How do baseball lines work?

[Mano]

I often glance at the baseball lines in the newspaper, and I have never understood how they work. For instance, what does San Diego -180 Cincinnati +170 actually mean in terms of a wager?

[Oski]

If you bet Cincy, its $100 to win $170;
If you bet SD, its $180 to win $180.

You "win" the wager if your team wins the game.

Of course, you can bet other amounts, but the same ratio would apply.

[xltros]

180 to win 100

[Oski]

yeah, had a typo there, thanks for the correction!

[Raven70]

Allright - How bout a little more clarification. . .

Here's an example

Tex -135
Det

If I want to wager on Texas, what's the payout? Same question for Detroit. Thanks.

[Oski]

[ QUOTE ]
Allright - How bout a little more clarification. . .

Here's an example

Tex -135
Det

If I want to wager on Texas, what's the payout? Same question for Detroit. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

You bet 135 on Texas to win 100;
You bet 100 on Detroit to win $125.

This assumes a 10-cent line, which is common. Pinnacle offers an 8-cent line so you would get Detroit at +127.

Hope this helps. Also, look for posts by Mr. Baseball, MikeL and Scalf - they have some solid bases picks. Homer and shemp were hot for awhile, but I haven't seen them giving picks lately.