SELECT SCORE:
We’ve got you covered if you’re looking to bet on the Wild Card Series Games.
What wagers should you avoid when placing your bets? Read on to learn more about this upcoming series.
What You Should Know About This Series
The MLB Playoff picture is all set. The first four games of the MLB season will take place on Friday, with the times of each game to be determined. The home team will have the advantage heading into the Wild Card series.
Each team in the Wild Card must win two of three games to advance to the NLDS. The team with the higher credentials will have a home-field advantage throughout the series. The games will be played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the same location.
American League
In the American League, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees will get bye weeks as the 1 and 2 seeds, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays will take on the Seattle Mariners as the 4 and 5 seeds. Therefore, Toronto will have a home-field advantage heading into the series and have all three games played in Toronto.
Lastly, in the American League, we’ll get a matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays. The Guardians won the AL Central and will be the 3 seed, while the Rays snuck into the playoffs with the final Wild Card spot.
National League
In the National League, the same matchups apply. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves get bye weeks for winning their division.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets will have a home series against the San Diego Padres as the four seed facing the five seed.
We’ll also watch the Philadelphia Phillies face the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis for the three vs. six matchups. The Cardinals won the NL Central and therefore get the home-field advantage in this series.
What Happens Then?
There won’t be re-seeding in this format. Whoever wins the Rays-Guardians series will face the Yankees in a seven-game series. Meanwhile, the winner of the Mariners-Blue Jays series will face the Astros in the same seven-game series format.
The same would apply to the National League. Whoever wins between the Padres and Mets will face the Dodgers in a seven-game series, and the winner of the Phillies-Cardinals will face the Braves in the NLDS seven-game series.
Each divisional series will begin on Tuesday, October 11. Every Wild Card series will finish by at least October 9. Some series could end on October 8 if one team wins two straight games.
Why Betting on a Series Winner Could Be Better
If you’re looking to back the New York Mets over the San Diego Padres in the second game of the series after the Mets lose in the first game of the series, there are many ways to go about this. A trick you can use is to bet the Mets to win the Wild Card series.
For example, heading into the Wild Card Series, the Mets are -170 to win two games before the Padres at -170. The Padres are sitting at +140 to win the Wild Card series.
If the Padres steal Game 1, the Mets’ odds will potentially get down to around -110. But with Max Scherzer on the mound for the second game, the Mets would be heavier favorites to win the second game.
What you can do is take the Mets to win the series. If the Mets win the second game and have a third game to play, you could either hedge out and guarantee a profit in the final game or hold your bet and have outstanding value heading into the last game of the Wild Card Series.
Don’t Bet on Series Correct Score
It’s probably enjoyable to try and predict the correct outcomes of a series. But there are so many possibilities, and the hold on these bets per sportsbook is outrageous. These aren’t good bets, and you’re losing a lot of money the second you place the bet due to the high hold percentages.
Granted, it’s easier to predict the outcome of three games of a series in comparison to a seven-game series, but either way, it’s just a money waster.
Sports, like many things in this world, are unpredictable. When you combine multiple outcomes and parlay them together, the odds start to dip away from your favor. If you bet on the Mets to win Friday and Saturday, you’ll get a better price than +165 for the Mets to win the series 2-0.
Just don’t fall for it. Bet on games and enjoy nibbling on futures. But don’t go crazy with the series’ correct score tab. It’s just not worth it!
