But often this turns out to be a non-winning approach. And thus not a correct way to make winning baseball picks versus Las Vegas' baseball lines in the long run. Yet this is how most people go about handicapping baseball games, because it seems sensible, yet most people lose out to the Vegas sportsbook...

It is our philosophy that to make enough winning Major League baseball picks to beat Las Vegas baseball lines over the long run, one must analyze the Vegas line on a given game to try to match the perspective of Las Vegas' oddsmakers.

At BaseballLocks.com we believe that matching the perspective of Vegas' oddsmakers may be accomplished using a technique we refer to as Backwards Odds Handicapping Analysis. When using Backwards Odds Analysis, instead of looking forwards to try to determine if team A or team B will win, we look backwards to make a determination as to why the line on a given game involving team A and B has been set, adjusted, or maintained at a particular number... How did the line originate? Why is the given line sitting at a specific number?

By analyzing the line in reverse, BaseballLocks.com seeks to accomplish two important things for increasing the success of baseball picks:

1) Shifting the focus away from using statistics, sports knowledge, and other techniques to make picks.
2) Redirect the focus towards using possible indications in the line on a given game to identify which team oddsmakers or insiders may think will win.

Part 2) Looking for Indications in Las Vegas' Major League Baseball Lines in an effort to Pinpoint Which Teams Oddsmakers and Insiders May Think Will Win in a Given Game:
It is the BaseballLocks.com philosophy that Las Vegas' baseball lines contain valuable indicators that may be used to pinpoint which teams oddsmakers or insiders think will win in a given game. By using Backwards Odds Analysis BaseballLocks.com seeks to isolate these indications to tap into a source of baseball picks.

The key to using Backwards Odds Analysis to make MLB picks is to understand that Vegas' MLB odds and lines are the oddsmakers' instrument for dividing the betting action in half for a given game...

Phrased another way... The very existence of betting lines gives Las Vegas oddsmakers an element of control over how the population as a whole decides to bet in a given game. Because as you shall see, the line on a game is not necessarily Vegas' assessment of what will happen in the game... It can be an assessment of what particular baseball odds line number will draw even betting action from the combination of all bettors. Thus, when employing Backwards Odds Analysis to making baseball picks, we first look at how Vegas' oddsmakers may be using betting lines to divide action in half in a Backwards Odds assessment of oddsmakers and baseball betting lines

Part 3) Backwards Odds Analysis of Oddsmakers using Major League Baseball Odds and Betting Lines to Keep Baseball Betting Action Divided in Half:
BaseballLocks.com believes that Las Vegas oddsmakers are masters at using Major League Baseball lines to keep betting action divided in half. By making adjustments to a given money line oddsmakers may be able to sway numbers of sports bettors who have not yet made a betting decision on which team to bet on in a given game to place their bet on the team that has lesser action. Ask yourself, how often have you been undecided on a game only to make your decision after the line moved up a few dollars or down a few dollars? BaseballLocks.com believes the movement in the line is Vegas' effort to balance betting action, and often times it can have a direct result on a player's betting decision.

Of course, when Vegas' baseball lines are moved, it can also sway sports bettors who have already placed a bet on a game-- to "put down" additional action on that game... Or to even reverse their direction and bet the other way to try to "sandwich the money line," hedging out some or all of the risk. But in BaseballLocks.com's view, as far as Vegas' oddsmakers are concerned, keeping the betting action split at each odds line number (dollar number) is the key... Doing so allows Vegas to collect its juice.

Therefore, it is the BaseballLocks.com view that by flexing mastery over MLB baseball odds, Las Vegas' oddsmakers have an amazing amount of control over who in general (for example the general public) bets what amount on a given game, and at what point in time they bet that amount, thus enabling Vegas to keep the action divided in half. However, before oddsmakers can even begin to make adjustments to a particular betting line to keep action divided in half, they must choose a starting point or "opening Vegas line" for the game.

Part 4) The Goal Of Oddsmakers When Creating Vegas' Opening Baseball Lines:
BaseballLocks.com believes that When creating an opening line, one possible incentive for Vegas' oddsmakers is to choose a baseball line that will do a fast, efficient job of splitting action in half. Doing so guarantees Vegas that it can make the most juice.

If an opening line doesn't draw even action, the sooner the line can be adjusted to draw even action, the more juice Vegas can guarantee itself.

Phrased another way-- the more a line needs to be adjusted to keep betting action even, the more overall risk Vegas is exposed to, and the lower the profit Vegas stands to make. This is because Vegas can get stuck with uneven betting action for any given baseball odds line number, which can cut into profits.

Therefore, one view is that Las Vegas' oddsmakers would be very interested in knowing what specific baseball odds line number would draw even betting action for a given game before having to release the opening line for that game to the public.

But before oddsmakers could know what an opening line on a given game would need to be set at in order to draw even action, oddsmakers may need to know which team various sports bettors plan to put their money on in advance of that game, for a variety of different baseball odds line numbers. This brings us to what BaseballLocks.com believes is the Las Vegas oddsmakers' greatest strength when it comes to using lines to divide betting action in half.

The oddsmakers' greatest strength for dividing betting action in half is based on the fact that most sports bettors make their betting decisions by relying on some level of information they have collected about the matchup. As a result, Vegas' oddsmakers may have fine developed techniques that allow them to measure the level of information that prospective sports bettors know about a given game before having to create and release the opening line for that game.

One method oddsmakers use to measure the information level known to various classes of sports bettors about a game is to release an exclusive "unrefined" test line for select knowledgeable and well respected gamblers or "Vegas insiders" to bet into.

For inside gamblers who have access to these "unrefined" test lines, it may be like having access to free money... Because if the betting line ends up being far off from the test line, the game can be sandwiched by insiders for a hedge on the odds...

But it's well worth it for Vegas. Because by allowing select insiders an exclusive opportunity to place bets against early test lines, oddsmakers get a chance to determine whether or not select insiders are betting the same side in a game, whether insiders are split, and how strongly insiders feel about their selection in terms of how much they are betting.

Collecting this type of information about how insiders may be evaluating their selection on a given game helps the oddsmakers make an assessment of what the opening line will need to be set at in order to generate even betting action from the combination of inside sports bettors and general public sports bettors on a given game.

Of course oddsmakers also study general public betting patterns and interest, but they may be more concerned with measuring insider betting interest because insiders place bigger bets (which are harder to balance), and because insiders may at any moment have access to more relevant information about a given game than anyone else.

For example, insiders may know:

• what types of strategies the teams plan to use
• whether or not the teams are emotionally ready to play
• who is umpiring the game and what affect it can have on the pitchers' strike zone
• whether the starting pitcher has a blister on his thumb
• or if the starting catcher has a wart on his big toe...

Therefore it is the BaseballLocks.com Backwards Odds view of MLB handicapping that it's not always the teams that matter, it's not always the stats that matter, it's often the line on the game that really matters. The line on the game may show what oddsmakers know, and in turn what oddsmakers may believe insiders to know. So how does BaseballLocks.com extract these indications from the line to make MLB picks? How does BaseballLocks.com pinpoint which teams it thinks oddsmakers believe have the edge in a given game? BaseballLocks.com uses its Backwards Odds Analysis.

Part 5) How BaseballLocks.com Uses Backwards Odds Analysis of Las Vegas' Major League Baseball Odds and Betting Lines to Make Baseball Picks:
With oddsmakers and insiders possibly in possession of game pertinent info, and with a portion of the public likely not having a clue as to how such information may affect the way Vegas' lines are treated, sports bettors who don't know how to read baseball lines may be positioned to lose a great percentage of their baseball bets.

Consider the following progression of a matchup where non-public information may exist:
Note - This is how the BaseballLocks.com Backwards Odds View Sees it: First, oddsmakers must create an opening line. So they provide select knowledgeable parties with an early test line allowing oddsmakers to measure the level of interest.

The result of the test line shows that inside information may exist as these select insiders are betting heavily one way.

So the opening line is released at a number that entices the general public to bet against the team that insiders are betting on. The money bet by the apparantly uninformed public counters the money placed by insiders keeping the action even.

Thus, oddsmakers may have just offset the presence of insider information using the general publics' uninformed take on a game to set the line at a number that literally entices the public to balance insider action by betting on the team that insiders and now oddsmakers may perceive as being the disadvantaged team. This is the BaseballLocks.com Backwards Odds Handicapping View. But this view should not be construed to be a guarantee of success of any individual game that BaseballLocks.com makes a pick in. Nor should it be construed as a guarantee of success of any full season of picks or any other sequence or time period of baseball picks. After all, baseball betting does contain risk because handicapping baseball is a prediction of future events. And BaseballLocks.com cannot guarantee the future.

Moving on with the BaseballLocks.com Backwards Odds Handicapping Strategy. Unreleased or inside information on a game may also manifest itself to insiders, for example, after the opening line has been set... In such cases, it is the belief of BaseballLocks.com that the line may be adjusted in such cases to entice the general public to bet on the disadvantaged team for that given game to possibly balance insider action.

Is the setting and moving of lines unethical?
Probably not. After all, it's not the oddsmakers' duty to report everything they may or may not know about a given game.

But it is the oddsmakers' duty to set the line at a number that draws even action. If they didn't, Vegas couldn't consistently make any juice and you wouldn't be able to place sports bets... So BaseballLocks.com believes that when inside information or an inside read exists, oddsmakers simply react by setting the line at a number that balances action, even if it means enticing some bettors to bet on a team that so called insiders or oddsmakers may perceive as being the disadvantaged team. BaseballLocks.com uses such logic as stated above in its Backwards Odds Handicapping Approach to handicapping baseball games.

Part 6) Don't Fail to Acknowledge That There May Be Clues as to the Perspective of Insiders and Oddsmakers When Viewing Baseball Lines:
If you fail to acknowledge that lines may be able to be analyzed by Backwards Odds Analysis you could be at risk to experience a reduction in your chances of winning baseball bets as you may be enticed into betting games with seemingly favorable odds when information may exist that says otherwise. Simply stated, by ignoring possible indications in the line, you may be reducing your chances of winning baseball bets.

BaseballLocks.com believes the key to making successful baseball picks is to use Backwards Odds Analysis of Las Vegas' baseball lines to make an assessment as to how hard lines may be driven by the existence of inside information. Of course public perception may come into play too.

Part 7) Working Hard to Make Winning Baseball Picks:
BaseballLocks.com believes that Whether or not such game deciding info exists in a specific game may be determined by an analysis of the Vegas line for that given game. But it should be noted that BaseballLocks.com does not claim to know any inside information. BaseballLocks.com simply seeks to identify the possible presence of such information through a Backwards Odds Analysis of the line. Furthermore, the possible presence of such information in a given game does not serve as a guarantee of any given result, in any way shape or form. Hence, BaseballLocks.com uses its Backwards Odds Handicapping in an effort to uncover which way, if any, oddsmakers and/or insiders may be favoring in a given game. But there can be no guarantees. And there is no guarantee of a profit.

BaseballLocks.com believes that limiting yourself to a Backwards MLB odds analysis for baseball bet selection may put you on the winning side with greater frequency compared to solely using techniques such as worrying about which pitcher is better-- or which team has the better record at day or night, or other stats and trends without consideration of the line.

Part 8) Getting MLB Picks Made Using Backwards Odds Analysis of Vegas' MLB Lines From BaseballLocks.com:
If you're ready to get Major League baseball picks made using Backwards Odds Handicapping Analysis of Las Vegas' MLB betting lines, you have come to the right place. BaseballLOCKS.com is the pioneer of Backwards Odds Handicapping for baseball bet selection. 23 years of studying the propensity of different types of teams to win with respect to how the line has been set and maintained by Vegas' oddsmakers is the BaseballLocks.com key to maximizing its chances of pinpointing indications in the line as to which team insiders and oddsmakers may possibly view as possessing a possible unpublicized advantage in a given game.

So for Backwards Odds Handicapped baseball picks, let BaseballLOCKS.com make picks in Major League Baseball games for you.

One final note before you move on to the baseball pick(s) if currently available:
Don't ever bet "the ranch" on a single game... BaseballLocks.com believes in only wagering with an amount that's affordable to the given bettor. If you don't have the discipline to do this, please leave this site now because you are a prime candidate to lose money even while possessing a winning record...

Of course, even if you do not have the discipline, getting the discipline is possible, because you're already becoming a more aware player having just read an introduction about how BaseballLocks.com uses Backwards Odds Analysis of Las Vegas' baseball lines to try to beat Las Vegas at its own proposition.