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The culture of gambling seems strange and frightening to me. Professional people lurk out there – out in the dark and dirty places - eager to take your money in exchange for the chance to win more money than what you just gave them. These people don't seem too poor or hard-pressed. In fact, they seem eager to do this kind of exchange as much as possible. This suggests that gamblers are stupid.
Let me correct that; MOST gamblers are stupid. YOU on the other hand are smart and can totally exploit the system with your smartness! So let's take a look at the odds on some Tigers bets this season.
Before we go farther I have to confess that I had no idea how "odds" worked. Sure, I see the ratios behind the funny names of each horse come Kentucky Derby time and I understood that if a horse had a big first number followed by a small second number (300:1 for example) then that horse sucked.
After some consultation with our Wikipedia overlord, this is what I gather: The first number is the amount the bookmaker (casino) "puts into the the pot" or "stakes" and the second number is what you, the gambler, stake. Therefore if the odds on a horse winning is 6:1 you would win 7 dollars on a one dollar bet if said horse won. This also reflects the conventional wisdom (with some possible bookmakers manipulation) of what the probability of the event occurring is. If a horse is at 6:1 it suggests that the horse has a 1 out of 7 chance of winning, or 14.2% chance.
Do I have that right?
Just look for the the longest comment below and I'm certain that will be the one correcting my explanation.
Onward to the action*!
*for entertainment purposes only
First Tiger to initiate a fight this season
3:2 Kinsler
6:1 Miggy
8:1 Victor
12:1 Cespedes
500:1 Gene Lamont
First Tiger pitcher to perform a "Phil Coke" fly ball finger point
6:1 Buck Farmer
8:1 Al Albuerquerque
15:1 Kyle Lobstein
2:1 Phil Coke
First Tiger pitcher to fall down after a pitch
3:1 Alfredo Simon
6:1 Bruce Rondon
12:1 Tom Gorzelanny
600:1 Andrew Romine
First Tiger TOOTBLAN
2:1 Kinsler
2:1 Cespedes
2:1 Castellanos
The first player added to the roster from outside the organization
0:1 Don Kelly
First food Prince Fielder will snag from an unsuspecting fan
1:1 Nachos
2:1 An entire pizza
800:1 Salad
Topic of Ausmus' next media gaffe
2:1 Spousal abuse
3:1 Homosexuality
6:1 Religion
50:1 Abortion
2000:1 Bread
Player to hit first Tigers grand slam this season
4:1 Cabrera
6:1 Cespedes
8:1 Victor Martinez
8:1 J.D. Martinez
1,000,000,000:1 Justin Verlander
Winner of the opening day Dunkin' Donuts race
3:1 Biggy Bagel
3:1 Cuppy Coffee
3:1 Dashing Donut
3:1 Fuzzy Muffin
First Tigers player to steal a base this season
2:1 Rajai Davis
2:1 Anthony Gose
4:1 Ian Kinsler
1,000:1 Victor Martinez
999:1 Victor Martinez with a rocket strapped to his back
Former Tiger to hit the first home run against the Tigers
6:1 Prince Fielder
10:1 Omar Infante
12:1 Avisail Garcia
14:1 Matt Joyce
16:1 Clete Thomas
9000:1 Phil Coke
1:1 Frickin' Delmon. You know it's going to be Delmon.
First Tigers' writer to use the word "assemblage" or "imbroglio"
7:2 Lynn Henning
9:2: Catherine Slonksnis
10:1 Beck
15:1 Chris McCoskey
50:1 Anthony Fenech
70:1 Chris Iott
First BlessYouBoys writer to write an article about something that happened in Tigers Stadium
1:10 Greg Eno
10:1 Kurt Mensching
Pitcher who will lead the Tigers in saves this season
50:1 Joe Nathan
69:1 Luke Putkonen
3:1 Joakim Soria
10:1 Bruce Rondon
☛:1 Al Albuerqueque