To 5 wins, and the odds were -125. That means you would have to bet $125 to win $100. The bookmakers viewed the Browns’ perfect preseason as a reason to bump the line up to an over/under of 5 wins. I saw the Browns’ perfect preseason, and bump in the line, as a great value bet for taking the under. Cleveland has been a bad team for a long time. Los Angeles Dodgers Over 101.5. The Dodgers are the favorites in this year’s World Series odds.

Action: Having a wager on a game.

ATS ('against the [point] spread'): If a team is 5-2 ATS, it means it has a 5-2 record against the point spread, or more commonly referred to simply as the 'spread.'

Backdoor cover: When a team scores points at the end of a game to cover the spread unexpectedly.

Bad beat: Losing a bet you should have won. It's especially used when the betting result is decided late in the game to change the side that covers the spread. Also used in poker, such as when a player way ahead in the expected win percentage loses on the river (last card).

Beard: Someone who places a wager for another person (aka 'runner').

Book: Short for sportsbook or bookmaker; person or establishment that takes bets from customers.

Bookie: A person who accepts bets illegally and charges vig.

Buying points: Some bookies or sportsbooks will allow customers to alter the set line and then adjust odds. For example, a bettor might decide he wants to have his team as a 3-point underdog instead of the set line of 2.5. He has then 'bought' half a point, and the odds of his bet will be changed.

Chalk: The favorite in the game. People said to be 'chalk' bettors typically bet the favorite.

Circle game: A game for which the betting limits are lowered, usually because of injuries and/or weather.

Closing line: The final line before the game or event begins.

Consensus pick: Derived from data accumulated from a variety of sportsbooks in PickCenter. The pick, and its percentage, provides insight as to what side the public is taking in a game.

Cover: The betting result on a point-spread wager. For a favorite to cover, it has to win by more than the spread; an underdog covers by winning outright or losing by less than the spread.

Dime: Jargon for a $1,000 bet. If you bet 'three dimes,' that means a $3,000 wager.

'Dog: Short for underdog.

Dollar: Jargon for a $100 bet. Usually used with bookies; if you bet 'five dollars,' that means a $500 wager.

Edge: An advantage. Sports bettors might feel they have an edge on a book if they think its lines aren't accurate.

Even money: Odds that are considered 50-50. You put up $1 to win $1.

Exotic: Any wager other than a straight bet or parlay; can also be called a 'prop' or 'proposition wager.'

Favorite: The expected straight-up winner in a game or event. Depending on the sport, the favorite will lay either odds or points. For example, in a football game, if a team is a 2.5-point favorite, it will have to win by three points or more to be an ATS winner.

Fixed: A participant in a particular game who alters the result of that game or match to a completely or partially predetermined result. The participant did not play honestly or fairly because of an undue outside influence.

Futures bet: A long-term wager that typically relates to a team's season-long success. Common futures bets include betting a team to win a championship at the outset of a season, or betting whether the team will win or lose more games than a set line at the start of the season.

Halftime bet: A bet made after the first half ended and before the second half begins (football and basketball primarily). The oddsmaker generally starts with half of the game side/total and adjusts based on what happened in the first half.

Handicapper: A person trying to predict the winners of an event.

Handle: The amount of money taken by a book on an event or the total amount of money wagered.

Hedging: Betting the opposing side of your original bet, to either ensure some profit or minimize potential loss. This is typically done with futures bets, but can also be done on individual games with halftime bets or in-game wagering.

High roller: A high-stakes gambler.

Hook: A half-point. If a team is a 7.5-point favorite, it is said to be 'laying seven and a hook.'

In-game wagering: A service offered by books in which bettors can place multiple bets in real time, as the game is occurring.

Juice: The commission the bookie or bookmaker takes. Standard is 10 percent. Also called the 'vig/vigorish.'

Layoff: Money bet by a sportsbook with another sportsbook or bookmaker to reduce that book's liability.

Limit: The maximum bet taken by a book. If a book has a $10,000 limit, it'll take that bet but the book will then decide whether it's going to adjust the line before the bettor can bet again.

Lock: A guaranteed win in the eyes of the person who made the wager.

Middle: When a line moves, a bettor can try to 'middle' a wager and win both sides with minimal risk. Suppose a bettor bets one team as a 2.5-point favorite, then the line moves to 3.5 points. She can then bet the opposite team at 3.5 and hope the favorite wins by three points. She would then win both sides of the bet.

Money line (noun), money-line (modifier): A bet in which your team only needs to win. The point spread is replaced by odds.

Mush: A bettor or gambler who is considered to be bad luck.

Nickel: Jargon for a $500 bet. Usually used with bookies; if you bet 'a nickel,' that means a $500 wager.

Oddsmaker (also linemaker): The person who sets the odds. Some people use it synonymous with 'bookmaker' and often the same person will perform the role at a given book, but it can be separate if the oddsmaker is just setting the lines for the people who will eventually book the bets.

Off the board: When a book or bookie has taken a bet down and is no longer accepting action or wagers on the game. This can happen if there is a late injury or some uncertainty regarding who will be participating.

Over/under: A term that can be used to describe the total combined points in a game (the Ravens-Steelers over/under is 40 points) or the number of games a team will win in a season (the Broncos' over/under win total is 11.5). Also used in prop bets.

Parlay: A wager in which multiple teams are bet, either against the spread or on the money line. For the wager to win (or pay out), all of them must cover/win. The more teams you bet, the greater the odds.

Pick 'em: A game with no favorite or underdog. The point spread is zero, and the winner of the game is also the spread winner.

Point spread (or just 'spread'): The number of points by which the supposed better team is favored over the underdog.

Proposition (or prop) bet: A special or exotic wager that's not normally on the betting board, such as which team will score first or how many yards a player will gain. Sometimes called a 'game within a game.' These are especially popular on major events, with the Super Bowl being the ultimate prop betting event.

Push: When a result lands on the betting number and all wagers are refunded. For example, a 3-point favorite wins by exactly three points. Return on investment (ROI): In PickCenter, ROI is the amount (according to numberFire) that a bettor should expect to get back on a spread pick.

Runner: Someone who makes bets for another person (aka 'beard').

Sharp: A professional, sophisticated sports bettor.

Spread: Short for point spread.

Square: A casual gambler. Someone who typically isn't using sophisticated reasoning to make a wager.

Steam: When a line is moving unusually fast. It can be a result of a group or syndicate of bettors all getting their bets in at the same time. It can also occur when a respected handicapper gives a bet his followers all jump on, or based on people reacting to news such as an injury or weather conditions.

Straight up: The expected outright winner of the money line in an event or game, not contingent on the point spread.

Teaser: Betting multiple teams and adjusting the point spread in all the games in the bettor's favor. All games have to be picked correctly to win the wager.

Total: The perceived expected point, run or goal total in a game. For example, in a football game, if the total is 41 points, bettors can bet 'over' or 'under' on that perceived total.

Tout (service): a person (or group of people) who either sells or gives away picks on games or events.

Underdog: The team that is expected to lose straight up. You can either bet that the team will lose by less than the predicted amount (ATS), or get better than even-money odds that it will win the game outright. For example, if a team is a 2-1 underdog, you can bet $100 that the team will win. If it wins, you win $200 plus receive your original $100 wager back.

Vig/vigorish: The commission the bookie or bookmaker takes; also called the 'juice.' Standard is 10 percent.

Wager: A bet.

Welch: To not pay off a losing bet.

Wiseguy: A professional bettor. Another term for a 'sharp.'

Temperatures are warming, and snow is melting, and spring training games are getting started, which means it’s a great time to look at futures bets. Personally, I love futures bets because they give me a team to either root for or against for the entire season, and if you know what you’re doing, there’s plenty of opportunities here to make money.

The trade-off for the opportunity is that you’re waiting six months to cash in on your baseball bets, but if you’ve got the patience and the bankroll to wait things out, the reward can be well worth it. Here are a few of my top options for over/under win totals for the upcoming season, based on what these teams look like as of the start of March.

Baltimore Orioles, Under 63.5 Wins

My cousin won’t be happy with me for this prediction, but when a team is coming off a year in which it al-ready ranked 29th in payroll (thank you, Pirates), decided to replace most of its infield and plays in the abso-lutely loaded AL East, it’s hard to see the Orioles doing any better than they did a season ago. Baltimore flirt-ed with progress last season, but the Orioles have decided to take a step back in order to try to take two steps forward, and they’re again going to be making no real effort to win.

And really, I can’t blame them. Only two potential key players, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander, project to be in the Baltimore starting lineup. The Orioles’ likely cornerstone of the decade, catcher Adley Rutschman, isn’t even in Baltimore yet and might not make it to Charm City before the year is over. Balti-more’s young prospects lost out on a year of development thanks to the minor league season being canceled last season, so the Orioles have even more reason to wait this out and go slow with their young talent.

Plus, while Baltimore was standing still, the rest of the AL East certainly wasn’t. The Orioles share a division with three behemoths, as they’ve got to contend with baseball’s richest team (the Yankees), baseball’s smartest team (the Rays), and the Blue Jays, who are right there with the White Sox and Padres as baseball’s most exciting young team. All are well-run organizations set up to compete this year, and Baltimore’s got to play them a combined 57 times. Throw in that life on the junior circuit includes facing the White Sox, Twins, Indians, Athletics, and Angels, and it’s difficult to see where the wins come from for a team with little speed, weak pitching, and subpar defense. The Birds are at least two, possibly three years away. Find this bet as well as a 50% real cash bonus on your first deposit AND the best live betting platform on the internet at Bovada Sportsbook! Credit cards work there for deposits!

Boston Red Sox, Under 79.5 Wins

Here’s a dirty little secret: it’s almost always a good idea to bet against a big-name team that’s got a lot of fans across the country. Why? Because popular teams are likely to have more fans who can easily make it to a sportsbook and place large bets, just because of sheer numbers. And when it comes to futures bets, most fans aren’t going to bet against their own team.

But the reality with the Red Sox is that this is not a .500 ball club. The rotation is in shambles, even if Chris Sale comes back at the halfway point of the season, and the Red Sox are relatively weak defensively. Throw in Fenway Park, and you can probably count on Boston being a team that plays a lot of overs during the season. That’s not a great formula for wins because Boston probably can’t outslug New York or Toronto, and Tampa Bay has the pitching to handle the Red Sox lineup. Last year’s team played at a pace that would have meant 97 losses and just 65 wins, and it doesn’t look like things are a lot rosier this year on the Back Bay. An 80-win season in this division seems a very tall order for this group.

Cleveland Indians, Over 81.5 Wins

If I’m being completely honest, Cleveland’s championship window closed after the 2017 season. The Indians had every piece of the puzzle in 2017, but Corey Kluber pitched two awful games against the Yankees in the ALDS, and that was that. Since then, Cleveland has limped along like a good team that’s a piece short of being great. The Indians are kind of stuck; they can’t really tear it down completely, but they’re not good enough to make a run at the title, and they’ve now been caught and passed by both the White Sox and the Twins. Reality set in on Lake Erie when the Indians dealt Francisco Lindor to the Mets, signaling the end of an era.

Bet Win Wins Live

But that said, there are four reasons why I’m picking Cleveland to hit its over this year. No. 1 is the pitching. Cleveland is loaded on the hill, with none better than Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. The most reliable bet in baseball last year was taking the under for the first five innings every time Bieber pitched because the Indians’ lineup was lousy, and Bieber was just that unhittable. As long as you can pitch, you don’t need a lot of runs.

No. 2 is Terry Francona. The Indians play their guts out for him, which is one reason why they haven’t had a losing record during his eight years in Northeast Ohio. Case in point, back in Francona’s first year in Cleveland, the Tribe was coming off a 68-94 campaign. Francona improved on that by 24 games, and he’s never finished lower than third in the division in 16 years as an American League manager.

That streak likely reaches 17 because of reasons 3 and 4: Detroit and Kansas City. The White Sox and Twins might be a little better than the Indians now, but the Tigers and the Royals are still miles away from being contenders. Cleveland should pick up 25 to 30 wins off those two, and if it does, 82 wins are well within reach. Bet the Indians for FREE by taking advantage of a special 100% REAL CASH bonus on your first deposit of $100 to $300 at MyBookie Sportsbook! (Must use bonus/promo code PREDICT100 to receive the special bonus!)

Los Angeles Angels, Over 83 Wins

The Angels have to get this right eventually, don’t they? They’ve spent on hitting. They’ve changed managers twice. They’ve just recently fired their general manager because literally, nothing else they’ve done has worked. In the process, they’ve now wasted nine years of Mike Trout’s career, with one playoff appearance and zero playoff games won in the past 11 years. Incidentally, that’s also why I think Trout had no business winning the 2019 AL MVP, because when your team goes 72-90, your contributions really weren’t that valua-ble, no matter how good a year you had. But that’s a story for another day.

The point with the Angels is not that I think things are looking up in Anaheim, but that the rest of the AL West might be in full-blown collapse. Texas went all-in last year and watched things blow up in its faces. Seattle has a slew of front-office problems, Houston is fading fast, and nobody really knows if Oakland is going to build off of its success last season or regress to the mean. As such, 83 wins should actually be pretty doable for the Angels, even with their rotation problems. Trout and Anthony Rendon should hit well, and the Angels have a pretty decent bullpen for if they do get themselves a lead. The rotation is a major worry, but with the rest of the division loaded with question marks and an unbalanced schedule, there should be enough here to hit.

Toronto Blue Jays, Over 86 Wins

If you’re sensing a pattern with my American League bets, it’s because the AL has become a league of haves and have-nots, and most of the have-nots aren’t even bothering to try to look like haves right now. The Blue Jays share a division with two have-nots, with the Red Sox at least pretending to believe they can win and the Orioles making no attempt whatsoever. Plus, Toronto is young and talented and just opened the wallet for George Springer, who brings championship experience and a wealth of talent to…well, we’re not entirely sure yet where the Blue Jays will call home this year.

That could be the thing that sinks Toronto’s young guns: COVID is still out there, and as the one Canadian team in MLB, the Blue Jays aren’t going to be allowed to cross the border until the pandemic is a thing of the past. The Jays will start the season in Dunedin at their spring training home before likely moving to Buffalo for the summer months if COVID isn’t over yet. The Jays are used to the weird situation after going through it last year, so this shouldn’t be that big of a factor, but it’s always possible that a second year of it wears on the players’ psyches.

The other concern with Toronto/Dunedin/Buffalo is run prevention. The Blue Jays have a genuine ace in Hyun-Jin Ryu, but they need Nate Pearson to establish himself as a top-tier MLB starter and the defense to improve quickly. That’s a significant concern for this group, but when you share a division with the rebuilding Red Sox and the not-even-trying Orioles, 86 wins should be very manageable. Toronto’s got a good shot at snatching a wild card, and that probably means 90 to 95 wins.

Atlanta Braves, Over 92 Wins

When things are good in Georgia, Atlanta tends to be one of the best bargains in baseball because the Braves are usually priced as a small-market team thanks to sharing a division with the Mets and Phillies. The Mets, in particular, tend to win the offseason, pick up a ton of hype and then lose to the Braves when they actually get onto the field. The Mets have been looking up at the Braves for four years running now, and there’s eve-ry reason to expect Atlanta to continue to be the best in the NL East as long as it stays healthy.

One big reason is because while the Mets were adding a free agent starter in Carlos Carrasco, the Braves po-tentially one-upped them without doing a thing, as Mike Soroka is supposed to return to the rotation after missing almost all of the 2020 “season” with a shredded Achilles. With Soroka back to full strength and Max Fried and Ian Anderson sitting behind him in the rotation, the Braves have a pitching staff that’s the envy of the National League (outside of 1000 Vin Scully Avenue in Los Angeles, of course).

Beyond that, the Braves can hit, and their lineup is full of players who can change a game at any moment. There’s a reason that this team had the Dodgers’ backs to the wall in the NLCS and probably would have fin-ished Los Angeles off had Soroka been healthy. The Phillies are still slowly rebuilding, the Nationals appear to be aging out of contention, and I’m not buying the Marlins’ 60-game sprint from a year ago. 92 should be a very reasonable target for Atlanta. Question: Did you know that you can bet on baseball games at reduced odds? This means favorites cost less and underdogs pay more! Find this awesome betting option at BetAnySports!

St. Louis Cardinals, Over 86 Wins

The Cardinals have to be the most disrespected team in the National League. This team has been a model of consistency, as they’ve won 86 games or more in 11 of the past 12 162-game seasons. They’re coming off an-other playoff appearance, they’ve got a solid lineup, and they added Nolan Arenado, who should be in line to produce a strong season now that he’s away from Colorado’s losing culture.

The reason the Cardinals’ win numbers aren’t higher is that the NL Central was both the most balanced division in 2020 and the weakest division overall. The division managed to get four out of five teams in the post-season last year, but all four were picked off in the first round of the playoffs, and only St. Louis managed to win even one game. So the NL Central is seen as the black sheep of baseball right now, given that it doesn’t have a heavy favorite like Atlanta or Los Angeles or an exciting newcomer like the Mets or Padres.

But that’s an ideal spot for the Cardinals to be because they’ve been here before and are in the perfect position to take advantage of their rivals’ struggles. The Cubs seem to be trending in the wrong direction, the Reds lost a top pitcher, and the Pirates are the Pirates. Another 86-win season should be well within the Cardinals’ capabilities.

MLB Baseball Picks

• Barking Dog: Giants vs. Padres 5/1/21
• MLB Picks: Angels vs. Mariners 4/30/21
• Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers Pick 4/29/21
• San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Pick 4/28/21
• Red Sox vs. Mets Odds & Pick 4/27/21

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