A Diamondbacks’ World Series win could make bettor $90,000 richer

Sometimes, you just have a feeling.

It’s not how all sports bettors work, but 46-year-old Brooklynite Dave Menashe has been around gambling much of his life and felt like the Arizona Diamondbacks weren’t being respected by both pundits and oddsmakers before the season.

“Everybody was overlooking the Diamondbacks,” Menashe told For The Win over the phone on Thursday afternoon. “I thought they were young, scrappy and had good pitching. Corbin Carroll is awesome. Zac Gallen is awesome. Merrill Kelly is awesome. I thought they had some real chemistry at the end of last year.”

Menashe, who lives in Brooklyn and is in real estate with two childhood friends, said he wagers regularly on football, the NCAA tournament and the occasional baseball game. He bets $500 a game and is selective about the wagers he makes. He doesn’t place many futures bets, but placed two this season — one for $500 on the New York Yankees to win the World Series at +750 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook and on April 9, one for $500 on the Diamondbacks to win it all at 180-1 odds.

That wager would win $90,000 if Arizona beats Texas in the Fall Classic.

The World Series begins on Friday night with Zac Gallen taking on Nathan Eovaldi in Game 1. The Diamondbacks are around a +145 underdog in the series at sportsbooks, facing the Texas Rangers (-170).

When Menashe placed the wager in April, Arizona only had a 6-4 record, but had played all of its 10 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres — two teams expected to be in the playoff hunt.

The Yankees certainly make sense for a native New Yorker to place some money on, but why the Diamondbacks?

“It was really intuition,” Menashe said. “I had a feeling they were going to do well and I thought oddsmakers overlooked the team. I was shocked when I saw their World Series odds.”

Arizona was 48-33 through the first half of the season before struggling in the second half and making the playoffs despite losing their final four games of the season.

“I was a little worried they wouldn’t make the playoffs when they lost three of four to the New York Mets in August because the Mets stink,” Menashe opined. “The Brewers series I wasn’t worried about, and when I saw the series odds against the Dodgers were only +180 [for Arizona], I was more confident. That line seemed fishy, so I bet Arizona that series as well.”

Menashe said he didn’t hedge when Arizona was down 3-2 in the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies, but has wagered $25,000 at DraftKings on the Rangers at -170 odds to ensure a profit.

He also had the a $500 on wager on Florida Atlantic to win the NCAA tournament at 200-1, detailed by ESPN’s David Purdum here, so Menashe is no stranger to these types of situations.

If the Diamondbacks win the World Series, at 180-1 they will have the longest odds of any World Series champion, likely in Major League Baseball history. The 1991 Minnesota Twins had the second-longest odds of any champion at 80-1, per SportsOddsHistory’s database.

Menashe will likely be watching the game at Carmine’s in Greenpoint, one of his favorite Brooklyn establishments. As to how the series will go?

“I expect the D-Backs to win the series, I do,” he said. “I really think they’re going to win.”