On Sports Betting: Every Dog Has His Baseball Season
By Daniel Behringer
LVSportsBiz.com
Who let the ‘dogs out?
Some bettors might have been singing (or barking) along to the popular tune “Who let the dogs out?” from Baha Men after last Tuesday’s finals were posted in Major League baseball.
The ‘dogs had a huge day:
— The Detroit Tigers with Jordan Zimmermann on the mound, priced at +190 took down the New York Yankees, 3-1.
— The Baltimore Orioles, off to a unexpected fast start, were 2-1 winners over the Toronto Blue Jays at +157.
— The Texas Rangers, facing the Astros’ ace Justin Verlander, won 6-4 and cashed at +195.
— And the Seattle Mariners continued their hot start with a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox and Chris Sale at +160.
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.
Any single ticket alone on any of those teams would have been a very sweet payday.
But what would have happened if a black-chip bettor had had the chutzpah to parlay all four of those barking dogs?
The parlay calculator at VegasInsider says a $100 parlay would have paid $5,615.45. After you tipped the ticket writer a couple of bucks, that’s a pretty good day.
Baseball presents unique opportunities, particularly in the first few games when the traditional powerhouses may still be getting the kinks out. Witness, for example, the early woes of the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, both of which struggled out of the gate. Both teams will likely be a factor in the late summer pennant races, but the first few games offered opportunities for the situational bettor.
After some early success riding the Milwaukee Brewers, we tried to capitalize on one of these situational spots with the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. The Orioles had competed successfully with the New York Yankees in the first series, and we thought we saw an opportunity for the O’s to continue their winning ways at +190 in their home opener.
A couple of Yankee home runs proved us wrong, and the Orioles ended up on the wrong end of an 8-4 score.
While pocketing what turned out to be losing tickets on the Orioles, we turned to the board at one of the local shops and asked the ticket writer what she liked.
“How ’bout the Golden Knights?” we asked.
“Sure,” she said agreeably, “But I always like the Knights.”
We thought that might have been a spot for the VGK to start showing playoff form, but the -230 price quickly dissuaded us. Good thing, too, since the Arizona Coyotes dumped the Knights, 4-1.
By the weekend, we briefly shelved baseball and April underdogs and joined the madding crowds watching NCAA basketball. We leaned toward Notre Dame -3 in the one of the women’s semifinal games on Friday but didn’t play it. We did, however, note that Notre Dame won, 81-76.
There were partisan crowds Saturday in the local shops for the men’s semifinal games. In the first game, Auburn money line bettors appeared ready to cash tickets at around +270. That is until a Virginia player was apparently fouled was attempting a last-second three-point shot, calmly stepped to the line and drained all three free throws for a 63-62 win. But Auburn still covered a line anywhere from +5 to +6.
In the nightcap, we invested in a ticket on the first half total under 61.5 based on Texas Tech’s suffocating defense. When the Red Raiders took a 23-21 lead after the first 20 minutes, we weren’t surprised. The under for the game at 133.5 was never really in doubt either as Texas Tech defeated Michigan State, 61-51.
There was plenty of other activity on the board for Saturday including the last of the regular season hockey games. If you liked the Knights, you were laying -165 vs. the Los Angeles Kings. And again you came away disappointed as the Kings skated past the Knights for a 5-2 victory.
The championship game of the NCAA women’s tournament concluded Sunday with the Lady Bears anywhere around -2.5 or -145 on the money line. We tuned in for the second half and watched a taut, closely contested game down the stretch after Baylor lost a star player to injury but held one to defeat Notre Dame, 82-81.
And of course the men’s championship game concludes Monday night with the Virginia a -1 or -1.5 favorite, and the total set at a mere 118. If your bracket tiebreaker was in the 130s or 140s, that number might alarm you.
But there’s more on tap this week:
— The AAA Las Vegas Aviators’ sold-out home opener is on Tuesday. We noticed Station Casinos is putting up a betting line on the games, and the Westgate also apparently is posting odds.
— NHL playoffs open Wednesday and Game One of the San Jose Sharks-Vegas Golden Knights series will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. We are currently seeing the Knights as -110 to win the series.
— NBA playoffs begin Saturday. The Golden State Warriors, which opened the season as 5/4 favorites are currently listed at 1/2. The Milwaukee Bucks, which opened at 100/1 are now listed at 10/1.
— The Masters gets underway Thursday, and we are confident someone (though probably not us) will find a sharp betting angle. Rory McIlroy is currently listed at 7/1. Tiger Woods is 14/1. A little further down the list, you can find Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal at 2000/1.
— And baseball is on the board every day. You can list the pitchers and or take the action. There’s sides, totals, run lines, five-inning lines, and whether or not a run will be scored in the first inning.
There’s also a good chance of games being snowed out in April. (Imagine Crash Davis in “Bull Durham” saying, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes … it snows.”)
There’s usually at least one live ‘dog or two on the board.
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.
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