The apocalypse is here. The Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series and Sin City Sports Books are on the verge of the biggest losing decision in Las Vegas history. That’s right, Books are on the hook for MILLIONS in Rays futures if Tampa Bay can take four games from the Phillies so ……….
……. as Jed Lowry grounded into a force play to end the ALCS, Vegas Sports Book directors were scrambling to find their Mike Schmidt retro Phillies jerseys and some how figure out a way to get in Philadelphia money on the World series to help somewhat mitigate their Ray future liabilities.
In the spring, astute punters or even players with an inkling could have taken a shot with Tampa Bay to win the World Series at odds of up to 200-1. With good reason, sure the Rays were loaded with good young talent but this was a franchise that had never won more than 72 games and was coming off a MLB worst 66-96 record in 2007.
As Tampa Bay proved to be competitive in April and May, the betting market was slow to adjust as Ray futures 100-1 were still to be had. That slowly dropped to 75-1 and 60-1 in June. The Rays were still 40-1 to win the World Series at many places coming out of the All Star Break.
The Books are believers now. With four home games and proj ected pitching matchups of Kazmir/Shields/Garza/Sonnenstine vs. Hamels/Myers/Moyer/Blanton. The Rays figured to be installed small series favorites in the $1.25 range. The Rays opened as $1.40 faves and are currently $1.50 at many strip properties.
Shopping the best line is always a hugely important element of sports wagering for long term profit but nevermore so than the 2008 World Series where books look to balance the books rather than supply solid two way action.
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