MLS Betting at Bally Bet Sportsbook

The finest soccer competition in North America, the MLS – Major League Soccer – is home to the beautiful game in the United States and Canada, from Los Angeles FC all the way to the New York Red Bulls, and many more franchises in-between.

All the soccer bet types that you may be familiar with from the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and company are available for the MLS, too.

Here at Bally Bet, we offer all of your favorite soccer betting markets and many more besides. There are hundreds of lines to explore for every single game, and we’re going to explain some of the most popular ones right now.

Popular Types of MLS Bets

Here’s all you need to know about how to bet on the MLS — starting with the three most popular types of wager in soccer betting:

Moneyline

This is the most straightforward MLS betting market to understand. The object here is to simply bet on the team that you believe will win the game.

You will see odds that look a little like this:

• Inter Miami -200

• Los Angeles FC +150

Knowing how to read MLS betting lines confirms that the negative number (look for the minus sign) is given to the team considered to be the favorite to win. The actual digits, -200 for Miami in this case, reveal how much you would need to wager to win $100.

On the other hand, you have the underdog, who come with positive odds indicated by a plus sign. So, in this example, Los Angeles are +150, meaning that a $100 wager would make $150 in profit if they were to win the game.

Spread

You may already be familiar with point spreads from your NBA or NFL betting. The same rules apply to your MLS wagers too — albeit with much smaller numbers.

You may see soccer spread odds like Inter Miami -1, Los Angeles FC +1.

With MLS spread betting, these numbers are removed from the actual final result to create a hypothetical score line. Let’s say the game ends 3-1 to Inter Miami. Take away their -1 spread and the "new" result is 2-1, so spread bets on them would still win.

If the game were to finish 2-2, the spread wagers on Los Angeles would land, because +1 on a 2-2 result would hand L.A. the win at 2-3.

Total Goals

You can try to predict how many goals will be scored during a game, and you'll find that Bally Bet offers odds for various possible totals for this market.

For example, you may see over 2.5 goals at -133, under 2.5 goals at +100.

There’s no push here. That's because there’s no such thing as a half goal in soccer, so over 2.5 goal bets would land if three or more goals were netted in the game, while the bets on the under would prevail if two or fewer goals were scored.

The 2.5 line is the main soccer total, as two or three goals in a game is generally the average, but at Bally Bet you’ll also find lines for 1.5, 3.5 and so on.

Both Teams to Score

This is a betting market that does exactly what the name suggests. Will both teams score in a game?

For example:

• Yes at -150

• No at +100

The general MLS bet advice is to use this market when the two teams are evenly matched, or where their offensive players are considered to be much stronger than their respective defenses.

Correct Score

Unlike in football or basketball, there’s typically a much smaller range of final scores that can be played out in soccer games.

And so you have an opportunity to wager on a specific correct score you like the look of, or perhaps "Dutch" two or three correct scores to spread your risk but still yield a profit should any of them land.

For example:

• 1-1 at +850

• 2-1 at +800

• 2-0 at +1000

The odds tend to be longer in the correct score market than in other soccer bet types, which reflects the greater variance here than, say, with wagering on the total lines. But if you predict the score correctly, the payout is greater to go with the higher risk.

Parlays and Teasers

You can place a parlay on teasers on many different sports, but they're particularly popular when it comes to MLS betting.

A parlay is simply rolling two or more picks onto a single ticket, with their odds multiplied together for a potentially greater return. However, it only takes one incorrect selection to down your entire parlay.

You can use our sportsbook to place same game parlays too, for example, Inter Miami to win and score over 2.5 goals.

A teaser is a type of parlay that allows you to select your own spread on a game before adding two or more of these picks to a single ticket.

MLS Live Betting

You can place your MLS bets as soon as the odds are released for the next week of games, or hold tight until closer to kickoff.

Waiting until game day can be a useful strategy, as you’ll have more information to inform your wagers. What is the latest team news? Are key players absent through injury or being rested? You’ll also get a closer look at the pitch and the weather conditions this way.

Of course, you can also wager in-play with Bally Bet's live betting markets. Dozens of different lines are available even after a game has gotten underway, so if you’ve spotted a value play having watched some of the action, you can wager on it then and there.

MLS Futures

In addition to betting on individual MLS games, you can also place season-long wagers, which are more commonly known as futures bets.

If you think you know who will win the MLS Cup, you can bet on that team courtesy of their futures line. You might find +300 available on Inter Miami to do exactly that.

There are MLS futures lines for the Supporters’ Shield and the Eastern and Western conferences, as well as a market for the player you believe will end as the season’s top goalscorer.

MLS Betting Tips

Although there’s no single recipe for success when it comes to wagering on soccer, there are some common MLS betting tips you can follow to help improve your chances of winning.

Gather as much information as possible

The league standings and recent form are two excellent starting points for this, but broaden your data dive to consider each team’s strength of schedule, as this can skew a form line positively or negatively and not necessarily be reflective of a team’s quality.

We’ve already mentioned team news and injury lists. These are also vital when plotting your bets, as the absence of key players may make a difference to the moneyline, spread, and totals markets.

Head-to-head records can also prove instructive. Just think about the sheer difference in conditions between the teams. From the dry heat of Houston Dynamo’s home field to the rather cooler Allianz Field in Saint Paul, it’s interesting to see which teams struggle in their road games at particular locations.

And for the serious number-crunchers, advanced team and player stats such as Expected Goals (displayed as xG) can prove to be the icing on the cake.

Play it safe or take a risk?

We’re all different, and while some of us might be described as risk-averse, others are willing to take longer odds shots in the hope of more occasional winners.

Your personality type may inform which are the best MLS bets for you. If you are risk-averse, consider wagering on single selections rather than parlays, and perhaps favor moneyline over spreads. The former is less risky than the latter.

But, if you are willing to take a bigger chance, parlays and spreads can be a way to increase your odds, while accepting that your probability of winning is lower than the other bet types mentioned.

Pick the right moment

There’s a school of thought that believes taking the early odds when they are published is the smart strategy; if you find good value, the line will only tumble as game day approaches.

On the other hand, there are those who believe that waiting until the last possible moment – taking in as much information as it becomes available – is the savvy play.

This latter option also enables you to use public betting as part of your strategy. You can examine which direction the weight of money has been going in the lead up to the game. Has a particular moneyline or spread been well backed? If so, why?

Some bettors are happy to go against the grain and wager against the public money, in the belief that those trying to catch some steam ultimately push the line too far in one direction.

Take the time to consider which strategy is right for you, and be sure to track all of your betting results in a spreadsheet. This way, you can see which bet types prove to be the most successful.

MLS Crib Sheet

The MLS was established in 1993 to take the administrative reins of North American soccer from the NASL.

The franchises are split geographically into Eastern and Western Conferences and, at the time of writing, there are 29 active teams — 26 from the United States and three from Canada.

Each franchise plays 34 regular season games with the aim of finishing in the top nine teams in their conference. The best team during the regular campaign is awarded the Supporters’ Shield, while the 18 sides with the most points in the east and the west head to the playoffs.

These franchises then compete in the postseason playoffs, with a bracket format whittling down the field until only two teams remain. These participate in the one-off MLS Cup game, the victor of which being crowned champions for the season.