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A Recent History of World Series Gambling Odds




I was a bit surprised to see the Astros being listed as such large favorites to win this series over the Phillies. The odds currently show the Astros as -190 favorites, with the Phillies paying out at +165. The Astros have quite obviously been the best team in baseball almost from start to finish this year and are a team without any weaknesses. That being said, the Phillies are clearly a very talented team with 2 top notch starters at the top of the rotation and a lineup that may be the best in all of baseball (certainly the hottest this month). With all of this in mind I did a little research on the gambling odds of recent World Series. Without further ado:

Underdogs are 6-4 in the past 10 World Series

The farthest back I can find odds on the WS is 2004 and underdogs are 10-8 in that time frame

The 2006 Tigers (-210) 2012 tigers (-175) and the 2019 Astros (-235) were the biggest favorites that lost

As mentioned, the Astros were -235 to beat the Nats in the 2019 Series. Also keep in mind that the Astros cheating scandal didn't come to light until the winter of 2020. They were very possibly still cheating in this time frame

For reference to football (the most popular gambling sport by far) a -190 favorite converts to approximately a 3.5 point spread. Games that are in that range this week are the favored Minnesota Vikings at home against the AZ Cardinals, the favored Bengals on the road against the Cleveland Browns, and the favored Miami Dolphins on the road against the Detroit Lions.

Bottom line: Don't let the odds scare you, the Phillies have a damn good chance to win this series. Not only is baseball the most difficult sport to predict, but the Astros have already lost a World Series as bigger favorites than they are right now.

Phillies in 6