The legalization of sports betting in the United States has been underway for only a few years, but it has been growing rapidly. In May 2018 a landmark Supreme Court ruling struck down a federal ban, giving individual states the right to decide whether or not to offer and regulate USA sports betting sites.

The National Hockey League (NHL) was one of the first major sports leagues to allow gambling, when it moved its expansion Vegas Golden Knights to Nevada in 2017. The NHL has also signed betting sponsorship agreements with several bookmakers.

Betting on baseball games is based on money odds, and the payoffs for winning bets vary depending on the betting line. The minus (-) on the electronic wagering screens and sheets indicates the favorite, while the plus (+) is the underdog.

A baseball parlay is a bet that mixes multiple outcomes on the same ticket. The payouts on a baseball parlay are determined by multiplying the individual payout odds for each bet in the parlay. In addition, the total score of the game (also called the TOTAL) is an independent wager, and bettors can place bets on whether the final score will be over or under the total set by the bookmakers.

The MLB’s rule against bribery in professional sports includes a ban on attempting to bribe players, managers or umpires. This rule was brought into force in 1919 when gambler Joseph Sullivan paid eight members of the Chicago White Sox to fix a World Series game. All eight were banned from professional baseball for life.