Vegas oddsmakers on baseball

Cafe Society
1

Do the Las Vegas oddsmakers publish their predictions online for the MLB pennant races?

2

I don’t think U.S. based casinos can publish their odds (I might be wrong) but there are a million sites that have offshore sportsbooks odds published, which are going to be about the same. Just google “MLB odds” or something similar.

Here’s one:

2007 American League Pennant - To Win Team to play in the World Series
To Win American League Pennant
10/01/2007
12:00 NY YANKEES 8 to 5 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 BOSTON 9 to 4 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 CLEVELAND 5 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 LAA ANGELS 10 to 3 Odds
2007 National League Pennant - To Win Team to play in the World Series
To Win National League Pennant
10/01/2007
12:00 NY METS 13 to 5 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 SAN DIEGO 9 to 2 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 PHILADELPHIA 11 to 2 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 CHICAGO CUBS 4 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 MILWAUKEE 8 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 ARIZONA 15 to 4 Odds
2007 World Series Championship - To Win Team to win 2007 World Series
World Series Winner
10/01/2007
12:00 LAA ANGELS 6 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 NY YANKEES 3 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 NY METS 7 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 BOSTON 7 to 2 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 PHILADELPHIA 16 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 CLEVELAND 8 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 SAN DIEGO 14 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 ARIZONA 12 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 MILWAUKEE 25 to 1 Odds
10/01/2007
12:00 CHICAGO CUBS 12 to 1 Odds

3

I know of websites that post lines from Vegas casinos. I do not know of any casino that publishes their own lines.

A side note: I’m told that baseball is hard for anyone, either the better or the casino, to really make money on. I sort of get the feeling that the sportsbooks offer baseball lines during the summer simply because there’s nothing else out there.

4

Any sport is hard for a bettor to make money on.

With baseball betting, however, there is typically a “dime line” for games. That might be why they say that it’s hard for the sportsbook to make money, but they make up for the cheap lines with volume.

That is, on a match-up that Vegas (or whoever) considers 50-50, they’ll charge you $105 to win $100, not matter the side. (that’s call a dime line because it’s $5 each way)

In football, and most other sports, 50-50 matchups have 20 cent lines. You need to bet $110 to win $100.

In an uneven matchup, you might see +120/-130 in baseball (for instance) whereas in football, a similar matchup would be +115/-135. You don’t win as much when you bet the dog ($115), and you need to risk more ($135) when you bet the favorite.

That’s when you’re betting the “Money Line” (just picking a team to win), not when you’re betting a point spread, which essentially evens out the match, and which they charge you $110 to win $100 for if you take the points.

5

Oddmakers don’t make predictions. They don’t care who wins and who loses. Bookies and legit casinos make their money on the vig, their cut of the winnings. The point spread is set at a number that they feel will cause half the bettors to bet on one team and half to bet on the other. If it is a 50/50 split they are assured to make money because they take a percentage off the top of any winning wager.