsbook’s total.
- Futures: These are wagers with a longer-term outlook. In MLB, this might include things like the next World Series winner, the league MVP, Cy Young winner, rookie of the year, and more. Odds for these wagers become available during the offseason, and you can follow along with your bets until the season wraps up in the fall.
- Props: Prop bets are basically side bets that you make with a sportsbook on whether something will or won’t happen during a game. Here are some examples: Which team will score first in the game? Over/under on a specific team’s total runs for a game? Over/under on the total number of home runs in the game? Which of two specific players will have more strikeouts? Which of two players will have more hits?
Other MLB baseball bets
The bets listed above are the most common you’ll encounter for MLB at sites like BetMGM Arizona, but there are others you will likely see the more you delve into the hobby.
- Team to score first: This bet is simply which of the two teams scores the first run.
- Team to score last: Just like the previous one, but a bet on which team scores the final run. That doesn’t have to mean the winning run, but just the final run in a game.
- Highest scoring inning: You bet on which inning will have the most runs. Games that are nine innings long have to go 8.5 innings for the bet to stand. Seven-inning games have to go 6.5 innings.
- Race to X runs: There will be a specific number of runs listed in the bet, and you choose which team you think will reach that number first. If neither team reaches the number and a “neither” option isn’t available, then the sportsbook will cancel and refund the bets.
Mistakes that winning MLB bettors avoid
Here are some top MLB betting tips to help get your bankroll off to a solid start. The number one rule to follow is to never, ever make a wager with your heart. That’s a difficult one for die-hard fans of particular teams. You might love the Arizona Diamondbacks so much that you can’t stand to bet against them, and that’s fine. Our recommendation is to simply not bet on any game in which they participate.
You should strive to thoroughly research, understand, and break down to the best of your ability any bet you are going to place before you put your money down. Make a sports betting strategy and stick with it. You can always expand it or reduce it as times goes on and you become more familiar with the ins and outs of sports betting in Arizona.
Another thing we would urge is to make a budget and don’t deviate from it. This is your bankroll, and you should only wager with a specific amount of money that you predetermine. Don’t chase losses. That’s when you start getting into real trouble.
If you find yourself struggling with money management and having difficulty controlling your betting habits, you should reach out to the National Problem Gambling Helpline either with a phone call or a text at 800-522-4700.