Betting the 2011 World Series
The 2011 World Series gets underway in St. Louis on Wednesday, as the Texas Rangers travel to meet the Cardinals. While the Cardinals have home field advantage in the best-of-7 series, that hasn't stopped the oddsmakers from installing the Rangers as favorites. Texas is favored -160 while the Cardinals are +140. (If those numbers mean nothing to you, be sure to read Understanding the Money Line which will explain it all to you.)I'm not real eager to take Texas at those odds, especially since regular readers of the site will recall that we took Texas +725 in Baseball Playoff Odds before the playoffs got underway.
There is no need to add money to the Rangers at those odds.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers will bring a 103-69 record into the World Series. If you had wagered on the Rangers every game this season you would show a profit of 14.6 units.The Rangers have been primarily an over team so far this season, going 91-73-8 to the over when it comes to totals.
The Rangers haven't been quite as good on the road as they have at home, posting a 47-39 when the away team compared to a solid 56-30 record when playing in front of the home fans.
The Rangers have fared best against right-handed starting pitchers all season, going 77-45 in games in which the opposition starts a right-hander, as opposed to a 26-24 mark against southpaws. Strangely, the Rangers are one of those teams who show a big difference between day and night games, as Texas is 76-43 in games played under the lights, but just 27-26 in day games.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals haven't shown much tendency to play better either at home or on the road and were 48-39 in front of the home fans and 49-37 when traveling. Much like Texas, the Cardinals have also fared much better under the lights, sporting a 73-47 record in night games, but are just 24-29 in games played in the day.The Cardinals were also better against right-handed pitchers, going 77-54, while being just 20-22 in games against left-handed starting pitchers.
One final simularity between the two teams is that the Cardinals are also a team that has played more games going over the total, as St. Louis is 93-74-6 to the over, which is a direct contrast to what we learned in World Series Betting Trends where games have had a tendency to go under the total, especially in games involving higher totals.
Available Wagers
The sportsbooks realize this is their final opportunity to get their hands on your money this baseball season, so they will give you plenty of opportunities to bet. Not only will you be able to wager on the winner of the series and the winner and total of each game, there will also be a larger-than-normal assortment of various proposition bets, such as who will win the Most Valuable Player award, to try and catch your fancy.Many sportsbooks, such as The Greek are offering bets on everything from whether the first pitch by each starter will be a ball or a strike to the total number of combined runs, hits and errors by both teams.
Those looking for more traditional wagers will see that the Cardinals are -120 favorites with the Rangers being +110 in the first game with a total of 7.5. You aren't limited to straight wagers, as you can take the Cardinals -1.5 runs and receive +180 odds or take the Rangers -1.5 runs and receive +170 odds. (The reason the Rangers pay less despite being the underdog in the game is because the Rangers will bat in the ninth inning with a one-run lead, while the Cardinals would not.)
More wagers will likely be added leading up to the game, so pick and choose your spots and you have a decent chance of coming out ahead when the series is over.
