Well last week I made my first trip to Las Vegas in sixteen months. It was my annual May trip to shop for the MLB futures. My numbers told me there were only three teams that fit my model of a pennant winner: Dodgers (Repeater and Favorites at -160), White Sox (American League second choice at 5/1) and the Giants (NL at 50/1 to win the pennant and at 100/1 to win the World Series). Or so I thought. Which leads me to the not so GOLDEN Nugget story. My motus operandi when futures shopping is to hit the Strip properties first and the Westgate before heading to Fremont Street to collect the downtown numbers. My first stop there was at the Nugget where I asked the ticket writer to print out the pennant and World Series futures (I do this at every stop to make sure the numbers are up to date). I went to a corner of the book and entered the numbers in my comparison chart. The Giants at 50/1 to win the pennant and 100/1 to win the World Series jumped off the paper at me. I immediately returned to the ticket writer and called out my wager of 400 units on the Giants at 50/1 to win the NL pennant. After a ten minute or so wait for “authorization” I was told “She” will only take half that wager. Now I have been playing these futures since the early 70’s so I know arguing with THAT decision is useless. Posted in every sports book is a long list of rules and regulations which includes “We reserve the right to refuse accepting wagers from anyone”. So on to my next wager I went. 200 units on the Giants at 100/1 odds to win the World Series. After another even longer wait I was told “She” will not take THAT bet. What is amazing to me is that they are allowed to post odds and then not honor them. “She” could have at least taken half of that bet as a goodwill gesture. Such is Vegas in the year 2021. All the goodwill and freebies have disappeared. Even more astonishing is if you want to enter the new Circa Circa casino you are required to let them scan your photo ID. Is this still America?

Well back to the futures. I was able to get the Giants to win the World Series at odds of 50/1. Does that tell you how far off “She” had her numbers? I put 100 units on San Francisco to be World Champs at the Union Plaza with absolutely no wait for authorization. I believe MLB popularity is going to keep fading away unless they do something about the lack of offense and the length of the games. The numbers are all down a collective MLB batting average of .234, average runs per team per game of 4.36, 7.75 hits per team (first time below 8.00 since 1909) and 9 strikeouts per game (THE all time high). We have already had 4 no-hitters all by mediocre pitchers. Wake up MLB before it is too late. The TV revenue can only carry you so far for so long. The younger people want constant action like the NBA and NFL offers.

Well enough of my rants. Below is a list of this year’s MLB future plays:

• White Sox         AL Pennant    200 units       5/1
• Red Sox             AL Pennant    200 units     10/1
• Astros                AL Pennant    200 units     13/1
• Giants                NL Pennant    200 units     50/1
• Giants                World Series  100 units     50/1
• Padres               World Series   100 units       8/1

The total amount wagered is half of what I usually risk because I believe Covid is still a factor in ALL sports. Hopefully by the time it comes to play the college football futures (July) things will be more close to normal. Thanks for logging in and good luck if you are wagering on the individual MLB games.