Betting the MLB Playoffs

In all of the major sports the post season offers a good opportunity for those interested in sports betting to make some good money relatively quickly, and the post season in Major League Baseball is certainly no exception.

Betting the MLB Playoffs The World Series playoffs are known as the second season in baseball, and with good reason. All previous statistics don’t mean anything as the players shake off the doldrums of a long season and set their sites on baseball’s biggest prize.

The World Series playoffs are the start of a whole new season for the sports bettor as well, as there are new strategies to consider and new information to factor in. Primary among these is the fact that the playoffs offer bettors the chance to bet on long series rather than on a game by game basis.

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To understand why betting series is a better way to gamble than betting game by game, you first have to consider why betting game by game is risky. When you bet one game at a time, there is a better than average chance that you will lose at least 60% of your bets, meaning that at the end of the post season you’ll have dug yourself into a hole. It’s easier to see when you consider the nature of baseball.

Let’s say the New York Yankees are playing the Boston Red Sox in an AL championships. Both teams are good and both have a number of hardcore betting fans who will keep the money lines fairly close. You choose to bet game by game, and you also know that the Yankees are the better team this year and will beat the Sox. Game 1 goes off without a hitch and the Yankees win, you make some money. The next game, though, the Red Sox put forth a better effort and now the series is split 1-1, and you just lost the money you won in the first game. Now, you’re a gambler, not just a fan, so you decide to take Boston for the first game at Fenway, but they lose. You switch back to New York, but they lose the next game. So now even though the series is tied 2-2, your betting record is 1-3. At this point it’s a matter of breaking even and just one more bad prediction will mean you lose money on the series.

That’s the weakness of the game by game scenario, especially in the playoffs where any team can win on any given night. If you decided to take the better team and bet on just the outcome of the series, though, you’d have a much better chance of winning. Individual games don’t matter, just the end result.

What I’m saying here is to make betting series the cornerstone of your post season strategy. There will be times in the playoffs where betting on a specific game will present value that is too good to be passed up. Betting on a good team who is playing a series game on the road is a good time to take advantage of good value; the money lines over price home teams every time. Another thing to look for is the pitching lineup; at some point one team’s ace will be up against a weaker opposing pitcher, and this is a chance to steal a good value game bet.

Remember, just as in the regular season, post season betting in baseball means you have to be steady to be successful. If you do choose to take advantage of the good value of the lines and bet on a road team, bet on both games even if you lose the first one. If you win the first one, don’t bet on the second. Never try to make your money back by switching your strategy or you will flip all over the place and end up in the hole!

Marshall

Published on 08/08/2007