Today in the CBO
News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth
by Nat Wright-Kowalski
19 May 2297 - Easy City Starts Moneylines
Easy City Downs is trying its luck at running more sophisticated bets on the Commonwealth Baseball Organization. The race track/gambling hub has come to agreement with the CBO to run official lines on games. Commissioner Nate Howard approved the moneyline betting style with a few agreements that Easy City Downs must make.
Representatives from each team also agreed in a 22-2 vote to adhere to the rules Howard put into place. The votes were kept anonymous.
Easy City Downs will run a limited moneyline on Brotherhood League games starting this weekend. They will then plan to run the entire monelyine for the CBO. We at Publick Occurrences may run the lines during weekly prints but have agreed not to focus on "lines" in our coverage of the sport.
The players representatives agreed to the following:
1. No player shall gamble on baseball. A violation results in a one-year suspension for first offense and a lifetime suspension for a second offense. Multiple offenses discovered at one time would also result in a lifetime suspension.
2. No player shall enter Easy City Downs or associate with employees of Easy City Downs during the regular season. Playoff teams cannot enter Easy City Downs or associate with employees of Easy City Downs until after their teams have been eliminated.
3. Team personnel must abide by the same rules as players.
Howard also created a Gambling Compliance Committee that will oversee bets on games and run numbers against the games. The committee has insight on how and why lines are set and can compare numbers to show any incongruencies that could indicate unethical practices, like teams shaving runs or other statistical anomalies.
Below are the moneylines and an explanation of the gambling rules. Anyone interested in placing official bets on the games must do so at Easy City Downs. No offsite bets will be allowed:
<table><tbody><tr><th>Teams</th><th>Records</th><th>Lines</th></tr><tr><td>ET</td><td>9-9</td><td>+150</td></tr><tr><td>@Slog</td><td>11-7</td><td>-170</td></tr></table>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Teams</th><th>Records</th><th>Lines</th></tr><tr><td>CC</td><td>11-7</td><td>-160</td></tr><tr><td>@NB</td><td>6-12</td><td>+130</td></tr></table>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Teams</th><th>Records</th><th>Lines</th></tr><tr><td>SAL</td><td>7-11</td><td>+200</td></tr><tr><td>@FF</td><td>10-8</td><td>-200</td></tr></table>
In the games you see above, the teams with a + in front of their lines are the teams favored to lose. Teams with a - are favored to win. For Thursday's games, The Slog, County Crossing, and Finch Farm are all favored to win. Finch Farm has the widest favorite, even without homefield factors, meaning they can be expected to win by upwards of five runs.
In the case of runs, the moneylines do not differentiate. A one-run win pays the same as a ten-run win. In the case of the biggest favorites, the moneylines are the same. Betting 100 caps on Salem with a Salem victory means a 200-cap payout. A person who bets on Finch Farm must pay 200 caps to win 100 caps. If that person lays down 100 caps on the Four Leafs, he would be paid 50 caps should Finch Farm win.
Got it, Commonwealth? Lucky Lou and Benji Capcuts hope you will be at the tracks Thursday afternoon to place your bets. Remember, the house mostly wins, but who knows? It could be your day to become king of the caps!
To prepare you for a new revenue stream, remember that "Grandma Plays the Numbers"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m136JOv3z6w