The World Series is a chance to put a capper on your baseball betting for the season. The 118th modern World Series will match the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.
California sports betting is stalled, and with fans in that state saddened by the elimination of the Dodgers and Padres in the playoffs, it will take some research to find the best prop bets for this year’s Fall Classic.
Game 1 is Friday, Oct. 28, in Houston. While fans in Texas cannot wager on the event, the best-of-seven series is sure to be a popular betting activity for sports fans in states with legal sports betting like Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan.
The Series has settled in at -180 for the Astros to win, and +150 for the Phils. But there are many ways to place a bet on the biggest spectacle of the baseball season.
World Series MVP Prop Bets
At BetMGM, you can place a prop bet on the World Series Most Valuable Player. Here are the top nine candidates with odds:
- Yordan Alvarez +600
- Bryce Harper +700
- Justin Verlander +1000
- Kyle Tucker +1000
- Alex Bregman +1000
- Framber Valdez +1100
- Jose Altuve +1300
- Kyle Schwarber +1300
- Aaron Nola +1500
But we like the odds on rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena, priced at +1800. He won the AL Championship Series due to this clutch hitting and defense at shortstop. Eight players have won both the LCS and World Series MVP awards in the same season, but no rookie has done it.
If you like longshot prop bets, consider Christian Vazquez at +10000, which means a $100 winning bet would get you $10,000 smackers if he won the WS MVP. We like the Houston catcher’s approach at the plate in the ALCS, and if he gets 3-4 starts in the Fall CLassic and finds the seats at the right time, he could be a dark horse MVP candidate.
Other longshot possibilities include Houston’s Yuli Gurriel, who leads all players in hits this postseason, at +3000. On the Philly side, look at Jean Segura at +6600.
Series Games, Correct Result
Do you have supreme confidence in the Phillies to upset the favored Astros? You can get +1600 odds on Philly sweeping the Astros. The most recent WS sweep was in 2012.
The Phils in seven games is priced at +650 by Caesars, and the reverse (Astros in seven) is +400. Houston, appearing in its second consecutive Series and fourth in six years, is +650 to sweep. The lowest series odds from Caesars Sportsbook are 4-2 Astros, at +375.
The Astros have the home-field advantage, and the team with the home-field advantage is 12-8 in the last 20 World Series.
Bettors can also wager on the total games, with Over 4.5 at -1000 and Under 4.5 at +600, according to BetMGM. If you think the series will feature many close games and one team could use its bullpen to finish off its opponent quickly (the Astros, for example), then Under 5.5 games is attractive at +135.
Batter Props for World Series
At DraftKings, you can select from many player props for the Series, including individual player HR totals and hits totals. We like Yuli Gurriel and J.T. Realmuto as the top World Series hit-makers, and it’s easy to like Alvarez, Harper, and Bregman as the home run leaders.
Extra fun can be found at DraftKings with Head To Head Props, like “Most HR in Series: Kyle Schwarber vs. Yordan Alvarez.” The Astros Alvarez is -135 and Schwarber at +105 in that matchup.
Expect Bregman to continue his hot hitting in the World Series, but we don’t expect Jose Altuve to climb all the way out of his postseason slump.
