A lot of people complain about the East Coast bias when it comes to watching sports highlights on the major cable networks. I used to pay more attention to that years ago when I was in college, but I get most of my sports news online these days, as I’m sure most of you gambling enthusiasts probably do.
However, where this so-called East Coast baseball betting bias, if it were true (which many can point to some in-your-face statistics to support their case that it is true) can hurt those betting on baseball the most is with televised games.
Why? In order to really learn a team and what they’re capable of, you have to watch them play on at least a semi-regular basis. You have to. At least once a week. So if ESPN is only throwing on Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox games, and TBS is only giving you the Braves, how are you going to really follow the progress and development of teams in the Midwest and West that aren’t named the Cubs, and don’t play in or near the town in which you live? It’s not easy. I’m sorry, you can’t make serious, informed monetary decisions based on 20-second clips off a Web site. Following live statistics, as well, will only take you so far.
And while we’re at it, if you live on the East Coast, you’re faced with another disadvantage when it comes to East Coast games. You guessed it, they all start at 9 or 10 p.m. If any of you have a regular job, you’re not staying up past the fourth inning or so, unless the game’s on a Friday or Saturday night. You might not think it much of a handicap, but I still think it puts you as a disadvantage. You’re putting money on the line, you should has as much first-hand experience studying a team as possible.
You can look at all the stats online you want. You can study them up and down for two hours a day. It still wouldn’t change the fact that if you’re not watching a team on a regular basis, you’d basically guessing more than if you were. It also subconsciously allows thoughts like “well, they won that big game two weeks ago, I like their chances.” Yeah, good luck with that.
But what can you do if the games aren’t on TV? Well, you can probably buy an online package to watch them anyway, or you can focus your betting energy on the teams whose games you can watch.