Columnist Jeff Haney: Look hard to find wagering on baseball wins

Wednesday, April 4, 2001 | 10:23 a.m.

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com

Think the Diamondbacks' second-half swoon was no fluke and that they're destined to finish with fewer than 87 wins?

Convinced Pat Burrell and the Phillies can begin the Larry Bowa era with a .500 record?

The number of places in Las Vegas giving gamblers an opportunity to back such opinions at the betting counter has dwindled in recent years.

In fact, this year it has dwindled to just a couple.

The popular over/under wager on teams' number of wins in the baseball season can be found at the Imperial Palace and Mandalay Bay sports books.

The IP, which asked bettors to lay 115 each way on the over/under prop, closed the wager on opening day.

The Mandalay Bay, offering a more attractive 20-cent line (minus 110 each way), still has it on the board here in the early going of the baseball season.

Bettors are indeed playing Arizona under at Mandalay Bay, driving the number on the D'backs down to 87 wins from 88. Among other teams being bet "under:" Texas (84 wins, down from 85 1/2), Colorado (86, down from 88) and Tampa Bay (71, down from 72 1/2).

The Yankees are attracting "over" money (93 1/2 wins, the highest total on the board, up from 93), as are the majors' worst team, the Baltimore Orioles (up to 68 from 67 1/2).

The Fightin' Phils? Holding steady at 74.

At the Imperial Palace, Sosa can still be had at 7-2, followed by Mark McGwire (4-1), Ken Griffey Jr. (6-1), Barry Bonds (8-1) and Jeff Bagwell (10-1).

Taking a look offshore, Antigua-based sports book Intertops (intertops.com) has a few gems among its baseball propositions, including:

Even so, a recent item in the Daily Prospectus (baseballprospectus.com) might be of use to over/under players wondering about the effect of baseball's new, higher strike zone.

According to the Daily Prospectus report, based on stats from major league exhibition games this year, walks were down a whopping 21 percent from last March (3.47 walks per nine innings to 2.73) while strikeouts were up a relatively paltry 6 percent (5.91 strikeouts per nine innings to 6.26).

Considering "over" bettors often look for pitchers with control problems (even before they look for powerful lineups), it will be interesting to see if this trend continues in the regular season -- and if the linemaker adjusts.

"So far it's all about Tiger," said Jeff Sherman, Regent sports book supervisor and a leading golf oddsmaker.

Indeed. Woods not only sits atop the odds board in local sports book, he also figures prominently in Masters matchups and other proposition bets.

At the Regent, Woods is a minus 260 choice in a pairing with Vijay Singh, who's plus 200.

At Mandalay Bay, Woods is matched up against Davis Love III (Woods minus 300/Love III plus 250) in one prop, against Singh in another (Woods minus 270/Singh plus 230), and against "All Others" in a third (Woods plus 175, All Others minus 205).

The IP has Woods a minus 190 favorite against both Phil Mickelson and Love III (the better of the scores), with a takeback of plus 160 on Mickelson/Love.

A sampling of other Masters props (odds from the Regent):

Tech inspection is set for today at the Speedway, and the event kicks into high gear Thursday, continuing through Sunday.

Betting is available at all Station Casinos properties and includes wagering on the winner of the Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock divisions, along with six head-to-head driver matchups.

archive