13 months ago
St. Petersburg, Florida -- Major League Baseball hopes to resume game 5 of the World Series tonight. However, some sports books have already declared the Philadelphia Phillies the winner.
The majority of offshore (online) sports books like Sportsbook.com say the Phillies won 2-1 using Nevada gaming rules, which state the final score of an official game is determined by reverting to the last completed inning. Philadelphia led Tampa Bay 2-1 after the fifth inning on Monday.
A check of rules on Sportsbook.com states the following: Major League Baseball games are official after 5 innings of play, or 4½ innings if the home team is leading. If a game is subsequently called or suspended, the winner is determined by the score after the last full inning, unless the home team ties the score or takes the lead in the bottom half of the inning in which the game was suspended.
In that case the winner will be determined by the score at the time the game is called. (This rule holds for betting purposes even if the game is suspended and /or completed on a different day than it began).
According to a story on Gambling911.com, wagers on totals and run-line bets are being refunded because rules stipulate that at least 8 ½ innings must be played. The story also quotes the director of the Las Vegas Hilton sports book who says "We're just following the regular baseball rules. This is a very common rule."
In an odd twist, while the sports books say the Phillies won game 5, (meaning Philadelphia would have won the World Series 4 games to 1) they are not paying out those who bet on the Phillies to win the series. Instead, those wagers won't be paid out until after MLB declares a winner.
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