Dodgers and Yankees are title favorites, but sportsbooks are wary of the Tigers

After a wild-card round full of surprises, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees open their postseason on Saturday as the top betting favorites to win the World Series.

Some sportsbooks have the Dodgers listed as World Series favorites; others have the Yankees. Both are favorites in their divisional round series. The Dodgers are around -135 favorites over the San Diego Padres and the Yankees are -210 favorites over the Kansas City Royals.

However, bookmakers are more worried about the surging Detroit Tigers, who have gone from underdogs to a liability for sports betting in the space of a month. The Tigers, who had a 500-1 record to win the World Series in early September, are now at about 10-1 and are increasingly popular with bettors – particularly in Michigan.

DraftKings and BetMGM both said the Tigers have attracted more than 50% of all World Series bets placed through their Michigan sportsbooks since Sept. 1. That's more than ten times more than any other team still in the playoffs. In late August, Caesars Sportsbook accepted a $200 bet from a Michigan customer on the Tigers winning the World Series at 500-1, according to Eric Biggio, the company's lead baseball trader.

The Tigers also receive betting support outside of Michigan.

“In the last week or so, the Tigers have overtaken both the Royals and Padres in terms of liability,” Halvor Egeland, who monitors baseball odds for BetMGM, told ESPN. “This is now our worst result in the World Series and also the worst we have ever achieved to win either pennant.”

Three of the top five preseason betting favorites to win the World Series – the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles – were eliminated in the wild-card round, with the Tigers, New York Mets and Kansas City Royals advancing as underdogs.