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Japan NPB Odds & Betting Lines

Overview

Brief History of NPB Baseball

Japan is home to the second-largest professional baseball league in the world, the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB). This year’s NPB will include a total of 12 teams competing for the famous Japan Series championship.

There are 143 regular-season games played by each NPB club, resulting in a plethora of possibilities for bettors to uncover value, particularly for those who use an analytical approach to betting.

A reasonably stabilized lineup gives a compelling chance for data-driven bettors to capitalize on the situation.

There appears to have always been a dominant team in the NPB championship at some point in the league’s history. The Yomiuri Giants won four of the league’s first six championships (1951, 1952, 1953, and 1955).

The Nishitestsu Lions won three straight championships, which was followed by more dominance by the Giants, who won eleven titles between 1961 and 1973, including nine in a row from 1965 to 1974.

The Seibu Lions, who were formed from the ashes of the original Nishitestsu Lions, were very successful in the 1980s, winning a total of five championships before adding three more in the early 1990s to their collection.

The late 1990s and early 2000s were a time when the series became more competitive, with no one club dominating it. However, the Fukuoka Hawks have been dominant in recent years, winning the series every year between 2014 and 2020 with the exception of 2016.

However, their winning streak of four consecutive championships came to an end in 2021 when the Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the championship, becoming the first successful Central League champion since the Yomiuri Giants won the championship in 2012

Main Events During the Year

The biggest buzz in NPB is surely generated when victors of each Climax Series advance to the Japan Series. It is the NPB title and the equivalent of the World Series in baseball. 

The Japan Series is played in a best-of-seven style. However, since games 1-7 might result in ties, the series could go on for eight or more games.

How Does Japan NPB Work

The NPB is the only major professional league in the nation, despite the fact that there are multiple high-caliber amateur leagues in the country.

The NPB was founded in 1936 and now has two leagues with six clubs. The Central League is comparable to Major League Baseball’s National League in that it is composed of the NPB’s oldest teams and does not have a designated hitter.

The Pacific League is similar to Major League Baseball’s American League in that it is a younger division that does use the designated hitter.

A total of 146 games are played throughout the NPB’s regular season, which starts in April and concludes in October. After this, the top three clubs from each league progress to the playoffs.

Each league’s first-place club advances to the best-of-five division final, where they will meet the winner of a best-of-three series between the teams that finished second and third in the league standings.

When the season ends, the winners of each league will face off in the Japan Series, which is a best-of-seven series that determines the NPB champion.

BetUS Offer

BetUS is a major US betting site that offers sports betting to bettors in a number of U.S. states. It is one of the most popular betting sites in the U.S., not least because of its excellent promotions and bonuses that attract bettors in the U.S. 

However, NPB is not, by any means, a major betting market in the U.S., but rather a niche one. And while BetUS offers bonuses and welcome offers to bettors to wager on bet on baseball, as of now, there is no specific bonus that applies to bettors looking for NPB baseball lines.

However, there are plenty of excellent bonus offers, a great welcome offer among them, that you can take advantage of as a general sports bettor.

Betting Strategy 

There are significant distinctions between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB that might influence Japan NPB baseball betting. To begin with, the baseball used in NPB is somewhat smaller than the one used in the U.S.

You may assume that a smaller baseball would result in more strikeouts and fewer balls in play, yet the strikeout rate in Japanese baseball is quite comparable to that of the MLB. Part of this might be because the strike zone in NPB is famously narrow (particularly for foreign pitchers), favoring the batters.

The size of the field is another important distinction between NPB and MLB games. While MLB fields vary in size and NPB stadiums are symmetrical, a reasonable rule of thumb is that Japanese parks have fences that are 10 feet closer than those in U.S. parks (except for center field, where NPB parks are 400 feet away). 

So, what’s the bottom line in all of this? When it comes to betting, are NPB games really that different from MLB? The only way to tell for sure is to look at the numbers, and there is one area where Nippon Professional Baseball differs greatly from Major League Baseball:

In the NPB, there are much fewer runs scored.

Japanese clubs scored 4.03 runs per game in 2017, whereas MLB teams scored 4.65 runs per game. When you divide each team’s average by two (because each game has two teams), you’ll find that the average number of runs scored in an NPB game was 8.06, which is more than a run lower than the 9.30 average in Major League Baseball games. That may not seem like much, but it’s a difference of about 15%.

Lower-scoring games might have a number of consequences for your NPB betting strategy.

Aside from the apparent added value on the “Under,” the +1.5 run line in Japanese baseball has become a more powerful weapon. After all, the fewer runs scored in a game, the less probable it is for the favorite to win by a large margin.

Prop Bets

Prop wagers are extremely popular in all kinds of betting, including baseball games. Prop wagers are fun, interesting, and, last but not least, unpredictable. 

MLB betting sites have large sections that are entirely dedicated to prop wagers. However, finding prop bets on NPB games is much harder, because NPB bets are more conventional, at least those offered by U.S. sportsbooks.

However, if you do come across some, be sure to scan them for value and have a good experience wagering on them.

HOW TO BET ON JAPAN NPB

As previously stated, Nippon Professional Baseball does not attract a large amount of U.S. betting activity. As a result, even betting sites that provide NPB baseball odds betting don’t usually offer a vast range of betting options.

Because U.S. oddsmakers are virtually as much in the dark about Japanese baseball as the rest of us, they like to keep things close to the vest with a restricted number of betting alternatives.

For example, getting future odds for the Japan Series will be challenging, and much more difficult will be locating the player and game props that are common in MLB sections.

Fortunately, any site that accepts NPB wagers will also provide the regular betting choices described below.

Moneyline

You’re just betting on who you believe will win the game when you bet on the baseball moneyline. The favorite’s odds will have a negative (-) symbol in front of them. 

This will be indicating the amount of money you’d have to risk to win $100. A plus (+) symbol will appear next to the underdog’s odds, showing your possible gains on a $100 stake.

Run Line Bets

The run line in baseball is similar to the point spread in football and basketball, but it’s usually set at 1.5 since most baseball games are equally matched. If you select the favorite on the -1.5 run line, they must win by at least two runs for you to win your bet.

Although this is clearly more difficult than merely winning the game, the reward to you is a better rate of return on your investment. 

If you expect a close game but aren’t certain that the underdog will win outright, you may pick the underdog on the +1.5 run line. You’ll win your wager if the underdog doesn’t lose by more than two runs.

The disadvantage is that you’ll almost always have to lay a lot of juice to get this additional insurance.

Over/Under

In any sport, including the NPB, the Over/Under is a popular wager. Rather than worrying about who wins the game or by how much, you may wager on the total amount of runs scored.

To be more exact, you’re betting on whether the total number of runs scored in the game is more (Over) or lower (Under) than the oddsmaker’s expected total.

Over/Under totals in the NPB are frequently lower than what you’ll see in MLB for the reasons mentioned above. This means that the UNDER wager is a somewhat safer bet, at least when one gives statistics importance.

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Japan NPB Faqs

BetUS is a solid US sportsbook. It is a fully licensed platform that accepts wagers is legally and regulated in U.S. states. BetUS has a solid interface as well as a variety of betting lines on offer. Lastly, its mobile betting experience is right up there among the best ones available.
You can wager on Japan NBP online using an online sportsbook that is legal and regulated. BetUS is a very solid option as it offers a very well-rounded product to bettors.
Yes. There are several betting strategies one can use, including statistics and predictions. Detailed analyses are given above
There are different types of Japan NBP odds. Each works in a different way. Check the article above for more information, or do your own research on the specific odds you want to know the working of.

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Rolling If Bets (RIF) allow you to use the balance (amount) from existing wagers to make a new wager. As long as existing wagers have not been graded, the amount wagered can still be used to make new wagers. However, if your original wager loses, the Rolling If Bet is then cancelled. There are two options for ties (pushes); you can specify if you want the Rolling If Bet to continue in case of a tie or simply cancel the RIF.

Rolling If Bets are:
  • only allowed on straight bets, Parlays and Teasers.
  • not available with Free Plays or Futures and Props
  • only available if you have pre existing, non graded wagers
  • you can only use the funds from the amount of the pre existing wager
How to Place a Rolling If Bet:
  • Choose any straight, parlay or teaser and Place it on the Bet Slip
  • Click on the Rolling If Bet button next to the wager detail
  • In the RIF dropdown, choose a wager that you want to use for RIF
  • Click on "If Win Only" or "If Win or Push" (explained above)
  • Fill in the amount and confirm your wager (the system will not allow you a higher amount than what is available)
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Fund this wager using a pending wager!

More Details...

Rolling If Bets (RIF) allow you to use the balance (amount) from existing wagers to make a new wager. As long as existing wagers have not been graded, the amount wagered can still be used to make new wagers. However, if your original wager loses, the Rolling If Bet is then cancelled. There are two options for ties (pushes); you can specify if you want the Rolling If Bet to continue in case of a tie or simply cancel the RIF.

Rolling If Bets are:
  • only allowed on straight bets, Parlays and Teasers.
  • not available with Free Plays or Futures and Props
  • only available if you have pre existing, non graded wagers
  • you can only use the funds from the amount of the pre existing wager
How to Place a Rolling If Bet:
  • Choose any straight, parlay or teaser and Place it on the Bet Slip
  • Click on the Rolling If Bet button next to the wager detail
  • In the RIF dropdown, choose a wager that you want to use for RIF
  • Click on "If Win Only" or "If Win or Push" (explained above)
  • Fill in the amount and confirm your wager (the system will not allow you a higher amount than what is available)
Close