The Red Sox have already won the World Series in the eyes of oddsmakers.
Sportsbooks updated their odds on the 2018 World Series after Game 2 ended to reflect the influx of money being bet on the Boston Red Sox to win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Fall Classic’s best-of-seven series.
Bovada*(Bovada referral link) now has the Red Sox, who are currently up 2-0, at (-600) to win the World Series, meaning they are heavy favorites with a $600 winning wager paying out $100.
On the other side, if you believe the Dodgers will put on their rally caps and make a historic comeback to win it all after losing the first two games, then Bovada is currently offering (+500) on the Los Angeles underdog and a $100 bet would win $500.
The odds on the Red Sox and Dodgers have changed dramatically, since the start of the World Series. Before the start of Game 1, the Red Sox were (-165) and the Dodgers were (+135).
It’s no surprise the Red Sox came into the 2018 World Series as the favorite and having beat perhaps the two other best teams in all of baseball, defeating the Yankees 3-1 in the ALDS and the defending World Series champion Astros 4-1 in the ALCS.
Meanwhile, the underdog Dodgers won 3-1 against the Braves in the NLDS before needing all seven games to beat the Brewers and win the series 4-3 in the NLCS.
Before the start of the 2018 postseason, Bovada had the Red Sox at (+300) as the favorite to win it all among the ten playoffs team, narrowly edging out the Astros at (+350).
Both won over 100 games, and the Red Sox finished with 108 wins – fourth-most wins by a team in MLB history.
The Dodgers came in at the third spot of all playoff teams with odds of (+600), who lost to the Astros in seven games in the 2017 World Series.
However, bettors who bet on the Red Sox to win the World Series right before opening day of the 2018 season got odds at (+1200), and if the Red Sox do win it all, then they will win 12 times their original bet back in March.
While the Red Sox were the seventh most-favored team heading into the season, the Dodgers were actually the second most favored with odds at (+500), which coincidently is exactly where they sit currently after losing the first two games of the World Series and heading home to play Game 3.
There are a couple lessons to be learned by knowing a bit of recent MLB baseball betting history.
Since 2004, the Red Sox have won the World Series three times and will likely win this World Series, giving them titles in 2004, 2007, 2013, and most likely 2018.
The Red Sox have won every time they’ve played in the Fall Classic since, which seems to now happen every few years like clockwork. If they win it all this year, then bet on them winning the World Series in 2022-2024.
However, the most important lesson is simply this:
Favorable odds + Dodgers in the postseason = Dodgers will choke.