Major League Baseball is very popular in Texas both in terms of viewership and betting action. The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are both successful franchises with large fan bases, but Texas residents enjoy betting on games from across the league. Texas teams have been especially successful of late with the Astros winning the World Series in 2022 and the Rangers winning the championship in 2023.
The 2025 MLB season will run from March 27th to September 28th, with the World Series scheduled to begin in late October. The season will be a full 162 games with 12 teams advancing to the post season.
On this page I will recommend our top rated betting site for Americans, touch on regulated sports betting in Texas, look at the three most common MLB bets, and finish with a simple 3 step guide you can follow to bet on MLB games online.
Best Sportsbook for Texas Residents
Bovada.lv is our recommended betting site for Texas residents looking to bet on MLB games. They have been in business since 2012 and have emerged as the most popular and trusted betting site serving the United States betting market.
Bovada offers a huge selection of fair odds for every MLB game.
Sports Betting in Texas
It is currently not legal to operate a sportsbook in Texas. There is another push towards legalization currently happening during the 2025 Texas legislative session, but Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has stated that the Senate would oppose any sports betting bills this year, so it’s highly unlikely regulated sports betting comes to Texas in 2025. Texas will now have to wait until 2027 at the earliest to revisit sports betting legislation because the Texas legislature only meets every two years.
That said, Texas residents can place bets through offshore betting sites that are licensed and regulated outside of the United States. Bovada.lv is the most popular offshore betting site serving the United States market (including Texas).
MLB Betting Options
There are three MLB bets that are featured for every game and take the majority of betting handle. These are the money line, run line and over/under bets.
To Win (Money Line)
The money line is simply a bet on which team will win the game. The oddsmakers set the betting line to reflect the each teams perceived chance of winning the game. The odds determine the risk vs reward of the bet.
Here’s an example using the Houston Astros season opening game from this season.
In this example the Astros are -128 favorites to win the game. This means you would have to risk $128 to win $100 betting on Houston. The Mets are +107 underdogs, which means a $100 bet on NYM would win $107 if they pulled off the upset.
Run Line (Spread)
The run line is always a spread of 1.5 runs for MLB games. The favored team must win by 2 or more runs, while the underdog must either win the game outright or lose by 1 or fewer runs.
In this example the Astros are underdogs to cover the run line. A bet of $100 would win $165 betting on Houston Astros to win the game by 2 or more. You would have to risk $195 to win $100 betting on the Mets +1.5 (Mets to win the game or lose by 1).
Total (Over/Under)
The total, also commonly referred to as the over/under, is a bet on the number of runs scored in the game by both teams combined. The oddsmaker will set a “total” and you can bet on whether the number of runs scored in the game will be over or under that number.
In this example the total is set at 7.5. If 8 or more runs are scored then over bets would be graded winners and if 7 or fewer runs are scored under bets would payout.
MLB Betting in Texas – How To Guide
Follow this three step guide to bet on the MLB online from anywhere in Texas.
Step 1. Open A Bovada.lv Account
Click the above link and fill out the registration form on the home page to open your Bovada account.
Bovada is our #1 rated betting site for Texas residents.
Step 2. Deposit
Log into your new account and click on the ‘Deposit’ button under your account silhouette drop down menu.
Choose your preferred deposit method (Visa, MasterCard, Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc), enter your deposit amount, and follow the instructions to fund your account.
**You can cash out your winnings via bitcoin, check through the mail or bank transfer.
Step 3. Place Your MLB Bets
You’re ready to place your bets!
- Click ‘Sports’ from the top navigation bar.
- Open the ‘All Sports A-Z’ drop down menu and select ‘Baseball’.
- Select ‘MLB’ from the ‘Baseball A-Z’ drop down menu.
- Select the MLB bet you want to wager on to add it to your Bet Slip.
- Enter your wager amount and click ‘Place Bets’ to lock in your bet.
Ready to bet? Click here to visit Bovada.lv.
Tagged With : MLB betting • Texas Sports Betting