The Ulitmate Guide to Baseball Betting Sites in the UK
Last updated: by Leon Marshal
When the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees faced off at a sold-out London Stadium in 2019, the appetite for baseball in the UK was clearly demonstrated. Playing two regular-season MLB games, the two rivals delighted the UK crowd. Interest in the sport has never been higher and as a result, baseball betting sites are in high demand. Our guide to the sport will help you find the best one for you, can you afford not to check it out?
Our betting boffins have years of experience of online betting, and we will share this knowledge in this ultimate guide to online baseball betting. We’ll help you find the best value bonuses, compare the odds from the top bookmakers and explore the different types of bets you can place. Whether you are a seasoned baseball fan or a total newbie, we have something for everyone.
The Best Baseball Betting Sites for the UK
When picking our recommended baseball sites, it is the customer experience we concentrate on. How easy is it to set up an account? If we have a question, do the customer support team live up to their name? Are the minimum and maximum deposit amounts reasonable? Can we place a baseball bet online with the minimum of fuss? These are just a few of the many questions we ask.
| Bookmaker | Sports Welcome Bonus | Highlights | Rating | Secure Link | T&C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betway | £10 | Markets: 4, Bet Types: 21, Odds Levels: 96.32% | 5.0 out of 5 | www.betway.com | Full T&Cs Apply! *New customers only. Min Deposit: £10. First deposit matched up to £10. 1 x wagering at odds of 1.75+ to unlock Free Bet. Debit Card & PayPal deposits only. This offer is valid for 7 days from your new account being registered. |
| bet365 | £100 | Markets: 4, Bet Types: 20, Odds Levels: 97.35% | 5.0 out of 5 | www.bet365.com | Full T&Cs Apply! Open Account Offer. Up to £100 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365. Min deposit £5. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. |
| LV BET | Get £10 | Markets: 4, Bet Types: 20, Odds Levels: 97.24% | 4.8 out of 5 | www.lvbet.com | Full T&Cs Apply! New players after 30.09.2020 | Valid on first Sports bet | Min. dep. £10 req. | Min. £10 wag. on first bet with min. total odds of 3/4 to qualify | Bet must be settled | Bonus Wag. req.1x on min. 2-fold combi bets (min. 1/4 odds each selection) with min. final odds of 4/5 | Virtual bets and cashed out bets do not qualify | One-time offer | Bonuses credited following working day | 18+ | begambleaware.org |
| 888sport | £30 | Markets: 4, Bet Types: 19, Odds Levels: 96.87% | 4.7 out of 5 | www.888sport.com | Full T&Cs Apply! New customers only – Minimum deposit of £10 using deposit code 30F - A qualifying bet is a ‘real money’ stake of at least £10 placed on any sports market - Minimum odds of 1/2 (1.5) - Free bets credited upon qualifying bet settlement and expire after 7 days - Free bet stakes not included in returns - Deposit method and withdrawal restrictions apply & Full T&C’s apply |
| Coral | £20 | Markets: 4, Bet Types: 18, Odds Levels: 96.54% | 4.6 out of 5 | www.coral.com | Full T&Cs Apply! *18+ Eligible UK+IRE players. Paypal & some deposit & bet types excl. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4x £5 free bets. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. No cashout, restrictions apply. |
Our recommended baseball betting sites are a great mixture of household names that you will be aware of, such as Betway, bet365 and Coral and 888sport. We have also chosen LV BET who you may not be so familiar with but are a great choice when baseball betting online. As all bookmakers we feature on this page are fully licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission, whoever you choose, you’ll be safe and secure while betting.
Baseball Betting Odds at the Top Bookmakers
“What are the odds on that?” must be one of the most common phrases used by sports fans, especially after a shock result. We also use this statement a lot when reviewing sports betting sites as it enables us to compare the value for money that a bookmaker offers. The higher the odds, the more money you can win and less profit for the bookmaker. Let’s start off with one of the most important KPIs out there, i.e., football betting odds levels. We cannot even begin to consider a bookmaker if it does not pass the all-important generosity test. It is of paramount importance that bookmakers display a track record of football odds margins that not only meet, but also surpass, the expectation of punters. The task should by no means be taken lightly. The best football betting sites should offer good returns for you, check the table below to see how they fare.
| Average Payout Level For Top Tier Baseball Events | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Betway | bet365 | LV BET | 888sport | Coral | |||
| World Series | 94.13% | 96.98% | 95.05% | 94.32% | 90.31% | |||
| American League | 91.01% | 96.32% | 92.42% | 92.01% | 89.23% | |||
| National League | 93.34% | 92.99% | 92.44% | 90.31% | 93.34% | |||
| World Baseball Classic | 93.32% | 92.92% | 89.96% | 89.23% | 93.32% | |||
In the table above you can see the return to player figures for baseball games. Picked at random, we chose four games and compiled all the odds available at our recommended baseball betting sites. The data shows us that all the companies offer good value for money with very little variance between the odds offered, meaning that whichever company you choose, you are getting a good deal.
Betting Markets on Offer
To be considered a great baseball betting site, not only must a bookmaker accept bets on the sport, they must have a wide range of markets you can bet place bets on. To see if this is the case with our recommended sites, we have checked the biggest baseball tournaments and listed the betting opportunities available.
| Baseball Markets Available at Each Operator | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Betway | bet365 | LV BET | 888sport | Coral | |||
| World Series | 42 | 40 | 42 | 41 | 42 | |||
| American League | 35 | 37 | 35 | 36 | 36 | |||
| National League | 38 | 38 | 36 | 38 | 30 | |||
| World Baseball Classic | 36 | 34 | 32 | 35 | 35 | |||
As you can see from the table above, there are plenty of markets available when baseball betting online. All our recommended sites have a great range with betway and bet365 consistently offering a high number of events you can places wages for. It’s worth mentioning that as baseball is a seasonal game, during the off-season, you’ll only be able to place general bets (such as who will win the World Series), this changes dramatically during the season, and you’ll be able to bet on many more markets. We cover the type of bets you can place in a later section.
Bonuses and Welcome Offers
Supports of sports such as football or rugby are used to having bookmakers running special promotions that cater to those sports. Sadly, you are unlikely to find any special deals that are just for baseball betting fans. We hope this will change in the future, especially with the popularity of the London Series.
This lack of baseball-specific promotion doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t get a special offer! As competition is fierce between different bookmakers, they all offer incentives for you to open a new account and there is no reason you cannot use these benefits to bet on baseball. Free bets and matched deposits are available and can help to boost your bankroll. If you are interested in finding out more about these new customer bonuses, you can find all the information you need at our dedicated page.
In-play Baseball Betting Arena
In-play, which is also known as live betting at some online bookmakers, is one of the best features of online sports betting. Instead of placing bets pre-game, with live baseball betting, you can place bets during the event. This enables you to watch the action and make a judgement call on what you see. If the pitcher is having a stinker, or the man at-bat doesn’t look like he’s able to hit a barn with a banjo, you can bet accordingly.
Baseball betting in-play is simple to do, and although the process may be slightly different between the bookmakers, the process is the same. Log-in to your account and on the main screen you will see a section entitled “live” or “In-play,” select this and you will see a list of events taking place. Select the baseball game you are interested in the information on the event will be displayed, including the latest odds, which constantly change to reflect the action in the game.
As the odds during the game constantly change, dependant on action on the field, this variance can be used to gain a slight advantage over the bookmaker. If for example, you are a New York Yankees fan and have noticed that they often go behind and rely on a late surge, delaying your betting on a Yankees win is likely to get you better odds and better returns than a pre-game bet.
team don’t usually start playing well until the later stages of a game, holding off until the opposition has a lead can be a very effective volleyball betting strategy.
Utilising Cash Out
In the last section, we discussed how in-play betting could be a useful part of your baseball betting strategy, another innovation at online betting sites that can prove profitable if used correctly is the ability to ‘cash out’ your bet for a figure that the bookmaker is offering. The figure that is offered will constantly change to reflect the state of play and could be higher or lower than your original stake.
We used the example in the last section of gaining an advantage if you know a team is a slow starter; this can also be used for live baseball betting when cashing out. For example, let’s imagine the highly fancied Los Angeles Dodgers are playing underdogs Miami Marlins and you decide to back the Marlins with £10. The potential winnings for this bet are likely to be well in excess of £200. Therefore if the Marlins take the lead, the bookmaker’s cash-out offer could be much higher than your original stake and if you do accept the offer, no matter what happens in the game, you keep your winnings, even if your original bet would have lost you can do this using a baseball betting app, too.
Bet Types Available For Baseball Betting
Now we have taken a closer look at baseball betting sites, and we’ll now concentrate on how to bet on baseball and the different bets you may wish to place. The choice and variety of bets will often depend on the importance and prestige of an event. You’ll find many more bets available for a World Series game than you will for a local league game. With this in mind, we’ll concentrate on the most popular bets.
Team to Win Market
One of the most popular and easiest bets to place and understand is the team to win market. Available on all games that feature at baseball betting sites, you are predicting which team will be successful after the ten innings.
The fact that the bet is for ten innings is important as there are no draws in baseball (although this varies per country); instead, extra innings are played until one team is victorious. However, if you backed a team to win and the two teams are tied after ten innings, the bet would be lost. To avoid this, you can place a “win outright” bet, this bet covers that possibility but comes at the price of reduced odds.
Correct Score Market
If predicting the winner out of two teams seems too easy for you, why not take your betting a step further and predict the exact score at the end of the baseball game? This is a much more difficult bet to win than the team to win bet and one that a consolation run in the 10th can cause you heartache.
Another futures market that is popular with baseball fans is proposition bets. This is when you predict the performance of a player for the next season or World Series tournament. Betting on the number of runs a batter will score, the number of home runs they will achieve, number of wins for a pitcher and head-to-head betting between two players are all possible at online baseball betting sites.
Futures Market
Futures wagering is a bet on a team winning their national league, division or World Series a long time in advance. Many baseball betting fans will place bets on their team being successful the next season, as soon as the current season ends. As the odds can change tremendously throughout the year, it’s often possible to get better value odds during the odd-season.
The draw in a sporting event can very often kill a bet; therefore, a popular option is the ‘double chance’ bet. Choosing this will include the draw in your bet, so as long as the other player or team are not successful, you’ll see a return. As this bet is more likely to succeed than a simple ‘team to win’ bet, the odds will be significantly lower.
Emerging Features in Baseball Betting
It’s no secret that most baseball fans are stat crazy and this interest in facts and figures transfers well when betting on the sport. Fans of other betting sports such as greyhound racing will spend hours studying form and this work, while not guaranteed, can help see a return.
The same is true when baseball betting and 888sport make finding stats on the sport incredibly easy. Find a game you are interested in, click an icon and all the head to head data is available. It is, however, the range of competitions that 888sport feature that catches the eye, seven countries (Australia, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Korea, USA and Venezuela), as well as international teams, are featured at the bookmaker.
The Greatest New Baseball Betting Sites
Sometimes we all fancy a change, and because new bookmakers are entering the UK market all the time, this desire to try something new is easily satisfied and could lead to you finding a new favourite bookie. If you are concerned that a new bookmaker will not be as secure as a well-known one, don’t worry as all baseball betting sites we feature, regardless of age, are all fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
- £15 Welcome Offer
- Baseball market
- Daily Karamba
- Value odds
Our recommend new baseball betting site is Karamba. While not strictly new as the company has been offering a casino product since 2005, the sportsbook offering from Karamba is a much more recent addition. Feature a fresh, clean, modern interface it is simple to place bets and has a large range of sports available. While not having as many baseball betting markets as others, the focus on the American baseball markets serves it well. Karamba is just one of the bookmakers we feature in our dedicated page featuring the best new betting sites.
Baseball Betting by Competition
Now that you have a good idea of online baseball betting, in this section we will take a look at some of the major baseball competitions you can back and also share a bit of trivia with you. The number and variety of baseball tournaments at bookmakers will vary, but, all these main events will be available at all our recommended bookmakers and you can often bet on the outright winner market many months before the event.
London Series
There have been several attempts to try and sell one of America’s favourite sports to the British audience. Most notably by Channel 4 in the 1980s who brought live baseball action to the UK for the first time. With a market share of just 4%, Channel 4 built a small but loyal fan base. Hindered by the time difference between the UK and America, games shown on a Sunday night would often last until 4 am.
The London series, held at West Ham’s London Stadium looks likely to succeed where others have failed. First held in 2019, two regular MLB games are played as part of the series, this isn’t a friendly, it’s the real deal with points at stake. The first game featured Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in front of a capacity crowd. The second sees St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs go head-to-head.
World Series
While the London series is a high profile event on these shores, there is no doubt that baseball’s showcase event is the World Series. Running in its current guise since 1903, the World Series is an annual tournament that sees the American League champions take on the National League champions in a best-of-seven playoff. The winners of this series become the World Champions.
The most successful team in the history of the World Series are the New York Yankees who enjoyed immense success between 1920 – 1964. During that time the Yankees played in 29 World Series tournaments, winning 20 of those.
Outside America
When baseball is mentioned, it’s natural to think of America, but the sport also has a huge following overseas, especially in Japan. The Nippon series, held in the country, mirrors the American World Series tournament and pits the Central League and the Pacific League against each other in a best-of-seven competition.
The Nippon Series (also called the Japan Series) has been running since 1950. Since its inception, the Central League has been more successful winning thirty-five times versus the Pacific League’s thirty. The most successful team are the Yomiuri Giants who have 22 titles to their name.
FAQ
We hope that you have found our guide to online baseballe betting answers all the questions you may have about the sport and you now have all the information you need to place wagers with confidence. In this last section, we’ll recap the three most frequently asked questions we are asked about baseball betting sites.
Do All Online Betting Sites Accept Baseball Bets?
Despite the global reach and popularity of baseball, it's a sport that isn't heavily backed by punters in the UK. For this reason, not all bookmakers choose to list it in their sportsbook. This can be frustrating if you want to place a bet. To save you the hassle of searching, we have compiled a list of the best UK regulated baseball betting sites here.
Is Live Betting Available For Baseball Betting?
It certainly is! Live betting is one of the most exciting and enthralling aspects of online sports betting and is available at all the baseball betting sites that we recommend. No longer do you need to place a bet before the action starts, you can now place a wager almost until the end of the game. You can read more in our dedicated live betting section.
Are The Baseball Betting Sites You Recommend Safe?
We take your safety and security online very seriously and want your online baseball betting experience to be as secure as possible. Therefore we would only ever recommend a bookmaker if we believed they offered the best possible protection. To ensure this, all sites we feature on this page, and all our pages must be fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.