Can somebody please help me understand how to read an MLB totals line?
I have googled it and most of the explanations I have found online are about as clear as mud.

Let's say I wanted to take the under on this game. I copied and pasted the current vegas odds below from vegasinsider.com. As I understand it, 9 is the total, and the number next to it represents the amount you would have to wager to win 100.00. So the first book offering 9u-10 would mean I would have to bet 110 to win 100 if I bet the under correct? And the fourth book that is offering 9o-15 would mean that I would have to bet 115 to win 100 on the over correct? What is confusing me is that some of the lines offered are being expressed in terms of the over and some are offered in terms of the under. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

Lets say I am determined to take the under and the line is expressed as 9o-15 at the MGM and it's 9u-10 at the Wynn. Which would be a better place to make the bet on the under. In the case of the 9o-15, what would I have to bet to win 100.00 on the UNDER? Would the odds be the opposite of what is listed for the over? In other words,would the odd on the under be +15 if the odds for the over are -15?

In addition to not really understanding the odds as they are expressed on vegasinsider.com in terms of some of them saying over and some of them saying under, they do not appear to even match what I am seeing on the Sun Times live odds page.

Case in point, as I speak, the odds on LA at Arizona are listed on Sun times at the Wynn as 9-105 and on vegasinsider at the Wynn as 9u-15. Is " 9u-15" the same as "-105"? I thought the -15 meant having to bet 115 to win 100. Does - 15 actually mean betting 105 to win 100? And also the sun times odds imply says 9 not 9u. What's the difference?

In basketball I like to just make my over under picks based on records and such and then go line/total shopping to pick the best odds for my over-under or team selection. It's fairly simple in NBA but I don't know how to total shop in MLB because I don't understand how they are expressing the odds. Can anybody please explain it to me? I don't want to do money lines. Just interested in picking an over or an under and then selecting the book with the best payout odds. The two sites I referenced are:

http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/las-vegas/
http://scores.suntimes.com/odds/mlb.aspx


Thanks in advance and I already know I am gonna get hammered for asking dumb questions.

I was told by a smart ass I once knew that there are no stupid questions, only stupid people...

04/22 8:05 PM
923*Kansas City
924*Texas

9u-10
+115
-125

9u-10
-105
-105

9u-10
-102
-108

9o-15
-110
-110

9o-15
+104
-114

9o-15
-105
-105

9u-10
-105
-105

9o-15
-105
-105

9o-15
-102
-108

Pitchers:**(KAN)*Ian Kennedy*(R)****(TEX)*Nick Martinez*(R)

Most books are going to deal a 20 cent line on totals so over 9 -115 will be under 9 -105. 15+5=20

Thank you very much for the reply. And this "20 cent line" business is standard for physical vegas casino odds? I don't bet online. So just go 20 in the other direction to convert over odds to under odds and vice versa? 10u-10 would be the same as 10o-10? And 10u-20 would be the same as 10o - 00 ( expressing 100 as 00 to go along with the two digit nomenclature in this case ). Are the odds ever listed as "plus money"? For instance 10u+15? And would that the become 10o+10? Or 10o-15. Good lord this is confusing.

OK... I have been doing more reading on this, and after going through about 40 different explainations I found online, most of which were unclear I think I gleaned the following:

There are two different payout odds on any given total. One for the over and one for the under. From what I can see, they do not always directly correlate to one another and may fluctuate independently. I happened to click on the totals box on the vegasinsider.com vegas odds page and it took me to a screen called line movements.

On the line movements page the odds are clearly listed seperately for both the over and the under, which is all I need to select the book with the best payout for the pick I want to make. For instance, for the Kansas City / Texas game today, I see that at this moment the best payouts for the under would be at westgate and ceasar's at under 8 1/2 -105. The screen that shows the current odds at each book (without the line movements) has the totals odds for westgate listed at "8 1/2 o -15" So I guess 8 1/2 over - 115 equates to 8 1/2 under - 105- just as Mr. andr3w321 states. I guess I will stick with the line movements page.

Its not as complicated as youre making it out to be. If there is a minus sign in front of the number, that means that amount is how much you would have to risk to win 100. So -120 means you risk 120 to win 100 (or 220 in vegas terms. The 120 you risked plus the 100 in winnings). -175 means you risk 175 and win 100 back (or any multiple of of that obviously. So if you risk say 450 at -175 youd stand to win 257).

If there is a plus in front of the number, that is the amount you win if you risk 100. So if its +110, you risk 100 and win 110. A minus sign means its a favorite, plus sign means underdog.

Most times youll see -110 both sides. When you see one side is -115 and the other is -105, all that means is that the side that is -115 is a little bit more of a favorite. Its still the same amount of juice, just sliding 5 cents of it from one side to the other. Same thing if you see -120/even. Ten cents went from one -110 side to the other, making it -120.

20 cent lines are most common in vegas. Everyone calls them 10 cent lines but theyre really 20 cent lines. -110/-110, -115/-105, -120/even, -118/-102 are all 20 cent lines.

One thing to be wary of....juice and cents dont stay the same as the odds go up. Its confusing for a newb and wont come into for you probably ever. But -220/ +200 is not the same amount of juice as -140/ +120, even though theyre both "20 cent lines". The further away from 0 you get, the less the cent change matters.

This has been a lot of free, very useful info. Youre welcome.

Lol . He's advertising for Vegas insider .

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I appreciate you making it clear. I am , as you say, a newb to baseball wagering and the lines / totals / odds are more confusing than for NBA.

Ha ha. No I'm not. It's just the only site I have found so far that posts the odds on both sides of the over and under for MLB clearly right next to each other. All the other sites appear to only list either one side or the other, or the nomenclature is cryptic shorthand. And if I understand correctly, the odds may differ on either side of the total so I have no idea how it would be possible to do a conversion from just one number given to figure out the odds on the other side since there is not always a direct correlation. If you know of some other sites that have the odds laid out clear and easy to read by all means, I would love to know what they are. I am not saying vegasinsider is the best, its just the clearest and best I have found so far. They also seem to have most major vegas sports books represented along with line movements laid out clearly. It's free and well presented information and I appreciate it. Yeah, they should be paying me, I know I sound like a spokesperson.

If you still cant figure it out with the FAQ section, all the free info online, and the very detailed response I gave you, this betting thing might not be for you kid

Thanks for the encouragement.

aint my job to encourage you, kid. I helped you understand betting literally more than anyone else on the planet completely for free. LIKE I said...if you still cant figure it out.....