As most seasoned baseball bettors have learned from experience, wagering during the MLB postseason can require a different strategy than during the regular season.
Betting on baseball during the playoffs is like going to a buffet. You need to strategically plan each plate; otherwise you’re going to get full too fast on that weird pasta salad with the ham cubes.
Over the course of the long 162-game regular season, it is possible to identify betting trends and betting opportunities for a certain club, based on the success of the club’s starters, bullpen strategy and offensive production in certain situations. All of those factors change in the postseason as teams usually shift their rotations, lineups and overall strategies.
Below, we break down how to bet on the baseball playoffs and some MLB playoff betting tips to help you profit this October:
Bet On Playoff Baseball Today!
How To Bet MLB Playoffs
MLB Postseason Series Prices
One of the most common ways to tackle postseason baseball betting is by taking things series by series. Betting on playoff series allows you to take a step back and compare two teams against each other in every facet — which team has the edge when you consider the lineup, rotation and bullpen?
In the modern baseball playoff format, there are three-, five- and seven-game series, meaning you’ll have to adjust your calculus depending on what round of the playoffs two teams meet.
One drawback to series betting is that an injury or drastic change in performance in the middle of the series could screw you out of a good bet.
You can check out our updated MLB postseason prices page for our series picks.
Betting Individual Games
Some baseball bettors don’t change much when it comes to postseason betting. You can still continue to rock your individual game bets, hammering a team on the moneyline, runline or run total OVER/UNDERs.
In the playoffs, runline betting in particular can be even more profitable than usual. With the best teams and best pitchers wanting to win every game, the scores usually tighten up in October, leaving some value for 1.5-run underdogs to cash in losses.
Another way to tackle individual betting is with live betting. Waiting until the middle of a game to feel out momentum or pounce on a shaky pitcher can be very profitable in October.
MLB Playoff Prop Bets and Futures
Another way to go about playoff baseball betting is by hitting the props and futures.
You can bet on individual game props, like pitcher strikeout totals, homer props or total base bets. Or you can step back and look at the big picture. Which team will win the American League? Who’s going to win the World Series?
Even if you plan on betting on series prices or individual games, placing a World Series futures bet can be a fun wager to track all October long.
Place Your 2022 World Series Futures Here!
Baseball Playoff Betting Strategies And Tips
1) Do Your Homework
And you thought you were done with homework! Don’t sweat it. Odds Shark has basically done the research for you. All you have to do is check out our MLB online resources. With our game previews, matchup pages and baseball betting resources, you can compare any two teams to find your betting edge this October.
The Odds Shark MLB Team Reports include complete regular-season and postseason game logs for all 30 MLB clubs, while our MLB Database enables sports bettors to review the head-to-head records of opposing clubs in both regular-season and postseason contests. Our database also allows you to see how starters have done vs any team in the regular season or postseason both on the road and at home.
2) Watch for Playoff Line Movement
Sports bettors must also look for dramatic betting line movement on MLB postseason games. Playoff games see more action from the public and that can lead to wide and rapid swings in game betting lines. A useful tool to track this is the Line History feature on Odds Shark baseball game line pages. These pages show betting line movement from Sportsbook to right before the first pitch at multiple online sportsbooks.
One thing that can change lines rapidly in the baseball postseason is pitching matchups. Teams often switch their starting pitching choices at the last minute in October, looking to gain any edge they can facing must-win games.
3) Momentum Can Play a Major Role
Often, the momentum behind a team of destiny can provide a guide for sports bettors wagering on the MLB postseason. A total of seven wild-card teams have won the World Series, and most of these wins were at the expense of teams that owned strong records and top futures odds. Remember the 1997 and 2003 Marlins squads that overcame the odds and won the World Series? Edgar Renteria and Josh Beckett sure do.
Consistent pitching, offensive production, staying healthy and getting hot at the right time can have as much to do with World Series success as any other statistics. Understanding how these factors carry over or change from the regular season is important in developing a strong MLB playoff betting strategy.
4) Understand Playoff Baseball Strategy
Playoff baseball is a different beast.
Teams adjust their strategies in October, so bettors have to as well. One key difference in MLB playoff strategy is how deep starting pitchers go. Teams have extremely short leashes on their rotations in October, not afraid to turn to the bullpen after four or five innings of work. This can impact your individual game bets if a team has a shaky bullpen, but it is especially important to remember for prop bets like a pitcher’s strikeout total.
Bet On Playoff Baseball Today!
Besides the pages we’ve linked to above, the following will help you make smart postseason baseball wagers:
