Major League Baseball (MLB) is one of the most popular sports leagues in North America. As a result, the MLB playoffs attract a ton of attention from both fans and bettors every year.
Want to learn how to bet on the MLB playoffs, but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry – our MLB playoffs betting guide for beginners covers everything you need to know.
How Do the MLB Playoffs Work?
Every year, the Major League Baseball regular season concludes in late September or early October. In order to determine the overall champion, the top teams from the regular season enter into the playoffs.
A total of 12 teams compete in the playoffs, with the six division champions and six wild card teams taking part. The wild card teams are the three teams in each league with the best records other than the division champions.
Here are the four rounds of series games within the postseason:
Wild Card Series – Best-of-three-games playoff between the lowest-seeded division champion and three wild card teams.
AL Division Series and NL Division Series – Best-of-five-games series.
AL Championship Series and NL Championship Series – Best-of-seven-games series between the Division Series winners.
World Series – Best-of-seven-games series between the Championship Series winner to crown the champion.
Now that you’re up to speed on how the MLB playoffs work, let’s take a look at the most popular options when it comes to betting on the MLB playoffs.
How to Bet on the MLB Playoffs
Here are the most common MLB Playoffs betting markets. There are many different ways to bet on the MLB playoffs, but we advise beginners to start with the following options before branching out.
Betting on MLB Playoff Games – From moneylines and run lines to totals and props, betting on individual MLB playoff games is a great place to start.
Betting on MLB Playoff Series – In addition to betting on individual games, you can also bet on the winners of playoff series throughout the postseason.
Betting on the Championship Series Winners – Both the AL champions and NL champions are awarded a pennant, and you can bet on which teams will win.
Betting on the World Series Champion – This is the ultimate MLB playoffs bet. All you need to do is pick a team and back them to go all the way.
These are just some of the MLB playoffs bets you will come across. Most online sportsbooks will offer the basic MLB playoffs betting markets, while elite baseball sportsbooks will have an even broader range of options.
Tips for Betting on MLB Playoffs
Let’s wrap things up by going over a handful of useful MLB playoffs betting tips. If you follow the simple steps below, you will stand yourself in good stead when it comes to betting on the MLB postseason.
Study Form and Statistics – Be sure to analyze the form of both teams and players. On top of that, use the stats and numbers behind the game to your advantage.
Shop for the Best MLB Playoffs Betting Lines – In order to get the greatest betting value, we recommend comparing lines and odds at several sportsbooks.
Only Gamble What You Can Afford to Lose – Don’t get carried away, and only wager the amount you can afford to lose. Remember – MLB playoffs betting is supposed to be fun.
That concludes our MLB playoffs betting guide for beginners. Hopefully, the information on this page will help you land a tasty profit when the postseason comes around.
Read our World Series betting guide next.