Unless your online sportsbook offers overnight lines, laying a price (playing the favorite) can be...well, costly.  Like many of you, I have obligations that do not allow me to hawk over a keyboard and monitor 24/7 while I wait for the virtual ticket window to open up so I can feast on betting prey that, on paper, looks like a winner.  Hence time passes and then I find the MLB favorites I want to play with lines from -175 to -200 to astronomic puke inducing numbers.

And that's why a dog is a gambling man's best friend.

Now I am not advising anyone to blindly bet on the underdog of any event.  That's as foolish as feeding the family dog a Snicker's bar, which, I suppose, if done by a toddler...or an adult in a drunken state on New Year's Eve...is excusable.  A bettor should love and adore the dog, but he or she must do the homework and follow the line movement before finalizing any wager on said dog.

Also, once you have decided the underdog is the play, be a little conservative with your bankroll.  If I had a dollar for every time I read a Covers forum poster write something like, "Bet the mortgage on..." or "Empty your kid's college tuition fund..." I'd be so rich I wouldn't want to gamble.  Besides, some dogs are filthy mutts who fail you in the late innings (MLB) or the 4th quarter (football and basketball).

As a doggone good example, I'll use my MLB plays for tonight:

Padres -106

San Diego is 2-8 over the last ten games, but tonight they face the anti-ace in Yoslan Herrera, 3.83 WHIP and 19.50 ERA.  Furthermore, the Padres are 6-1 against the Pirates the last seven meetings. 

Royals -105

Gil Meche and company beat Matt Garza and the Crocodile Hunter killers on the road 7-4 on July 7.  Meche also beat the Rays 8-7 on July 7 of last year.  In addition, for such a media darling the Rays' bullpen is suspect.  Tampa Bay's late inning hurlers have a collective ERA of 9.35.  Ouch, that stings!

Cardinals +105

I love the Brewers, for every time I think about the team I picture a frosty mug of beer and a couple of bratwursts with mustard.  However, a few things about tonight's matchup make me want to play fetch with the dog: 1) Raw stats and recent play favor Sheets over Wellemeyer, but the Brewers are only 1-8 in Ben's last nine starts against the Cardinals. 2) The Cardinals are batting .331 against right handing pitching over the last ten games. 3) If Sheets exits early, the Cardinals can peck away at a bullpen with a 1.63 WHIP and 8.22 ERA.

Marlins +195

Florida is 6-0 over the last six meetings with the Cubs.  Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen, though struggling with a 6.00 ERA, beat Chicago 6-4 last September and 5-4 in May of 2006.  Besides, it is highly doubtful that Zambrano will pitch a complete game, and once again the schizoid Cubs bullpen, collective ERA of 6.35, enters the picture.

Sure, the trouble with dogs is sometimes they lay down and play dead.  They bite into your bankroll and make you want to roll up the nearest newspaper to swat...your television or computer monitor. 

But often the dog gives the gambler a cash kiss that is far more memorable than any amount gained by playing the favorite.