When playing the lottery (whether online or retail) it’s always important to know your odds. If shooting for a grand prize, you know the odds are going to be quite long. But, there are still quality payouts available at odds that are much more realistic for players.
The same is true in sports betting. Gamblers make decisions about what wagers to make and how much to put down based on the odds.
And often, the odds for sports events and lottery games can be remarkably similar. Take the MLB Playoffs, for instance. Baseball’s postseason is down to eight teams. And if you look at the odds for teams to win the World Series, there are online lottery games and retail games that have similar odds.
Lottery games that match World Series odds
The baseball postseason has reached the ALDS and NLDS stage.
Each of the eight teams remaining has a wide range of odds. The favorites are sitting around 1 in 3 to win, while the longshots are around 1 in 12.
Here’s how each team’s odds compare to some of the notable lottery games out there.
The favorites
Currently the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are given the best odds to win. The Yankees are sitting around +325 (1 in 3.25) in most sportsbooks. The Dodgers are around +350.
In New York, a $30 scratch ticket titled “200X” gives you 1 in 3.64 odds to win. That is about as close as you can get to the World Series favorites.
When it comes to the Dodgers, a new $5 California Lottery scratch game called “Red Hot Poker” has 1 in 3.62 odds to win any prize. That compares very closely to the Dodgers’ chance to win it all.
Second-tier teams
The Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres are next up when it comes to World Series odds.
Philadelphia is listed around +400 (1 in 4) to win. The PA online lottery offers a number of multistate progressive jackpot eInstant games. One of them, titled “Witchy Wins,” has odds of 1 in 3.64 (+364) to win any prize per play. So, the odds are actually better to win the online lottery game than for the Phillies to take the title.
The San Diego Padres are getting +550 odds (1 in 5.5) to win the World Series right now. You actually have much better odds to hit 1 Spot in the California Lottery’s Hot Spot draw game. To hit 1 Spot, odds are just 1 in 4. While it’s not a jackpot, it’s still a win (and that might be more than the Padres are saying when October is over).
Longshots
There are four teams that have 1 in 10 odds or longer to win the World Series.
The Cleveland Guardians are right at that mark, with +1000 odds to prevail this October. The Ohio Lottery has a number of games that can offer those kinds of odds. Lottery courier Jackpot.com actually offers tickets for the draw game “Rolling Cash 5.” In this game, you try to match five numbers from 1-39 to win the jackpot. Correctly picking two of the five numbers (which wins $1) also has 1 in 10 odds, just like the Guardians.
The Mets are listed at +1100 to win, or 1 in 11. “Take 5” is a New York Lottery game available through the courier Jackpocket. In that game, you also choose five numbers from 1 to 39. Matching two of the numbers (the minimum needed to win a prize) gives you 1 in 10 odds as well, slightly better than the Mets’ chances.
The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals have the longest odds, sitting around +1200 to win the World Series. The Michigan online lottery is vast with similar game options. For example, it lists the odds to hit two white balls in “Lucky for Life” at 1 in 15.
Tigers odds were 1 in 500 in August
If you want some more perspective on odds, the Tigers covered a wide range.
Just back in mid-August, Detroit was listed at 1 in 500 to just make the playoffs. The team was eight games below .500 and 10 games out of the playoff race.
On Aug. 2, Detroit was given only a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs, yet here they are one of eight teams vying for the World Series.
To put it in a lottery perspective, 1 in 500 is comparable to many different draw games that you can play online.
In Mega Millions, odds to get two white balls and the gold mega ball correct come in at 1 in 693.
Powerball says the odds to match two white balls and the power ball is 1 in 701.3.
Matching 3 of 5 Cash4Life white balls is 1 in 490.
Lucky For Life lists matching two white balls and the Lucky Ball at 1 in 250.
The Tigers didn’t have the 1 in 302.6 million odds to win the World Series like the odds are to win Mega Millions, but this playoff run has still been quite improbable.
Maybe AJ Hinch should get himself a lottery ticket or two.
Photo by Paul Sancya / AP
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