Why not it you have a "sure-thing," or a "lock." Sorry, but there is no such animal we know of in sports. We prefer to take the stance that anything can and does happen, and usually at the most unexpected times.

In sports betting, you should look for value, and there is never any value in laying $300 to win $100. The $300 favourite might win, and win easily, but that doesn’t mean necessarily it was the best choice. There’s always the chance it might have lost and you would be out the $300 or more. Lose enough of those games betting on the big favourites, and your bankroll will start to look undernourished.

When you bet on the underdog, you are getting "plus money," or the opposite of betting on the favourite, laying money. The difference between the favourite and underdog determines the "take-back." This is usually referred to as a "dime-line," "fifteen-cent line," "twenty-cent line," and so on.

An example might be the Yankees at the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland is listed as a -130 favourite, with the take-back on the Yankees at +120. The difference between the favourite Indians and the underdog Yankees is 10 cents (or dollars), thus the "dime line."

If the Indians were -130 and the Yankees +110, it would be a "twenty-cent line."

The smaller the difference between the favourite and underdog, the better it is for the bettor. As the price for the favourite climbs, the gap between favourite and underdog widens as well, to protect the books. Generally, you begin to see the gap widen to a twenty-cent cent line and greater at the -180 threshold, and by the time you get to the -300 favourites and greater, it isn’t unusual to find take-backs with a difference of a dollar or more.

Thus the Yankees’ David Cone, pitching at Yankee Stadium versus the hapless Minnesota Twins in July 1999, was a -410 favourite, following his perfect game earlier in the season. The Twins went off at +300. Final score: Minnesota 5 Yankees 3. The Yankee backers lost $410 dollars for every $100 they wanted to make while the Minnesota bettors won $300 for every $100 they bet.

All games are considered to be "official" after five full innings of play, unless the home team is winning. In that case the game is official after 4.5 innings. If a game is suspended or called, the team leading after the last full inning is called the winner, unless the home team scores to tie or to take the lead in the bottom half of the following inning. In this case, the score determines the winner at the time the game was called.