Daily Sports Betting Preview: MLB Betting, MLS Tournament, Premier Lacrosse League

• The Atlanta Braves have +115 underdog odds in their matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays.
• The MLS Tournament continues today with two matches from the Round of 16.
• Redwoods LC are set to take on Chaos LC in the Premier Lacrosse League tonight.

LAS VEGAS - The Daily Sports Betting Preview welcomes its readers to this Monday edition!

Today, the Preview begins with a discussion of MLB odds, as baseball continues marching on.

Then, the Preview turns to soccer, as the MLS tournament continues tonight.

Finally, the Preview takes a look at a potential new favorite, the Premier Lacrosse League.

MLB Betting

The MLB’s opening weekend was a resounding success for the sport in terms of functionality - the games all happened - but there were some serious setbacks in terms of COVID-19.

Multiple stars and role players had to be removed from games due to COVID-19 positive tests and symptoms. Despite these setbacks, MLB has shown no signs of slowing down.

In fact, there are nine separate games scheduled to occur today, and many of them are excellent betting opportunities.

Today’s highlighted game is between the Atlanta Braves and the Tampa Bay Rays and looks to be a fairly closely fought contest.

Let’s check out the odds!

On the straight up moneyline, the Rays are the favorite in this matchup, behind the arm of Tyler Glasnow. The Braves are set to send Mike Foltynewicz to the mound in this clash.

The run line looks a little different, however.

This matchup is a good example of a game that has an expected margin of victory well within the run line.

While the Braves are definitely straight-up underdogs, when they are spotted the +1.5 handicap provided by the run line, they become significant favorites.

This game provides some interesting betting opportunities for MLB bettors and is one of many games tonight that will do so.

MLS Tournament Betting

The MLS Tournament has reached the knockout stages of the competition, and the matches are getting quite compelling.

There are two matches scheduled for tonight, both of them in the round of 16, as teams look to move on to the quarterfinals.

The first match is between the San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake, and airs at 8:00 p.m. EST.

This is an interesting form for a line to take. The Earthquakes are favorites, but not favored enough to have an Earthquakes win be outright favored.

They’re close, though, with +105 odds, while the odds of a Salt Lake victory or draw are both set at +250.

The second match is between the Seattle Sounders and LAFC, and the odds look fairly similar, with some key differences.

This match airs at 11:00 p.m. EST

In this odds setup, LAFC’s odds to win are -110, making them the outright favorite in the matchup.

Interestingly, Seattle has better odds to win than Salt Lake does in their match, despite their opponent also having better odds to win than Salt Lake’s opponent.

This discrepancy is best explained by the odds for a draw - it seems to be a much more real possibility in the San Jose vs. Salt Lake match than it does in this one.

These two lines are very interesting to compare and contrast, and MLS bettors would be well advised to examine them as well as the other betting opportunities available on these matches tonight.

Premier Lacrosse League Betting

The Premier Lacrosse League is back, and, as usual, brings one match to the table as far as betting goes.

There are a couple of things to note about the Premier Lacrosse League that impact bettors.

First, lacrosse is generally handicapped by the sportsbooks in a fairly mechanical manner - they apply a method similar to a puck line to it.

Basically, instead of a spread intending to split the odds and get even action on both sides of a bet, in lacrosse betting, the favorite is given a handicap of -1.5 and the underdog a handicap of +1.5.

These odds serve as something of an alternate line to the moneyline - not a true spread, but simply another way to bet on the match.

The second major thing to know is that lacrosse goals are worth one point, unless they are shot from behind the two-point arc in the PLL.

And finally, the last major important aspect of lacrosse betting: when the game is tied going into overtime, the first goal wins.

This is very relevant when considering spreads of +/- 1.5, and bettors should be aware of how the game functions before wagering.

Let’s take a look at tonight’s moneyline odds.

This looks extremely close on the moneyline, with Redwoods slightly edging out Chaos as favorites.

With such a balanced matchup according to the moneyline, it should come as no surprise that a handicap of +/-1.5 was enough to seriously imbalance the scales.

On the spread, Redwoods -1.5 are pretty notable underdogs at online sportsbooks, with +135 odds, while Chaos clock in as respectable favorites at -165.

There’s a lot to consider for potential lacrosse bettors, and the sport does seem to be in a period of potential growth.

Happy Betting!