With the All-Star break nearly upon us this column comes from a different angle than my normal look at the various upcoming series in baseball action. This column addresses an area for you to consider giving some extra attention to in the upcoming second half of the baseball season. The contents of this column has been presented before but with my angles for baseball wagering on a very profitable run right now, this is the perfect time to revisit an area where MLB betting can be a lot of fun in addition to being highly profitable.

The key in making money and enjoying what you do in the baseball ‘wagering arena’ is that you have to understand there will always be some frustrating moments. This is true no matter how well you handicap and no matter how disciplined you are when it comes to your decision making. Invariably, we all get involved with games that are truly "sweat" games where you have to sweat out the final innings of a baseball game. However, the beauty of betting baseball totals is that there is one potential play you can make that is quite unlike any other "full game" bet you can place in the other major sports.

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First off we want to preface this with the fact that we do handicap NHL hockey and it does offer a similar opportunity. However, we know that there are many out there who only bet on Football, Hoops, and Baseball and simply don’t get involved in hockey. Also, there is one key difference with Baseball that makes it different from all three of the other sports…there is no clock! Herein lies the key to why we love betting overs in baseball. We are the first to admit that there are certainly good under plays on the board most every night. However, we simply choose to focus on what we’ve become best at, and what has become our "bread and butter" in baseball, and that’s overs. Baseball is the only sport where a game can be only 11% complete and you’ve already cashed a wager. Read on for more.

In Basketball there is no way your game is going over the total in the first 10% or five minutes of the game. In Football your game is not going to go over the total in the first 10% or six minutes of the game. Even in Hockey, it’s very unlikely your total will go over in the first six minutes of a game. But the fact is we have played baseball games where our over has exceeded the posted number in the very 1st inning! It can happen, that’s the beauty of betting overs in the baseball. Of course we’ll take an over whenever it cashes but the fact is that MLB is very unique in how early you can cash a ticket. As an example, imagine having a game where the total is a 9.5 and the score is 7-4 after only two innings! It does happen and, at that point, you only have two things to worry about, weather and a power failure. As for weather, we’ve done our homework ahead of time and it would be a surprise to see a rainout follow on any of our overs. As for power outages that’s a very, very rare occurrence but it has happened so, if you want to be 100% sure, don’t ever "bank" on your ticket until the game does indeed go final. Still, the beauty of betting MLB overs is in the ability to cash a ticket very, very early in a ballgame.

The other nice thing about overs in baseball is you’re never really out of it. In football there will be times when you know that your over is dead no matter what happens in the fourth quarter. In basketball you’ll watch a game where you know you need double OT to cash an over and that’s simply a prayer in most cases. As for baseball, we’ve seen games where the score is 1-1 heading to the 9th and you need over 8.5 and the game looks dead. Next thing you know the road team puts up three in the top of the 9th and the home team answers with three runs in the bottom of the 9th and you’re guaranteed of at least a 5-4 game and a winning ticket. Now granted this type of game is rare but the key point is that, thanks to the absence of the clock in baseball, you are truly never really out of a play!

Now we certainly admire and respect handicappers that do very well with picking unders but keep in mind how the opposite is true with unders. If you play under 8.5 and the game is 4-4 in the 4th than you’re done. You can turn the game off because you’re best hope at that point is a rainout! We know that there are some good under opportunities on the board each night. However, we also know that there are good over opportunities too and that’s where we choose to focus. Like any handicapper, we will have our streaks, but through the years the overs have been very good to us and have created profits. Of course sports betting is all about the profits but this article is just a little insight into how the sports betting can be quite fun in addition to being quite profitable. Bet an over, sit back and root for offense, and be sure and enjoy the over 9.5s that are 7-4 in the second inning. We know we sure do! As always, best of luck in all your gaming from Scott Rickenbach.