Cuba Favored to Win Baseball Gold

Oddsmakers are predicting a two-horse race for the baseball gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, with Cuba and the United States expected to slug it out. Australia, Japan, and the Dominican Republic can send out solid teams, and are the other primary contenders.

The biggest difference between baseball and many other sports is that the primary professional league doesn't shut down to allow players to participate.


While the WNBA will take an extended break to allow its players to compete, something the NHL has done in recent years, Major League Baseball will continue on, as though nothing else is taking place. Even though it's true that minor league players will be allowed to leave their teams to play for the USA, there is no way the US Olympic team even comes close to being the best team the United States can field. Several players on the initial USA roster had to be dropped when they were called up to their respective major league clubs.

This should spell trouble for the Americans, who were unable to win the World Baseball Classic even with its best players. The major reason the United States is the second favorite isn't because it has the second-best team, but merely because there is expected to be a fair amount of money coming in on a U.S. team that isn't a large favorite.

Olympic Sportsbook's current odds to win the gold medal are:
Cuba -125
USA +185
Field +465

If you don't believe the United States will win the gold medal, you can place bets on Cuba and on the field to win, ensuring a profit should the U.S.

not win it all.

The easiest method would be to wager $312.50 to win $250 on Cuba and also wager $100 to win $465 on the field. Should Cuba win, you win $250 on Cuba and loss $100 on the field for a profit of $150. Should one of the field teams win, you would win $465, but lose $312.50 on Cuba for a profit of $152.50.

But, should the United States win, you would lose $312.50 on Cuba and $100 on the field for a loss of $412.50.

Essentially, what you've done is create a line of roughly -275 that says the United States will not win the gold medal. This is calculated by taking the $412.50 you're risking that says the U.S. will not win the gold medal to win $150 or $152.50.

If you don't believe the United States will win the gold medal, your first step should be to visit as many different sportsbooks as possible and look for better odds than -275. If not, you always have the -275 to fall back on.

Remember, finding the best odds is often the difference between a winning and a losing season.