Betting on baseball is a little different than betting on any other sport. In the NFL, you only have 17 weeks of games to worry about. In tennis, you handicap the major tournaments. In basketball, it’s typically a matchup of the haves and have nots and in hockey, home ice advantage proves to be key.

Betting on Major League Baseball, is a different animal completely.

For starters, the season is 162 games long and it drags out over the span of nearly six months of the year. Since it is so long, games are played over different seasons. For example, the sport starts in spring, stretches over the summer and dips into fall.

So with so many games in the baseball season, one has to realize that any underdog can win at any point.

The Seattle Mariners were the worst team in baseball in the 2008 season yet they still won 61 times. It’s not like they were the Detroit Lions; if you bet against the Mariners every game you lost a good share of the time.

So since underdogs have so much value, that’s exactly what sports bettors have to look for: value.

Betting on huge favorites in baseball is arguably the worst system in sports betting. Laying more than -150 is dangerous as is and paying for -200 or -300 simply because a brand name pitcher is on the mound is not worth the price tag.

Take a look at pitchers like C.C. Sabathia or Brandon Webb this year, two guys who were Cy Young contenders last year. People have overpaid mightily for both starters on the betting lines each time they stepped on the hill and Sabathia has struggled and Webb did too before he got hurt.

In baseball, look for underdogs on a daily basis. Look for teams that are evenly matched and bet on the teams that are offering a good price. Paying for brand name pitchers and brand name teams can get you in trouble if you consistently lay more than -150.