Jeff Haney on shopping for the best deals on baseball futures

Monday, July 3, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

With baseball's All-Star break marking the season's ceremonial midpoint next week, does any value remain for bettors looking to wager on teams to win the World Series?

Yes ... and no.

As is often the case in this kind of wagering - known in the trade as "futures," or "future-book" betting - it depends on where you shop.

We surveyed more than a dozen major Las Vegas sports books in search of the best available prices on baseball's top contenders.

The New York Mets, holding a commanding lead against a bunch of also-rans in the NL East, are the clear favorites. Odds on the Mets ranged from 3-1 at a couple of joints to 6-1 at the Plaza - a payout percentage differential of a staggering 100 percent. This illustrates the importance of shopping around before stepping up to the betting window.

Other contenders in the NL include the St. Louis Cardinals (best price was 7-1 at Binion's, Golden Nugget and Las Vegas Hilton); Cincinnati Reds (50-1, Golden Nugget and Plaza) and San Diego Padres (40-1, Binion's and Golden Nugget).

Also, the Los Angeles Dodgers (25-1, Venetian), Colorado Rockies (75-1, Hilton, Imperial Palace, Palms, Venetian), San Francisco Giants (55-1, Venetian) and Milwaukee Brewers (50-1, various books).

Among fringe contenders, the Arizona Diamondbacks were 60-1 (Hilton) and Houston Astros 30-1 (Golden Nugget).

The leading AL contenders are the Boston Red Sox (7-1, Palms, Venetian), New York Yankees (8-1, Golden Nugget), Toronto Blue Jays (35-1, Binion's), Detroit Tigers (10-1, Plaza), Chicago White Sox (5-1, Hilton, Venetian and Cal-Neva books, including the Four Queens) and Oakland Athletics (25-1, Plaza).

Also, the Minnesota Twins (65-1, MGM-Mirage properties), Texas Rangers (75-1, Golden Nugget) and Seattle Mariners (120-1, MGM-Mirage).

If you're willing to concede that one of those 19 teams will win the World Series, by chasing down the best available Vegas odds you'd be working against a theoretical hold percentage, or "house edge," of just 4.4 percent - not too shabby for future-book wagering.

As always, odds can and do change by the minute. In fact, a cynic might say favorable odds are fragile, and likely to drop as soon as someone fires a meaningful bet at them.

Well, that's absolutely correct.

Despite what the snake-oil salesmen will tell you, it's not easy to make money on a steady, consistent basis betting sports. It's hard work. Sometimes, it entails doing extra legwork to catch those good numbers before your fellow bettors beat you to the punch.

Also noted:

Rich LeFevre of Henderson is listed as a 100-1 long shot.

Pinnacle is offering an over/under on the number of hot dogs eaten by Kobayashi (50) and a yes/no wager on whether the record of 53 1/2 hot dogs will be broken Tuesday, among other propositions.

Unfortunately, in an unforgivable miscarriage of justice, state gaming regulations prohibit betting in Nevada on competitive eating contests.