Hi all! While I have been away, I have been studying up and sharpening my betting skills. Through all of this, I certainly have learned a lot. Not only about sports gambling in general, but also how games are played along with their trends.

With that being said, the 2018 Fall Classic is amongst us! This years’ World Series features the Red Sox of Boston squaring off against the Dodgers of Los Angeles. Game 1 begins tonight at 7:10 PM CST. As of now, the Red Sox are the favorites listed at -175 on the money line (Dodgers +140). Interestingly enough, the lines opened up as Boston (-150). Notice how the majority of the money is in favor of the boys in the northeast. In this case, if you like Sale and the Red Sox tonight, you better hurry up and jump on them before their value drops too low for a minimal return. On the other hand, if you like Kershaw and the Dodgers, it might not be a bad idea to see how high that side of the money line could climb to increase your payout (baring a Dodgers win).

In my opinion, I see this particular series going 6 games where the Red Sox come out on top. I think that they have too much talent that trumps all other franchises this season; where it has shown. The Red Sox have only lost two playoff games thus far and ended the regular season with an overall record of 108-54 (MLB best).

My pick for tonight’s game is in your hands. Tonight, take the team that you believe has the more superior pitcher in Kershaw and Sale. I ask you tonight take in account both teams’ bull-pins and experience. Why you ask? Well, it is no secret that the Red Sox have a stronger bull-pin than the Dodgers. However, Kershaw possesses more World Series experience than Sale; hence, leading me to believe that Kershaw may be presented as a “you know what you’re going to get” kind of guy. It is also important to note that Sale has never pitched in a World Series match-up.

Good luck tonight if you wish to make any plays and stay tunes for my Week 9 NFL picks and Week 10 NCAAF picks.

Every year the World Series greets us in late October. More often than not, the two best teams miss out on it. You may have heard a time or two that the baseball playoffs are a complete craps-shoot. Sound familiar? The team that ends up winning the World Series is not necessarily the best team, but more importantly the hottest team at the time.

However, one could make a very strong argument that the two best teams managed to find their way to baseball’s greatest stage this October. The Astros and Dodgers are very similar teams if viewed on paper. They both have a very solid starting rotation, they both possess above-average bullpens, and they both like to score runs. I would like to point out that the Dodgers like to score the majority of their runs via the long-ball; whereas the Astros tend to manufacture their runs with their speed. So what do we know about teams that have solid starting pitching? They love getting you those UNDERS! I did some digging. Last year’s seven-game fairytale ending for the Chicago Cubs was certainly one to remember. One other take-away I would like to point out is that five of the seven games hit the UNDER. Why is this? I am not 100% certain, of course. However, I am certain that you have an AL and NL team face off every year in the World Series. Interleague match-ups occur far less frequently than AL-vs-AL match-ups; vice-versa. Understand that these hitters for the Astros and Dodgers rarely (if not ever) get the opportunity to face the Clayton Kershaw’s of the NL (Los Angeles’s Game 1 projected starter) and the Dallas Keuchel’s of the AL (Houston’s Game 1 projected starter). The 2017 MLB All-Star game provided us with a whopping three total runs scored. Probably because these hitters do not see the interleague pitchers as often. NOTE: Good pitching beats good hitting! Do not be afraid of that “7” next to the O/U. Bet the UNDER in tonight’s Game 1 showdown!

GAME #1 PREDICTION:

ASTROS – 4

DODGERS – 1

As of recent, I began to log all of my plays in a notebook. Typically, I will write down the game, line, my pick, and amount that I wagered. Through this, I have found that I am able to see which sports and plays I am having more success with than others. Not only does this tip help keep track of your bets and your win/loss ratio. It also lets you take a step back and analyze yourself as a sports gambler. Do you find that you are having more success with picking the OVER/UNDERS? Are you having more success picking underdogs over the favorites? Do you feel that your plays are paying off in the money lines? Do you seem to make more money betting NCAAF over NFL? So on and so forth. These are the simple, but very important things that you must look at and keep track of if you are interested in making money over a long period of time. By no means is it easy to win in this business. That is why we have to utilize all of our resources and take advantage of them if we can.

Good luck this week and you can blame me if all of the World Series games hit the OVER!

The 2017 Major League Baseball season is now in full swing. The great aspect of gambling on baseball is that each and every day there are new match-ups with a new set of pitchers toeing the rubber. One thing that I have learned throughout the process of sports gambling is to establish a theory. This unique theory of yours that you will want to develop is neither right nor wrong and does not only pertain to gambling on baseball. After you have your theory put into place, you will want to allow about a month, give or take, to test your theory/hypothesis and see which way it is trending. Is your theory trending in the direction that you foresee? Or is it going wayside of everything you thought to be true? If you tend to experience the second option more frequently than the first then that’s okay, just form an alternative hypothesis and run with it. Trial and error baby!

If all of this thus far seems like gibberish, no worries—bare with me. I am going to offer you a personal example of mine that I have found to be quite successful in the past, present, and I presume in the future. I began noticing that in baseball especially, both teams have the best chances of winning each time they compete against one another (similar to hockey considering they both use the same betting format—money lines). Baseball differs from other sports in the sense that the average sports fan typically has a pretty good idea of who is going to come out victorious in comparison to sports such as basketball and football, for example. My theory/hypothesis is quite simple, yet fairly consistent. Purely from a baseball standpoint, I believe that a team at home that loses a game against an opponent will increase their chances of winning the next game by about 25% if it is again played at home against the same team. It is important to keep in mind that baseball series are usually structured around three game or even four game sets, all taken place at one of the teams’ home venues. One other key factor to note, if a home team loses against opponent ‘A’ and turns around the next day to begin another three game home stand against opponent ‘B’ then the theory goes out the window.

Summary: When gambling on baseball, take a quick peak at the money line. If Boston (+135) is facing Toronto (-149) then Toronto is the favorite in this particular match up. The -149 indicates that you must bet $149 to win $100 if Toronto wins. On the flip side, you only need to bet $65 to win $100 if Boston wins. However, for my own unique theory, the money lines is irrelevant, for better or worse. To start, each day jot down the home teams that lost. Once tomorrow roles around, see if those same home teams that fell short the day before came up with a win the very next day, or the current day (which ever way you would prefer to think about it). Go ahead and try it for yourself. I think you will find these results to be very one sided and propel you towards the excitement you need to begin gambling on baseball!