Double the Chances at Half the Price
(the unmatched value of baseball betting)

by RJ Bell - pregame.com

The Major League Baseball season gets underway this Sunday with the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox renewing their historic rivalry with the New York Yankees, but that’s not the only reason bettors should be excited. 

With 162 games on the slate, there will be 4,800+ opportunities for players to get action on the 30 teams this season - that counts sides & total bets only (on top of that are more exotic bets such as run lines and 5.5 inning lines - which will be discussed at length in a future article).

Baseball is an unmatched opportunity for action and value:

• Many quality books offer 10-cent lines, which charges literally HALF THE JUICE of traditional 20-cent lines

• You can pick winners using both team and pitching match-ups - offering twice the chance to find an edge.

10 cent line (also called the "dime line") means that the dog pays only 10 cents less than the favorite bettor must lay.  For example, if the fav is -150, the dog pays +140 on the dime line while paying off only +130 on the 20 cent line.

Keep in mind that standard football and basketball bets are based upon a 20 cent line (-110 on each side is a 20 cent difference).

The bookies' charge for taking a bet (also called "juice" or "vig") is literally CUT IN HALF with the dime line.  It's like finding a Wal-Mart where products are all 50% off!  The way you would rush to that store is the way wiseguys rush to bet baseball. (Amazingly, the world's leading reduced juice sportsbook, Pinnacle, charges even less juice with 8 cent baseball lines all season!)

The importance of starting pitching is an added factor to betting baseball.  With football & basketball, team vs. team handicapping is key - but with baseball you have double the chance to find an edge since both team and pitching match-ups can offer a winning edge.

An great early season value opportunity:
Steroids have dominated the off-season baseball headlines.    Understandably most of the public believes scoring will be down this season since the players have had no choice but to quite using these performance enhancers.

One influential bookmaker told me that he expects to open game totals (i.e., the number of runs scored per game) somewhat lower early in the season to account for the widespread perception that scoring will be down.

However, recent history suggests that run totals will not be dramatically affected by the crackdown on steroids. The proof is in the numbers:  home runs, runs per game, slugging and batting average numbers were all up last year from 2003 despite nearly a 10-FOLD DECREASE in positive steroid tests (96 in 2003 compared to 12 in 2004).

The public's misperception should give smart bettors good value on OVER bets early on in the 2005 baseball season.