How to bet on the World Series

The World Series is the final best-of-seven series in the Major League Baseball playoffs. It is contested by that year’s American League and National League champions, who face off to try and win the biggest honor in baseball. The winner of the World Series receives the Commissioner’s Trophy, which is one of the only major trophies in North American professional sports that isn’t named after someone in memoriam. Naturally, the trophy is presented to the winning team by the commissioner himself.

Unlike other professional sports trophies like NHL’s Stanley Cup, there is a new World Series trophy made every year, as opposed to simply adding onto the old one. The World Series has been played in every year, except two, since 1903.

Every year, the World Series typically begins around late October or early November. The team with the better regular-season record is awarded home-field advantage, which can end up being a huge factor since every MLB ballpark is unique. As the series is a best-of-seven affair, a team needs to win four games in order to be crowned World Series champions.

There are multiple MLB bets that can be placed on the World Series. Wagering on the World Series winner starts in the preseason and is referred to as a World Series futures bet. Each MLB team is given odds to win that year’s World Series before the season starts, so you can place a World Series futures bet on any team, at any time you like.

Once the World Series begins, many bettors opt to place moneyline wagers, meaning wagering on the winner of one of the (up to seven) World Series games. Moneyline odds for World Series games are typically closer in comparison to the regular season, as they feature clubs meant to be MLB’s best teams.

Other popular baseball betting markets are also available for the World Series, including point spreads. Each World Series game will be assigned a run line usually set at +/- 1.5 runs to start, so if you were to wager on the New York Yankees with a -1.5 run line, they would need to win the game by more than one run. You can also bet on things that may occur during a World Series game that are not directly resulted to the result, known as prop bets. BET.CA has more information on the odds and markets available for World Series betting.

The 2021 World Series winner was the Atlanta Braves, who became MLB champions for the first time since 1995. They defeated the Houston Astros 4-2, earning back-to-back wins on the road in Games 3 and 4 and enjoying a dominant 6-0 victory in Game 6 to wrap up the series. To reach the World Series, they won the National League East division and then beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 and Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 in the playoffs to become National League champions.

During their victorious campaign, their MVP was outfielder and designated hitter Jorge Soler. Soler was acquired by the Braves in late July near the MLB trade deadline, and turned out to be a crucial cog in their World Series run.

The World Series has been played every single year since its inception back in 1903, with the exception of 1904 and 1994. There has been a grand total of 117 World Series, featuring 66 wins by American League franchises and 51 wins by National League franchises. The winning team receives World Series rings, as well as an invitation to visit the White House.

There have been several championship dynasties throughout World Series history. One of the most notable is the New York Yankees teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s. From 1947 through 1956, the Yankees won the World Series eight times in 10 seasons, including five straight from 1949 to 1953. The Oakland Athletics won three straight World Series between 1972 and 1974, while the Yankees repeated the feat between 1998 and 2000. A more recent example of an MLB championship dynasty would be the San Francisco Giants, who won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Baseball is still considered “America’s pastime” despite the rising popularity of the NFL in recent years, meaning that many casual fans tune in to watch the World Series and it is considered one of the biggest events of the North American sports calendar.