MLB Opening Weekend Gives Hope To Underdog Gamblers

Major League Baseball is perhaps the toughest sport to find a dark horse team to bet on in the preseason. The top teams almost always are in the pennant races at the end, and it is rare that a team comes out of nowhere to win the World Series. Still, every year, gamblers flock to Las Vegas sports books to place their bets on the big underdogs.

This year, the list of underdogs with high odds was nearly half the league, as the betting favorites of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Texas, Detroit, and the Los Angeles Angels, were far and away better than most other teams. Among the longest odds were Houston, the Mets, and the Orioles.

The first full weekend of the regular season provided some hope for underdog gamblers, as the Mets, Orioles, Astros, and Dodgers came out of the gates swinging. Baltimore and the Mets each went undefeated in the opening weekend, while Houston and L.A. only lost one game.

Coming into the season, the Mets were an 80/1 choice to win the World Series. The Dodgers had better odds at 40/1, and the Astros and Orioles were the two long shots at 200/1 and 150/1, respectively. Kansas City, another team with long odds at 80/1, also began the year 2-1.

On the other side of the coin, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies had terrible starts to their 2012 campaigns. Philadelphia was the only of the three teams to win on the first weekend of the season. The Yankees and Red Sox did finally pick up their first wins of the year on Monday, while the Phillies took another loss, this time at the hands of the Miami Marlins.

Philadelphia was the sports books' choice as betting favorite to win the championship at 11/2. The Phillies were followed by the Yankees at 7/1, the Tigers and Angels at 15/2, and the Red Sox and Rangers at 10/1. Texas did not fall into the opening week curse of the other favorites, as they have now gone 3-1 on the young season.

With most teams still having nearly 160 games left to play, the first weekend does not give a true indication of which teams have a chance to win the World Series, but it does give hope to those who placed a few bucks on the long shots.

April 10, 2012
Posted By Vincent Tapoglia III
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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