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Why I Don't Play Favorites in Baseball - A Lesson For Newbies

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  • Why I Don't Play Favorites in Baseball - A Lesson For Newbies

    I had a good Friday with all 3 dogs winning. For the year I went from being down a couple of units to ahead 2 units. Keep an eye on my dog plays. This looks like the turning point I was waiting for when big dogs like SF and Toronto tonight are winners. I was going to add this to my Friday thread but as I wrote this I kept thinking how its not too bad losing more games than I win but not losing any money. Then my mind got carried away and my fingers kept hitting the keys the more I thought about this. Everythng from this point on, I didn't intend to write, but now that I did, I think it might be helpful to someone who is new to betting baseball.

    The beauty of these dog plays is that I have 11 less winners than losers yet I'm plus 2 units. Big deal you say being up only two units. It is when you realize not many of my plays win. I said at the beginning of baseball that hitting between 37 and 39% of my dog plays is my breakeven point and so far it looks like that is true for this season too. What I'm trying to say, especially to the newbies, is it's a lot harder to lose big units playing almost all dogs than playing mainly medium to big favorites. Can you imagine being 49-38 and losing 2 units. That's what playing all the favorites of my plays would have done. The juice can kill so be careful.

    Anyone here who wants some action while waiting for football should be able to play all my dog plays without losing very much at worst and winning pretty good at best. I've been behind most of this season, but never more than 5 units. Call my plays the safe way to play. They won't win near as often as the other cappers here but when two winners can usually offset three losers, thats very important. What I'm trying to say is NOT that my dog plays are great. I'm trying to say to the guys here who are new to playing bases that laying even a little juice all the time, makes it hard to turn a profit and laying big juice can really hurt if they win only half the time. You have to win around 62% of your favorite plays just to break even.

    I hope I'm not out of line writing this but I learned a long time ago that playing almost all favorites in baseball can be deadly and I hope I'm helping someone here to see how much harder it is to win just playing mostly favorites. I remember when USA today listed all of Pete Rose's bets for a month. He was playing two to three big favorites a day, mostly laying over four dimes just to win two dime. He got killed because even if he hit two out of three plays he was only even for the day and he had to hit all three plays to make a profit. And we all know how he did always betting Cincy and other big favorites. Anyway take this for what it's worth. I'm just trying to give back some of what I gained from everyone here at BettersChoice.

  • #2
    Good info. Some of these favorite lines are getting out of hand. You mentioned the wins by Toronto and SF, but Minnesota was on the ropes vs Tampa until a late rally in the 8th. The Twinks were -300. Yesterday Arizona was -210 vs SF. Some of these teams are simply not good enough or reliable enough to lay those kind of numbers. Even the Cards fell as a -250 vs the Rocks on Thursday. You can go broke with a few of those losses.

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    • #3
      Fine points and adding that the fades bear you out on being ahead even if the wins are less than the losses.
      "The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.

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      • #4
        good post, Sandman

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        • #5
          This is the post I was referring to in my other thread. Some stuff may be redundent but it's still interesting to see how laying juice most of the time, can be costly using my plays as an example.

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          • #6
            I play Favorites in bases about 80%-85% of the time and i'm 10 games below .500 on the season before today. I'm also up over +100 Units on the season too. How can i play favorites that often, be 10 games under and still up over 100 units? It's possible to feed on favorites in bases by using -1.5 lines and parlays. You just need to be smart about how you use them!

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            • #7
              I have to disagree Bud! My POD are 59-24-6 playing only favorites, and up a ton of $$$! Playing -1 runlines are the easiest plays to win $$$ with favorites, not high odds at all!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Chuck E. Cheese
                I have to disagree Bud! My POD are 59-24-6 playing only favorites, and up a ton of $$$! Playing -1 runlines are the easiest plays to win $$$ with favorites, not high odds at all!

                Chuck E. Cheese for El Presidente!!!

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                • #9
                  Wayne, Chuck and anyone else. I WAS NOT referring to parley plays or run line plays. Hell, I parley favorites all the time to keep from laying too much juice. In essence, playing parleys and laying a run or run and a half, most of the time gets rid of the juice and your plays end up paying more than you risk. That's the way it should be. Don't risk more than you can win when making a play. At least most of the time.

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                  • #10
                    I usually always do well in bases ... 2 Yrs ago i played mostly dogs and did very well ... last year it all changed .. I did nothing different last year than I did the year before and by the All Star break i was down .. I changed my strategy and started playing favorites and I ended up OK ... This year I am bobbing and weaving and up over 90 Units and never made a bet over 2 units on one game ... playing 80% favorites ... Not saying you are wrong but you can win by playing favorites ... Good Luck Buddy

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Chuck E. Cheese
                      I have to disagree Bud! My POD are 59-24-6 playing only favorites, and up a ton of $$$! Playing -1 runlines are the easiest plays to win $$$ with favorites, not high odds at all!
                      Chucky you are so correct about the -1 RL ... NICE$$$

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                      • #12
                        In addition to what I said in the other thread, I would add two things:
                        1) One has to bet in accordance with his own comfort level;if playing favorites in baseball makes someone nervous, then he shouldn't play favorites especially if he can stay above water just playing dogs.
                        2) My own personal opinion is that over time one has to be flexible and know when to play the favorites and when to play the dogs;that is what makes for an outstanding capper as we see for example with Chuck, Wayne and others.
                        Most importantly one has to go with the trend for that particular season;as shown by Chuck's outstanding records with POD'S and overall units won by playing favorites, this particular season anyways one should be playing favorites many times, whether it be staright or runlines.
                        If later on this season or in another season the trend clearly switches to dogs, then the really good capper will adjust his plays toward underdogs.
                        The bottom line is if you win money over time and are happy and comfortable with the way you pick your plays, that is what counts.
                        ps think of it this way: if you go swimming and are afraid you might drown, you don't go too far from shore and are very cautious.
                        If on the other hand, you are fearless and a very good swimmer, drowning is the last thing on your mind and you out much further from shore.
                        Last edited by savage1; 07-03-2005, 08:12 PM.

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                        • #13
                          I have to be honest here, I play favorites probably 90% - 95% of the time and I win a good amount of money in baseball. Favorites will win every night, you just have to find which one's will. Favorites always look better because they are. Watch line movements and stay consistant with your betting.

                          GL Everyone!

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by RJeremy
                            Favorites will win every night, you just have to find which one's will. Favorites always look better because they are.
                            Your statement looked similiar to mine and i left these two comments out but agree with them 100%

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by wayne1218
                              Your statement looked similiar to mine and i left these two comments out but agree with them 100%

                              I didn't even read yours and Chucks comments until after I posted, but you guys are right on the money.

                              People think you can't win betting favorites, they're 100% wrong. I almost always take favs. and do just fine.

                              Wayne,

                              Remember Tony Soprano? He ONLY took favorites and hit at about 75% on his plays. Just DON'T take -200 favs everytime. Keep it under -140.

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