What is a Total Bet?

Total Bets, along with direct bets and Run Lines, are the "three main" sports betting options in Major League Baseball. However, instead of asking who wins or loses a given game, the total bet - also called Over/Under - asks the bettor to make a bet on the number of combined points scored between the two teams in a game.

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When you visit a bookmaker specialized in Major League Baseball betting, you will generally see totals on the top betting lines. For a particular game, the bookmaker will present an Over/Under line, which is a number, usually in the form of a half-run. For example, a total bet will be a variation of the following:

Example of Over/Under bets at MrXbet with decimal odds.

Another example with American odds:

The San Francisco Giants vs. the Colorado Rockies O/U 11.5 (-110)

In the last example above, if you bet on the OVER and the total runs generated during the game exceed 11.5, you win this bet. If the total does not exceed 11.5 runs, you should have bet on the UNDER to win. In practice, the Under is won at a maximum of 11 cumulative runs, while the Over is won at more than 12 runs in total.

As you can see, the odds of Total Bets are quite high, generally set around -110 for both teams. Thus, the payout is $100 for a bet of $110, regardless of the specific result you choose. These additional $10 are paid to your bookmaker as a rake, which here corresponds to about 9%.

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When to Place Bets on Totals?

There is no right or wrong time to place an Over/Under bet on a Major League game. The only real rule to know when to make these bets is to know exactly where the bookmaker has set their threshold. If two good teams are facing each other and an Over/Under of +10.5 is offered, it makes sense to jump on the opportunity and take the "Under". Similarly, if two average teams are competing, the "Over" is advised.

Usually, these types of bets are a complement, which means that most baseball bettors do not strictly limit themselves to O/U. Note that these bets are very risky and it is better to place them alongside other safer bets such as direct bets, for example.