South Korean Baseball Betting
Major League Baseball betting is a favorite summer pastime for gamblers around the world. But we can all agree that it gets a little monotonous sometimes.
Sure, an expert handicapper can make a cool profit with “system” wagers on 5 innings bets, total runs, or even the money line. But the predictability of the MLB’s Vegas odds and results has its downside too. There are 162 games played by every team, and a lot of sunflower seeds chewed up and spat out.
How about the KBO, the South Korean baseball league that is as fun as it is quirky. There are great athletes competing on the diamond in Korea – many of whom trolley back and forth to America during long, decorated careers. But that’s only half the pleasure.
Thanks to a lack of pitching depth, Korean games can be high-scoring and full of home runs. The corporate branding of the franchises is great for comic relief. And there’s more than meets the eye in the stands…especially if you’re sitting behind home plate at a Hanwha Eagles outing.
Top Korean sports betting sites No doubt, South Korea has some of the restrictive policies in the world regarding sports gambling and over internet usage also which also rolls over to the online betting system. However, it also not prosecutes sites so strictly. It allows online gambling to some extent. Some of the important gambling websites in. The sports betting industry in South Korea continues to grow each year, making unbiased sportsbook reviews that much more important. Whether you're looking for the best baseball odds or the best. Get the best South Korea KBO betting tips for Today. Odds, Stats and free Baseball KBO predictions from our expert tipsters.
Odds for the KBO are much the same as the MLB, with a few subtle differences. Obviously, bookies expect more total runs scored over the long haul. The league’s lack of parity means that money lines are often weighted more heavily to the favorite, and the time difference between Asia and the United States means that gamblers from the United States get their results (and hopefully their winnings) in the morning instead of the afternoon or late at night.
Futures odds for the Korean championship are currently hard to find. Bovada Sportsbook recently tried a futures market for the 2018 season, then took it down. That’s probably wise. Despite only a few clubs being in position to contend for a title, baseball in Korea can be unpredictable. Odds managers prefer to wait until the season gets rolling. But in the meantime, dozens of props and live-betting opportunities dot the betting board just as for the MLB.
Which Korean clubs will be worth a long-term speculative wager in 2018? Let’s look at where each of the 10 KBO franchises stand going into the Year of the Dog.
South Korean Baseball Betting Tips
Kia Tigers (2017 KBO champions)
The red and white-clad Tigers play at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, an apt name for a park that houses the league’s current reigning champs. Kia won the regular season pennant and the Korean Series in 2017 and has managed to hold onto the nucleus of a powerful roster for this summer’s race. In fact, the club just signed MVP hurler Yang Hyeon-jong to a healthy contract extension.
Hector Noesi is Hyeon-jong’s crucial sidekick on the pitching staff, while Choi Young-woo and Roger Bernadina will lead the batting lineup. The Tigers are an excellent pick for a futures bet as usual, and veteran bettors are hoping their slow start (2-2 as of March 28th, including a 6-0 loss to Samsung) drives the odds longer when casinos open betting on an eventual series champion.
Nexon Heroes
The Heroes are happy to have pulled-in former Minnesota Twins 1st baseman Park Byung-ho for 2018 and possibly beyond. Byung-ho is an instructive example of the type of Korean ballplayer who is good enough to play in Major League Baseball, but just as happy to perform in his homeland. Park played in the KBO before his debut in MLB. He has already made a mark as one of the KBO’s best sluggers in March exhibition games.
Park’s return is welcome as the 2017 club had missed the postseason for the first time in 5 years. 19-year-old Lee Jung-hoo is a prodigal outfielder who may eventually become a household name in America, but for now, the Heroes are pleased to have 2 great athletes on the roster.
Bet on these guys early. The Heroes’ lack of a playoff appearance last season means that futures odds will be modest, but not for long if the batting lineup gets rolling in summer.
Doosan Bears
Things are not well at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. Star outfielder Hyun-soo Kim dabbled in Major League Baseball only to announce his return to the KBO. That’s terrific, but Doosan’s overconfidence that Kim would return has left the club high and dry now that the 30-year-old slugger has chosen to play for the LG Twins instead. Is there a Plan B?
Maybe, maybe not. Seth Frankoff and Josh Lindblom are a pair of quality state-side acquisitions, but the club has done little to replace 2016 MVP Dustin Nippert, whose absence from the mound caused irate fans to riot in the streets last year. Min Byung-hun is another superstar outfielder who has left for greener pastures.
Lotte Giants
The Giants have been without a Korean Series win for 26 years. But aforementioned OF Min Byung-hun, has signed a 4-year contract, giving fans reason to hope for better days ahead. The Giants made the playoffs in 2017 without Byung-hun, and team captain Lee Dae-ho is coming off a strong campaign.
The batting lineup could be stellar, making Lotte a good bet on the money line or over-total runs on any given afternoon (or early morning, if you live in America). But the loss of veteran catcher Kang Min-ho and the lack of a clear answer at 3rd base could put the team in a typical KBO quandary, full of offense but weak in the fielding department.
NC Dinos
Rawr! Here’s a great example of the KBO’s uniqueness and colorful style. No major league franchise would call itself the “dinosaurs” or “dinos” in America, as the term brings up the specter of old age. But the Korean fans love it.
What’s more, the Dinos are a terrific baseball club which has reached the postseason in 4 out of the young franchise’s 5 seasons in the league.
As with a few other KBO clubs, they’re looking strong on offense and weak elsewhere in 2018. The already-thin pitching staff has been depleted. But popular Taiwanese acquisition Wang Wei Chung gives the club star power on the mound and a chance to return to the playoffs again. If only he could pitch every day, the lack of depth wouldn’t be so potentially haunting.
Are the Dinos a good futures bet? Nope. Pitching is still important, even in Korea. But I expect to see them scoring a lot of runs on a consistent basis. They’re an excellent live bet on the money line when playing from behind.
SK Wyverns
KBO rosters tend to change often. That’s not true of the Wyverns though, a club with a powerful batting lineup that management has been smart enough to keep together.
Choi Jeong is an exciting home-run hitter who led the team to a 1st ranking in home runs hit in ’17.
Don’t rush to wager on the club, however. You guessed it – they’re prolific at the bat and weak on the mound.
Kim Kwang-hyun is returning to the plate after an elbow surgery, however, giving fans hope that at least a few opposing offenses will have trouble scoring runs.
LG Twins
American fans who complain that the leadership of their favorite club is too fly-by-night should learn more about the LG Twins of the KBO. After doing so, they might not feel so bad about things.
South Korean Baseball Betting Sites
The Twins have had a different manager in 8 out of the last 8 seasons. Insanity! Considering that the franchise hasn’t won the Korean Series since 1994, a little impatience can be forgiven, but I’m thinking management is way too restless for its own good.
The franchise has turned over a new leaf in 2018 (what else is new?) with a new-look roster and a top-end skipper in Ryu Joong-il. Hopefully, he’ll get to manage a least a few games before they can him. The Twins are a very shaky bet until proven otherwise.
South Korean Baseball Gambling
Hanwha Eagles
It has been 10 consecutive seasons since the Eagles have seen the postseason. Although the Giants hold the record for going the longest span without a Korean Series win, the Eagles hold the torch in longest postseason droughts throughout the entire league. Pretty rough.
In fact, the Eagles are often so bad that fans have taken to calling them the Chickens. The club is noteworthy, however, for the most unique and – it could be argued – modern twist on sports fandom.
If you’re ever watching a Chickens, ahem, Eagles game and look carefully at the outfield seats, you’ll notice that the fans look extremely uniform and disciplined. Maybe a little too much so. That’s because the club’s owners have installed robots in the stands.
Yes, robots. Somewhere between adorable and creepy (some have weird monolith-shaped gaps in their faces), the AI wise guys are there to lead cheers and act like good, respectful supporters who would never utter the word “chickens.” Or any words at all.
Samsung Lions
Probably the worst bet of all, the Lions have fallen from a once-dominant franchise to an annual also-ran in a short time, like the infamous “sell-off” phases of MLB franchises which decide to cut costs.
Samsung has not signed a worthy replacement for power-hitter Lee Seung-yuop, who retired last year. Newly signed veteran catcher Kang Min-ho is a good player, but he’ll be watching too many baseballs sail out of the park this season.
South Korean Baseball Betting Odds
kt wiz
Nope, the all-lowercase name isn’t a typo. That’s the club’s official brand name. Fittingly, the team will field the youngest roster in the KBO in 2018.
South Korean Baseball Betting Lines
But if you’re looking for a dark horse futures bet, there are worse choices on the board. High school draftee Kang Baek-ho has lit it up in exhibition games, and fans hope that the club has landed the KBO’s next great slugger. The wiz also dropped 8.8 billion won to add former MLB player Hwang Jae-gyun to the roster along with Dustin Nippert, who hopefully won’t cause any more riots anytime soon.
Bookies will be forced to give the wiz long odds for a Korean Series appearance, but in a thinner league than the MLB, a great pitcher-slugger duo can cause a lot of mayhem. How fast will Baek-ho grow up? Perhaps faster than the small letters on his brand new jersey.