Skewed Left: Farewell ... (01/31)
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February 5, 2013 Skewed LeftThe Best Ways to Bet at the BallparkHey, remember that idiot who told you a couple months back that you should never bet on baseball? Well, don’t listen to that guy. He’s kind of an idiot. Actually, I heard he picked the Tigers to win the World Series last year, so he’s probably just really bitter. Anyway, that’s a stupid take. You should absolutely bet on baseball, because betting on baseball is a lot of fun. Face it. There are 2,430 regular season games, which is a lot. The NFL has 256 of roughly the same length. With 2,430 games, you can’t be expected to have a rooting interest in every one. That’s why chicken magnate/LHP Kenny Rogers invented Rotisserie baseball, which evolved into the fantasy game we know today. It’s also why in lieu of placing one of those awful futures bets where you can hang onto one team, there are plenty of ways to make baseball interesting for the common fan with little of the preseason preparation that goes into fantasy and at times no prep beyond day-of accounting. As we sit less than two months from the marathon of baseball season, you should know the following games, which have zero house edge because there is zero house. It’s just you and your friends and baseball and something over which to stop speaking to each other. Here are a few of my favorites beyond the ubiquitous fantasy game. The cup game The cup game (swearing actually optional) is your easiest choice for how to bet on baseball and keeps you going through any blowout. It’s a perfect option for people attending a game with lots of extraneous dollar bills and no forethought.
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Many of these are way too hard to play when you are drinking or at the game with just one friend. Please tell me you have heard of ON and OFF. One person wins if at the end of the inning the ball stays ON the pitchers mound, or is rolled onto the mound by the umpire, catcher or IFer (or touching the dirt) one bettor wins if it rolls off or is not rolled onto the mound.
You can bet from 1$ to 5$ per half-inning.
We've played that, but we call it Mound Ball
Apparently I'm already too drunk to play: it's called On OR Off, not On AND off. (jeez) I like the Mound Ball name.
we always called it Dirt, Grass, or Skin.
Played this y once, attending a game at Yankee Stadium (against the Mariners) as part of my bachelor party. I recall drinking involved, but memory of that whole day is very cloudy so I could be wrong.
Everyone playing put a dollar in the cup as ante, every half inning. Whoever was holding the cup at the end of the half inning collected if the ball stayed ON the dirt of the mound. Resting against the edge of the grass counted as ON as long as part of the ball was touching the dirt. Pass the cup (and re-ante) every half inning.
We always played that the "winner" had to buy the next round. With the price of beers, you don't want to win.