Gambling Odds on Warriors Going 16-0 in the Playoffs

There have been some interesting series thus far in the NBA Playoffs, but there remains a nagging feeling that so many of these games don’t have any real stakes because the third Finals edition Cavs-Warriors seems inevitable. Neither has lost yet.

The Warriors seem especially fine-tuned. One of their five games thus far — Game 3 in Portland — has felt in any way in doubt, and they roared back. Naturally, this has led me to wonder whether there is any chance they go undefeated, and if you could bet on that.

Jason Simbal, an oddsmaker at CG Technology, tells me that while they are not ready to post a prop bet on this outcome, “yes” for the Warriors to go undefeated would be at about +1600, with “no” coming in around -3000. This means if you bet $100 on the Warriors to go 16-0, you’d win $1,600; you’d have to risk $3,000 to win $100 on a bet that they would have at least one loss. (Simbal says that the mathematical odds on the Warriors to go 16-0 in the playoffs are somewhere between about 1 in 34 and 1 in 35.)

The “no” is probably a better value wager, but where’s the fun in that?