Baseball Betting

Oh how I long for the lazy days of Summer, boating in South Missouri in the Ozarks, slurping on some cooled down Kentucky Whiskey, and getting back to my lake home in time to watch the scores come in and count my money on a daily basis. It is just like the stock market back in the mid 1990’s, a license to print money! To this day it amazes me just how many sports bettors pass on baseball for football and basketball to place their wagering dollars on. I say shame on you for doing so, but I’ll take the money anyway, the rest of you wait till football rolls around again! There is no doubt in my mind that over the years I have made 5 fold the money betting baseball than any other sport, and that is 12 years of experience talking, and from a guy who went a documented 67% in College Football, and 69% in the NFL in 2003. Let’s break this down and see if we can’t get some guys on the bandwagon to make some easy money, because in no uncertain terms, baseball is the easiest sport of all to win money at. Ask any bookmaker in Las Vegas, they hate baseball! Sharp players beat them up every single year in bases, yet the public continues to shy away from this moneymaking sport with numerous options to enhance a bankroll.

Most novice bettors are totally confused by the money lines, because you are not “laying points”. Folks if a team is laying –140, that means you are wagering $140 to win $100. Money management 101 for those living under a rock. Then comes the dime line or the 20-cent line, what does that mean? Simply put, when you lay $110 to win $100 in football or basketball, a dime line is the same 11 to 10 odds, but a 20-cent line is 12 to 11 odds, or you are laying $120 to win a $100. For the most part over and under’s in baseball are the same as 11 to 10 odds as in football or basketball with a book that posts a dime line , otherwise some books even with a 20-cent line may in fact post dime lines on totals plays. It takes one trip to a website that reviews sportsbooks to find out what books offer what lines. If you are serious about winning, it is imperative you research the books and their lines. Some offshore sportsbooks offer 10 cent lines (dime lines) up to a certain number, say –150, then they go to a 15 cent or 20 cent line from there. A little homework can make you allot of extra cash, instead of leaving it on the table!

The reason numerous sportsbooks post a 20-cent line is they KNOW that sharp players will take them for their money in baseball, and it minimizes the profits of those players, and maximizes the losses for the books. Once again proving that baseball is easy to win at if you know what to look for. If you are playing the NBA Regular Season and Playoffs until they end, and then think about playing baseball, even a $200 player has lost thousands in profits by that time by passing on baseball. The NBA is very tough this year, and as I reviewed a respected sports monitor today, I see that out of the Top 94 ranked sports services, only 16 legit sports services posted a positive unit rating at the time of this article.

In baseball the team ONLY has to win to cash tickets. It comes down to some real simple items to look at to get started, mainly pitching and hitting, that is the bottom line in the simplest of terms. I also look at slugging percentage and on base percentage and then a few intangibles. But wait a minute the novice says, I will not lay –320 with Tim Hudson and –280 with Pedro Martinez, what if they lose? Granted it is possible, even playing a weak sister, that one of these studs may have an off day, but the beauty is you can lower the odds in baseball. Let’s say you have 2 teams, with 2 strong pitchers both laying –200 or more against a team they should clearly mop the floor with, but you don’t want to expose yourself to a heavy chalk line. I suggest a 2-team parley, for half of your normal wager. The payout with those odds is bet $100 to win $125 for a two teamer. Worth a shot isn’t it? Remember also you can lay it on a run line too, it lowers the odds, but Team A has to beat Team B by 1.5 runs, or basically win by 2 runs in order to cash a ticket at much lower odds, once again providing you an option to make money in baseball on a side play.

It is not so much wins and losses in baseball from a win percentage that counts, but it is units won based on a money line. There is money to made baseball without question, and if you manage your money and use discipline and have a good sports service, you can build quite a bankroll over the summer and then have plenty of cash to get ready for football in the Fall.

Tony George is President of Midwest Sports Consultants and Sports Audio Shows. Tony has 12 years in the business and is from Lincoln, NE. You can visit Tony’s site at www.sportsaudioshows.com