The NC Dinos have never won the Korean Baseball League championship, but right now, the Dinos are the best team in the KBO. Oddsmakers at DraftKings list the NC Dinos at +175 odds to win the KBO Series. The defending champion Doosan Bears are currently listed at +650 odds to win back-to-back KBO championships.
At the start of the KBO season, the NC Dinos and Doosan Bears were the teams to beat. The NC Dinos were initially listed at +275 odds, while the Bears were +375 odds to repeat as KBO Series champs.
There’s not much change at the top of the KBO futures board since early May. The NC Dinos, Kiwoom Heroes, Doosan Bears, and LG Twins were all listed among the top four favorites at the start of the season. The Bears slipped a bit, but are still listed among the top contenders for the KBO World Series title.
KBO WORLD SERIES ODDS
NC Dinos +175
Kiwoom Heroes +360
Doosan Bears +650
LG Twins +650
KIA Tigers +1000
Lotte Giants +1000
KT Wiz Suwon +1600
Samsung Lions +2200
SK Wyverns +3800
Hanwha Eagles +5500
The KBO regular season consists of 144 games. Most teams have played 65 games as they’re racing toward the halfway point of the season.
NC Dinos Destiny?
The NC Dinos have never won the KBO Series. They started off red hot with an 11-1 record. Since then, the Dinos amassed the best record in the league at 43-19-2. The Dinos won four in a row, which is the current longest winning streak in the KBO.
The Dinos hold a 5.5-game lead over the Doosan Bears (39-26) in the standings. The defending champs are sitting pretty in second place. Their closest competition right now will be the third-place Kiwoom Heroes (38-29). The Dinos saw their KBO Series odds move up from +275 at the start of the season to +175 through 65 games.
Much like the NC Dinos, the Kiwoom Heroes have never won Korea’s equivalent of the World Series. Before the season began, the Heroes had the third-highest odds at +400. Right now, you can snag the Heroes at +360 to win the KBO Series.
Lee Jung-Hoo leads the Heroes with a .356 batting average. The Heroes starting right fielder ranks #4 overall in hitting. First baseman Park Byung-Ho smacked 17 home runs for Kiwoom. He’s tied for third in the KBO.
KBO Filling the Sportsless Void
With the start of the MLB season less than a day away, let’s not forget about our baseball brethren in Korea. The restart of the KBO in May gave baseball fans something to cheer for during the pandemic after the coronavirus outbreak shut down big league baseball in North America.
Opening Day begins on Thursday in the USA, but the KBO season is almost at its midway mark. Since the KBO season started, Americans have been staying up late to catch games on ESPN. Betting on KBO games became insanely popular as it’s been one of the few viable sports wagering options during the first couple of months of quarantine.
Before the pandemic, most fans were only familiar with viral videos of outlandish Korean bat flips. In a short time, sluggers like Park Byung-Ho (Kiwoom Heroes) and Na Sung-Bum (NC Dinos) have become household names. On the mound, Koo Chang-Mo (NC Dinos) has yet to lose a game with a perfect 9-0 record. He leads the KBO in strikeouts.