You might have noticed that there is a lot going on in the world. Even though everything has been cancelled.
From a gambling standpoint, (yes, we know, gambling really is the least important of all the least important things right now, but this pandemic can’t last forever, can it? More on that later.) with nearly all sports shut down, you might be reduced to searching for a place to bet the over/under on the number toilet paper rolls at your local supermarket (take the under no matter what).
We can’t help you with that, but as gambling junkies brace for quarantined life without March Madness, MLB, NBA, NHL, Premier League, MLS, golf, NASCAR and XFL, we can try to point you in the direction of what little — and obscure — action remains.
While bets are to be had on some fighting, rugby, cricket and obscure soccer and basketball leagues around the globe featuring zero players you’ve heard of, sinking to these realms requires true degeneration.
In the meantime, there is one other unique way to get some action. Linesmakers are taking bets on when, or even if, major sports will return, meaning you can still get some sort of fix on the leagues that just suddenly closed up shop.
For instance, according to Oddsmaker.ag, the NBA and NHL seasons are each -180 favorites to resume at some point, while a bet on the cancellation of each campaign contains +150 odds.
There’s a similar offering for baseball despite seeing its Opening Day officially pushed back at least two weeks. Luckily, MLB boasts hefty -340 odds that the season will still be on — its being completely cancelled is a +260 underdog.
Bovada.com also has a unique proposition up that allows bettors to wager on which major American sport will reopen its doors first. MLB is a +140 favorite to emerge before all else, while the NHL (+200), MLS (+300) and NBA (+400) follow suit.
For UFC, it is questionable if they will carry on with upcoming events, so online sportsbook BetOnline made it possible to wager on a potential suspension of the rest of their March slate. Both sides carry equal -120 odds.
For me, my favorite of these prop bets exists on 5Dimes.com, where you can gamble on when baseball’s first regular-season pitch is thrown. At -190 odds, that favorite is the season beginning on or before June 1. I’m taking the other side, however, and looking at it as a win-win situation.
Not only are the odds (+150) tempting for the season to begin after June 1, it seems likely that this will happen in light of the CDC’s recommendation that in-person events consisting of 50-or-more people be postponed during the next eight weeks. That alone would take us nearly to the June 1 line.
And if the season ultimately does start on or before June 1? I would never be so happy to lose a bet.
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