A runline bet is a type of wager in baseball betting that combines the point spread and the moneyline into one bet. It is essentially a way to bet on the margin of victory in a baseball game, rather than just who will win.
In a runline bet, there is always a 1.5 run spread. For example, if the New York Yankees are playing the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees are the favorite, the runline might be set at Yankees -1.5. This means that if you bet on the Yankees, they would need to win by 2 or more runs for your bet to be successful. Conversely, if you bet on the Red Sox, they could either win the game or lose by only 1 run for your bet to win.
The odds for runline bets are typically different from the standard moneyline odds because of the fixed 1.5 run spread. The favorite will usually have negative odds, while the underdog will have positive odds. Bettors must decide if the favorite is likely to win by more than 1.5 runs or if the underdog is likely to keep the game close or win outright.
Runline bets can be attractive because they offer the potential for higher payouts than a straight moneyline bet, especially when betting on the underdog. However, they also carry more risk because the game outcome needs to meet the specific criteria of the runline for the bet to pay off.