OT: So I wonder if I will get my money back? (baseball)

[Omaholic]

So I had the brilliant idea to put down $100 on the Red Sox at +350 to
win their division, which seemed quite a bargain considering the
Yankees were at -400 to win, and I viewed the teams at essentially
even. This bet was placed at a reputable LV casino.

Now that all is said and done, the two teams have the same record at
the end of the year. However, the teams will not play a one-game
playoff because the loser would get the wild-card. Instead, this is
the only situation where MLB uses a tie-breaker, and since the Yanks
won the season series with the Sox 10-9, they are proclaimed the
division champions and the Sox get the wild card.

Of course, since I did not foresee this issue arising when I placed the
bet, I did not save the rules sheet for division wagers. Thus, I don't
know if the house will honor the tie-breaker, or whether the wager will
be declared a push and I will get my money back.

Does anyone have any insight as to how this would work? Obviously if
this were the NFL, I would expect they would honor the tie-breaker,
since they are so widely used. However, this is a particularly unique
situation for baseball, and it seems to me that they cannot honor the
tie-breaker unless they also would have honored the results of a
one-game playoff (should it have taken place).

Confused,
Omaholic

[John Harkness]

On 2 Oct 2005 15:13:15 -0700, "Omaholic" <omaholic@gmail.com> wrote:

>So I had the brilliant idea to put down $100 on the Red Sox at +350 to
>win their division, which seemed quite a bargain considering the
>Yankees were at -400 to win, and I viewed the teams at essentially
>even. This bet was placed at a reputable LV casino.
>
>Now that all is said and done, the two teams have the same record at
>the end of the year. However, the teams will not play a one-game
>playoff because the loser would get the wild-card. Instead, this is
>the only situation where MLB uses a tie-breaker, and since the Yanks
>won the season series with the Sox 10-9, they are proclaimed the
>division champions and the Sox get the wild card.
>
In other words, the Sox did not win their division.

End of story.

John Harkness

>Of course, since I did not foresee this issue arising when I placed the
>bet, I did not save the rules sheet for division wagers. Thus, I don't
>know if the house will honor the tie-breaker, or whether the wager will
>be declared a push and I will get my money back.
>
>Does anyone have any insight as to how this would work? Obviously if
>this were the NFL, I would expect they would honor the tie-breaker,
>since they are so widely used. However, this is a particularly unique
>situation for baseball, and it seems to me that they cannot honor the
>tie-breaker unless they also would have honored the results of a
>one-game playoff (should it have taken place).
>
>Confused,
>Omaholic

[Omaholic]

I think you folks are probably right, but I wish I had kept the rules
sheet. For example, on proposition bets for baseball, often the rules
state that the player must have x plate appearances or there is no
action. I don't know if there is any reason why there would be a
similar rule that would exclude a one-game playoff (eg there must be
162 games or there is no action) that may skew things here.

However, I expect that you are right and I will chalk this up as just
another bad beat.

[Flybynight]

I wouldn't say this was a bad beat. The Yankees were heavily favored
to win at the start of the season, then all of their big FA pitchers
imploded to make it very close.