Daily Sports Betting Preview 9/30/2020: French Open, MLB Playoffs, Snooker Championship League

• Simona Halep is a -1800 favorite over Irina-Camelia Begu in the French Open.
• The Minnesota Twins have lost 17 playoff games in a row and are -158 favorites over the Houston Astros.
• Scott Donaldson have -600 odds favored over Barry Pinches in the Championship League.

LAS VEGAS - Today’s Daily Sports Betting Preview is an excellent one, and features three great betting opportunities.

First, Simona Halep has a match in the French Open today, and while she is heavily favored, it is likely an interesting wagering opportunity regardless.

Then, the MLB playoffs continue today as the Houston Astros take on the Minnesota Twins - and the Twins look to stave off an 18th consecutive playoff loss.

Finally, the Snooker Championship League brings a high volume of betting opportunities to the table.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

French Open Betting

Simona Halep is one of the best women’s tennis players in the world, and entered the French Open as the most favored competitor on the odds boards.

This means that a lot of her matchup have very lopsided odds, as the sportsbooks expect the number one seed in the tournament to dominate most of her opponents.

Today’s matchup is no exception.

One aspect of these betting odds that is immediately apparent is how high the juice is on these - the payout ratio is pretty brutal.

Beyond that, the lesson is that Halep is expected to win handily against her fellow Romanian.

The spread on this matchup is 6.5 games, which is fairly interesting in the context of how lopsided the moneyline is.

As a comparison, on Thursday, Petra Kvitova is favored by 6 games over Jasmine Paolini, but Kvitova has -900 odds on the moneyline, twice as profitable as Halep’s odds.

The point being made here is that the sportsbooks are very sure that Halep will win, but seemingly less sure that she will dominate to the degree of expectation.

It is certainly interesting that the moneyline seems much more lopsided in Halep’s case than in Kvitova’s.

There is certainly an implication that these odds are a bit off - they should be closer to each other - but it’s up to tennis bettors to figure out where the weaknesses in these odds are.

MLB Betting

The Minnesota Twins are absolutely snakebit. Since 2004, the Twins have lost 17 straight playoff games.

Not playoff series - playoff games!

This is the trend of all trends, a trend that honestly defies anything MLB bettors know about probability and statistics.

The Twins face off against the Houston Astros today for a second time, and if they lose this one, that will make it 18 straight.

The fact that the Twins are moneyline favorites in this matchup only serves to increase the pressure on them.

Jose Berrios takes the mound for the Twins, and Jose Urquidy will be his counterpart for the Astros.

Urquidy has never pitched against the Twins lineup, but Berrios has seen the Astros before - and the numbers are not good.

Berrios gives up a .333 batting average against the Astros, with a .500 slugging percentage and a .393 on base percentage.

Three Astros - Alex Bregman, George Springer, and Aledmys Diaz - have an OPS above 1.000 against Berrios.

Zach Grienke already notched his win this series, so the good news for the Twins is that the rest of the Astros pitchers are not up to his standard.

The bad news for the Twins is that they have to win both of the next two games against the Astros in order to advance. The worse news is that they have lost 17 playoff games in a row.

This matchup is expected to be low scoring, with an Over/Under line of 7.5. Tuesday’s matchup ended in a 4-1 Astros victory, and neither team is an offensive powerhouse.

MLB bettors have to weigh the likelihood of any given result against the apparent curse the Twins are under.

Snooker Betting

When it comes to volume betting opportunities, it’s hard to beat today’s Snooker offerings.

The Snooker Championship League brings a ton of action to the table on this Wednesday, and the action is sure to be exciting.

With six matches today, and more than 15 matches on Thursday, the futures betting possibilities are nearly endless.

Of the six matches today, one stands out - this match has seriously lopsided odds, and is absolutely worth examining.

While Scott Donaldson isn’t the absolute biggest favorite possible in this competition (John Higgins is -2500 in his matchup on Thursday), he is the biggest favorite on Wednesday’s slate of games.

Scott Donaldson has a good history in the Championship League - he won the 2019-2020 edition of the tournament.

Pinches, meanwhile, is an older player, best known for his flamboyant style of dress. A pro’s pro, he’s been playing snooker for decades.

Donaldson is a big favorite in this matchup, as he should be given his history in the tournament.

There’s a lot to wager on as the Championship League continues!

Happy Betting!