Baseball was plentiful for Las Vegas bookies in the 2006 Major League Baseball season.
Now sports stores are looking to top up their coffers during the postseason, which begins with two games on Tuesday and continues with two more on Wednesday.
The Big Apple has two postseason interests, while Golden State has three.
That means two of the most populous places in America, one on each coast, have a 5/8 investment in the playoffs.
“They’re definitely going to be of great interest,” said Jeff Sherman, Las Vegas Hilton bookie and SuperBook supervisor, listing the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres as the teams that attract fans. most bettors and sponsors.
“The Yankees are a great public team and you would pretty much have to give them an American League lead.
Any of the four teams could drop out of the National League, especially with (pitcher Pedro) Martinez out.
“The Mets are suspicious without him.”
Palms reserve chief Richie Baccelieri, who believes the National League is more balanced this season than last, is not competing.
“The Mets have the best team, but they’re not dominant like St. Louis was, which was beaten by Houston,” he said.
“Martinez was not dominant in the last part of the year.
“He hasn’t done much lately.
“I don’t see a lot of downfall for the Mets.
“National League pitching in general isn’t as strong as it used to be.”
Last year, the Chicago White Sox went an incredible 12-1 in the postseason, sweeping the Astros in four.
Like Sherman, Baccelieri believes the Bronx Bombers are the AL’s cream of the crop and that Detroit was stunned after the Tigers floundered in recent months, losing the Central Division title to Minnesota on the final day of the season.
“They didn’t end well,” Sherman observed.
“The Tigers did everything they could to face the Yankees in Round 1 and still got them.”
“However, I don’t think you’ll see them lie down and die.”
“The way things turned out, the Twins were really good for us,” Baccelieri continued.
“All the money in the division was on the Tigers and the White Sox.
“No one bet on the Twins.”
The Hilton has the responsibility that Detroit win the pennant, the Palms of the Tigers capture the World Series.
“We’ve done well with endorsements and win totals for the season,” Sherman said.
“The only thing we lost was the home run championship.”
Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard won that title with 58 round trips.
Baccelieri opened the Tigers’ opener at 75-1 and saw them plummet as the season wore on.
However, he is not too worried.
“The Tigers are a big dog in the first round and a big dog in the second,” he said.
Las Vegas is home to a Triple-A Los Angeles affiliate and used to bleed Dodgers blue with Walt Alston and Tommy LaSorda; Sin City was considered little more than an annexation by Chavez Ravine.
These days it’s a mix of Dodger blue and Father brown.
“We have both teams’ games on TV and there’s a huge audience for both,” Sherman said.
“Let’s put both.”
Baccelieri preferred San Diego and is anticipated in the Mets-Padres NL pennant final.
Sherman’s crystal ball is snowy, but it doesn’t forecast a Big Apple Subway Series, which last occurred in 2000, when the Yankees won in five.
“No, I don’t think so,” Sherman said.
“Yes, why not?” Baccelieri replied.
“We have support on that.
“‘No’ is minus $4.00 and ‘Yes’ is plus $3.70.”