The MLB postseason is a completely different animal from MLB regular-season play. The latter is a 162-game marathon, whereas the postseason takes on an entirely opposite feel. With best-of-five and best-of-seven series, as well as a one-game wildcard sudden-death showdown, it's all about today in the playoffs, and these win or go home scenarios will mean that a manager will deploy his personnel in a much more frugal fashion. Lineups will be more certain, pitching staffs will be shortened and bullpen roles will be well defined.




MLB Postseason Betting Lines Today

The Major League Baseball postseason is where heroes are born, and you can be a hero yourself if you are willing to put in the time required to peruse and study the playoff matchups.


Results / FixturesMLB - Playoff

MLB Postseason Standings Right Now

Here is where you will find located the up to the minute Major League Baseball postseason standings and they are always a wealth of information to the prospective baseball bettor. [+]

A playoff series is a story unto itself, each game a new chapter in the ongoing unfolding drama in pursuit of a World Series title. The outcome of each night's contest will play a role how both team's managers proceed going forward in the set. Will he stray from his lefty-righty percentages and instead of riding a platoon system, opt to go with the hot bat? Managers will tend to shorten their benches as teams get into the later games of a series, especially if they are the trailing team. A starter might work on short rest, and a closer might go two innings instead of his usual one.

While going with their best might seem like sound strategy, the idea of removing players from the roles and comfort zones they've existed in throughout the season can also blow up spectacularly in a manager's face as his team goes down the drain.

StandingsMLB - Playoff

How To Win At MLB Postseason Betting

Even though there are less teams in the postseason than the regular season, the work involved for the baseball bettor, much likes the games themselves, becomes more intense. With teams dropping to four-man rotations from their normal five-pitcher starting staffs, that left out fifth starter can become a key factor in the bullpen. And teams facing elimination won't think twice about sending a key starter to the hill on short rest, or utilizing one out of the bullpen to protect a late lead in a must-win game.

Little things can lead to big differences in the outcome of a playoff series, so pay attention to detail. Certain pitchers tend to garner more run support than others, so know who they are before they take the mound. Defensively, teams prefer to work behind a pitcher that gets down to business and works quickly, as opposed to a hurler who is more meticulous and deliberate in his pitch selection and delivery.

Also know your history. Some teams simply own other teams on the diamond and if that was the case during the regular season, expect that it should carry over into the playoffs.

Winning bets on Major League Baseball's postseason require a combination of studious patience as well the courage and conviction to make the move when the time is right. A good way to wager on the MLB postseason is via the futures option. It's wise to monitor the futures line, though, because with so much more action on playoff baseball than during the regular season, you can expect frequent fluctuation in the futures lines on teams involved.


      Another factor to keep in mind when wagering on the Major League Baseball postseason is the runline. Many playoff games are tight contests - over 40 per cent on average are decided by one run, as compared to approximately 25 per cent during regular season play - so playing favorites via the runline can be a very successful method of wagering.

      Not that you should count out the underdog, mind you. Since 1995, a dozen wildcard playoff teams have rolled through the MLB postseason all the way to the World Series and six of them have even won the Fall Classic, including the 2014 San Francisco Giants, the first team to survive the one-game knockout wildcard game instituted in 2012 and go on to a championship. That season, the Giants beat the Kansas City Royals, also a wildcard team, in a seven-game World Series.