Place Your Bets on the 2020 Diamondbacks

Time once again to enter the SnakePit Casino - wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, of course - and bravely chance your arms on the outcome of this abbreviated 2020 season for the D-backs. Last season, 31 bettors ended up coming out on top overall, by a total of almost ten thousand SnakePit dollars, a rare victory in this series for the punters. Will this year’s spring go as well? Here’s where we find out, as we welcome you to our 6th annual betting frenzy [probably the ninth, but I just keep on copy-pasting... Jim, remember to update this bit next year!]. For those who need a refresher, let me top up your glass...

How it works

I’m bankrolling each of you with S$1,500 in SnakePit Dollars [actual value 0.00000000000001 cents], which you can divide up and wager on the lines as you think fit. I’ll accept entries up until the first pitch on Opening Day.

In an “over/under” bet, a sports book will set a number, and bettors can choose on which side of that number the actual result will fall. The most common such is the total points in an NFL game, but it can be run on just about any sporting statistic. If you win, you get double your money [actually, it’s typically a shade less than double, the difference being the house edge, but we’ll just say double for our purposes here]. If you lose... Well, I trust I need not draw you a picture, but it involves a vice and Joe Pesci, if my recollection of Casino is correct.

To place a bet, you simply put your lines and amount wagered on each, in the comments below. For ease of my inputting them into the spreadsheet, entry lines should be in the form:

• Diamondbacks - Wins, S$300, OVER

which means you are betting Arizona will win more than the specified number. However, so you don’t just throw it all on one bet, you can bet no more than S$500 on any single wager, so you’ve got to have at least three lines. You can have more, of course, by betting less than the limit. Here are the bets on offer, from bovada.lv. All player lines are transferable, so if anyone is traded, the line goes with them. Only regular season games are counted too - I hope this becomes a factor in October!

COVID caveats

• In the event the season is canceled before the full 60 games are played, all bets are off.
• Any listed player testing positive before Opening Day will have their book closed at that point. That;s why there are no Kole Calhoun lines. Existing bets will be allowed to stand.
• Because of the shortened season, we’ll have just one mid-season update, at about the half way point. Assuming everything plays out to completion. We’ll then have the usual final reckoning some time in the post-season.

Here are the wagers available this season, courtesy of BetOnline (www.BetOnline.ag,

• Diamondbacks - Wins 30.5
• Ketel Marte - BA .305
• Ketel Marte - HR’s 11.5
• Ketel Marte - RBI’s 33.5
• Eduardo Escobar - HR’s 12.5
• Eduardo Escobar - RBI’s 42.5
• Starling Marte - HR’s 8.5
• Starling Marte - RBI’s 22.5
• Christian Walker - HR’s 10.5
• Christian Walker - RBI’s 27
• Nick Ahmed - HR’s 11.5
• Nick Ahmed - RBI’s 28.5
• Carson Kelly - HR’s 7.5
• Madison Bumgarner - Wins 5
• Madison Bumgarner - Strikeouts 75.5
• Robbie Ray - Wins 4
• Robbie Ray - Strikeouts 79.5
• Merrill Kelly - Wins 4.5
• Zac Gallen - Wins 2.5
• Archie Bradley - Saves 6.5