World Series Betting Trends & Futures Odds Report

Patrick Everson Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

World Series betting trends remain in motion, with the MLB season now steaming into late October. And it's a surprising final matchup, as bettors jump in on World Series odds.

The Arizona Diamondbacks meet the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic. It's a clash of two teams that were preseason long shots in odds to win the World Series.

BetMGM sports trader Hal Egeland provides the latest insights on 2023 World Series betting odds, trends and action.

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2023 World Series Betting

One for the Books

Texas has home-field advantage in the best-of-7 World Series and is now the -175 favorite to lift the trophy. On the flip side, Arizona is a +145 underdog at BetMGM.

Still, that's a long way from where the teams stood when this market first opened almost 12 months ago. The Rangers opened +5000 and the Diamondbacks +6600, and Arizona stretched out as far 125/1 early in the season.

Although some bettors got nice prices on both teams, BetMGM is in a good spot with either team winning it all.

"Both the Rangers and Diamondbacks should be decent results for us, barring any substantial wagers," Egeland said. "We would have preferred the Phillies to have advanced from a handle perspective. But they would have been our worst result out of the final four teams.

"The Astros taking down the Phillies would have been the ideal outcome. But with the current matchup, we'll be cheering for the Diamondbacks to take the series."

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Ticket Takers and Money Makers

Neither the Rangers nor Braves are among the top five teams in ticket count in BetMGM's World Series odds market. The Atlanta Braves stood No. 1, but got eliminated in the divisional round by the Philadelphia Phillies, who were No. 2 in tickets, but lost the NLCS to the Diamondbacks.

The Phillies were No. 1 in money, with the Braves a close No. 2. Rounding out the top five in tickets: the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. Rounding out the top five in money: the Astros, Orioles and Rangers.

That helps explain, to a degree, why BetMGM does "decent" to both Texas and Arizona. But there's still a preferred outcome.

"If we were to just look at our digital platform, the Diamondbacks would be a loser for us," Egeland said. "However, our retail book is significantly better for us on the Snakes. Most of our Arizona customers bet on mobile, so that's not uncommon for us to see.

"We've taken some four-figure bets on the D-backs, but nothing particularly noteworthy while they were out at 125/1 early in the season or mid-August. That is somewhat surprising to me, since they fit the same mold as the Reds and Orioles, who were our two worst results of the entire book."

Egeland noted that a couple of four-figure bets came at much more manageable odds on the Diamondbacks, of +2000 and +1500.

As for Texas, Egeland added:

"There's certainly been more low- and mid-four-figure bets on the Rangers, with a couple decent bets in the 30/1 to 50/1 range back in March. The action on the Rangers came early on, but certainly cooled off as their performance dipped a bit. The Mariners took the action instead of the Rangers."

Liability Dodged

As Egeland alluded to above, Baltimore was the big concern for BetMGM. The Orioles opened +3500 and attracted a lot of attention throughout their 101-win regular season.

But the O's got swept 3-0 by the Rangers in an AL divisional series. And that swept away BetMGM's largest liability in the World Series odds market.

"The Orioles would have been a tough result for the book. There certainly was a sigh of relief when the Rangers took them out," Egeland said.

Caesars Sports, DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook dodged a boatload of Astros liability coming on major wagers from Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale. Last year, McIngvale cleared more than $70 million in profit when the Astros beat the Phillies in the World Series.

This year, he had no such luck, after Houston fell to Texas in the ALCS. Mack's bets:

• $1.9 million Astros +600 in March at Caesars, for a potential profit of $11.4 million.
• $2 million Astros +600 in mid-September at DraftKings, for a potential profit of $12 million.
• $1 million Astros +1100 in late September at Caesars, for a potential profit of $11 million.
• $2 million Astros +450 during playoffs at Caesars, for a potential profit of $9 million
• $1 million Astros +750 after Houston lost ALCS Games 1 and 2, for a potential profit of $7.5 million.

And Mattress Mack implied he had more bets than just those five. But that quintet of wagers would've netted a total profit of $50.9 million.

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Patrick Everson

Patrick Everson is a senior reporter for VegasInsider. Based in Las Vegas since 1994, he's worked in the sports betting journalism/content space for more than a decade. He's most known for his deep roster of contacts behind sportsbook counters, providing readers and viewers with the ins-and-outs of how events are being bet. He's also a thought leader in the sports betting space, often appearing on or moderating panels at national conferences. More from Patrick Everson