Yes, most baseball betting sites and gambling apps offer odds on Korean baseball.
Guide to Betting on the KBO Online
There aren’t many strong baseball competitions outside of the USA, but the Korean Baseball Organization or simply KBO is one of the exceptions. The league features plenty of former MLB athletes, as well as talent from different parts of the world.
The popularity of the league has been steadily increasing, with many people watching and betting on KBO games. The top baseball gambling apps and online sportsbooks have reacted accordingly and now provide plenty of options for KBO betting.
If you want to gamble on Korean baseball for real money, you’ve come to the right place. This guide includes a list of the best KBO betting sites, useful sports betting tips, and other information and advice that can help you win cash from the competition.
Best KBO Betting Sites
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Safety & Security
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Bonuses
Maximize your bankroll with fantastic bonuses. Our recommended sites offer valuable bonuses with fair terms and conditions, including manageable wagering requirements.
Games & Betting
The best sites have the best wagering options. That’s why you will find extensive games and betting opportunities on our recommended sites.
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Getting your money to and from your account shouldn’t be a hassle. We only recommend sites with a variety of convenient banking methods, including cryptocurrency and e-wallets.
We’ve hand-picked the best KBO betting sites online based on several criteria. The first and most important is that they are safe to use. Every online bookmaker above operates under a legit gambling license and has a solid reputation.
When it comes to betting real money on Korean baseball, they also have the following advantages.
- High KBO betting odds
- A strong variety of KBO gambling markets
- Good bonuses and promotions that can be used for Korean baseball betting
- Flexible stakes for betting on sports
You can enjoy these upsides by using these online sportsbooks or their KBO betting apps that work on all mainstream devices. They are the perfect solution for those of you who don’t know where to bet on the KBO.
On top of that, there are plenty of reliable payment options at your disposal, the withdrawals are fast, and the customer support service is always there to help. If that sounds appealing, just pick one and start betting on the KBO right now.
Betting on the KBO in 2021
The spring training for the 2021 KBO season is already underway, but the regular season doesn’t begin until April 3. That’s when most opportunities for betting on Korean baseball will start popping up.
There are no changes in the number of teams that will be part of the competition this season. The following organizations will be fighting for the title in 2021.
- NC Dinos
- KT Wiz Suwon
- Doosan Bears
- LG Twins
- Kiwoom Heroes
- Kia Tigers
- Lotte Giants
- Samsung Lions
- SK Wyverns
- Hanwha Eagles
The reigning champions NC Dinos and the 2019 KBO winners Doosan Bears are the early favorites. There are no KBO betting odds available at this point, however.
We have no predictions for the South Korean baseball league yes because we don’t know the latest rosters. Our baseball experts will be watching all changes and we will add our KBO betting analysis for 2021 closer to the start of the regular season.
In the meantime, read on for our KBO gambling advice that could help you win money once the league begins.
About the Korean Baseball League
There are a few basics you should understand before betting on the KBO for money.
The following are some characteristics of the league that can help shape your strategy for betting on the Korean baseball league.
Foreign Stars Are Crucial in the KBO
The South Korean baseball teams have good resources and they often manage to attract players from abroad. You can find plenty of former MLB athletes in the KBO and they are usually much better than many of the local players.
Looking at the top pitchers with 10 or more games from the 2020 season illustrates this point.
Pitcher | ERA |
Eric Jokisch | 2.14 |
Dan Straily | 2.50 |
Aaron Brooks | 2.50 |
Raul Alcantara | 2.54 |
Drew Rucinski | 3.05 |
Casey Kelly | 3.32 |
David Buchanan | 3.45 |
Choi Chae-heung | 3.58 |
Moon Seung-won | 3.65 |
Im Chan-kyu | 4.08 |
The seven best performances came from overseas players and I’m sure that some of you will recognize those athletes who were part of MLB in the past.
The situation is not much different for other positions and statistical categories. That’s why you should always consider the foreign stars when you bet on the KBO.
The Performance of Most KBO Teams Is Highly Volatile
This piece of KBO gambling advice is somewhat related to our first point. There is often huge volatility in the performance of most teams in South Korean baseball.
Most sides have one or two excellent pitchers and the other starters struggle for consistency. The same can be said for other positions, so you can see a team beating a strong opponent one day and losing against the worst side in the league on the next.
This is something to bear in mind when placing your KBO bets. It’s often hard to predict what kind of performance you’re going to see from a team.
Young Stars Often Emerge to Change the League
The KBO was created in the 1980s and slowly gathered interest in South Korea. The sport gained a lot of popularity in the past two decades and plenty of facilities were built across the country.
If you add the number of kids that start playing from a young age, it’s hardly a surprise that a lot of local talent has emerged recently.
The good news for the young athletes is that it paves the way to the MLB if they perform well in the KBO, as we’ve seen many times before.
If you intend to bet on Korean baseball for real money, you should certainly watch out for talented players that are on the rise. They could transform a team from an average team to a contender.
Here are three examples of youngsters that had an instant impact on the league.
- Jung-Hoo Lee – The youngster entered the KBO after finishing school and has been impressive from day 1. He has the potential to become one of the best hitters in the league.
- Baek-Ho Kang – Another guy that exploded early on. Baek-Ho Kang was named KBO Rookie of the Year in 2018 after breaking the record for homeruns scored by a rookie.
- Chang-Mo Koo – After an inconsistent start in his first three seasons, the pitcher improved his ERA to 3.20 in 2019 and the insane 1.74 in 2020, winning all seven games he started.
These rising players all had a huge impact on the league either right from the start or in a breakout year that no one saw coming.
If you are going to bet money on the KBO, try to predict which players could do the same. The youth system is producing, so there should be more talented youngsters coming through the ranks in the future.
KBO Betting vs. MLB Betting
If you’re interested in betting on the KBO, you are likely a baseball fan who has experience with MLB betting already.
That can be both good and bad. The positives come from the fact that you already know baseball well and you have some sports gambling experience.
There are more than enough similarities that can help you in terms of analyzing the stats, making the most out of the eye test, and understanding the main baseball betting markets offered by the best sites for betting on KBO online.
However, there are also some differences between the two leagues. This means you’ll need to adjust your strategies a little if you want to bet on KBO and win money.
Different Rules That Affect the Outcomes
There are two key rules that are different in the KBO, and they can affect your bets.
First, the games could end up in a draw if the score is tied after 12 innings in the regular season and after 15 innings in the playoffs.
Let’s see how many draws the team with the most tied games had in the past 5 campaigns.
Season | Team | Draws |
2020 | NC Dinos | 6 |
2019 | Lotte Giants | 3 |
2018 | Samsung Lions | 4 |
2017 | Samsung Lions | 5 |
2016 | KT Wiz Suwon | 3 |
Considering the fact that every team plays 144 games during the regular season, it’s easy to see that there aren’t many draws in the KBO.
Still, the draw is an option when betting on KBO games and that gives you something else to think about.
The other rule that you need to know about is the universal designated hitter in the KBO. The MLB did introduce that for 2020, but it’s unclear if the rule is here to stay for good.
From a betting perspective, you need to know that this rule leads to fresher pitchers and better defensive performances as a result.
Different Format That Affects the Teams’ Approach
Another factor that’s completely different in South Korean baseball is the format of the KBO. While the league features a regular season and playoffs, there are no conferences or divisions.
On top of that, the competition includes only 10 teams that play 144 games each in the first part of the campaign. That’s compared to 30 teams that play 162 games each in the USA.
Every squad faces the rest of the field 16 times and that gives you more head-to-head stats to work with when you gamble on the KBO for real money.
The playoffs are different as well. The top 5 seeds after the regular season qualify for the postseason and there are four rounds after that to determine the champion as follows.
Round | Opponents | Format |
1 | Seed 4 vs. Seed 5 | Best-of-three |
2 | Seed 3 vs. Winner Round 1 | Best-of-three |
3 | Seed 2 vs. Winner Round 2 | Best-of-five |
4 | Seed 1 vs. Winner Round 3 | Best-of-seven |
As you can see, the top seed receives a bye all the way to the final. That’s why the last weeks of the KBO regular season feature a ton of close matches and everyone’s pushing as hard as possible.
You should always make sure that you’re aware of each team’s targets when placing your KBO bets.
One position could make a huge difference when it’s all said and done. A quick overview of the seeds of the last five champions proves that clearly.
Season | Champions | Position in the Regular Season |
2020 | NC Dinos | 1 |
2019 | Doosan Bears | 1 |
2018 | SK Wyverns | 2 |
2017 | Kia Tigers | 1 |
2016 | Doosan Bears | 1 |
The top seed has dominated the playoffs and only one second seed managed to upset the odds.
This especially important for your plans of betting on the KBO champions after the regular season is over.
Other Factors for Bettors to Consider
We’ve covered the main differences between wagering on the KBO and the MLB when it comes to the rules and the format.
There are three other areas that are vastly different and should be taken into account in your South Korean baseball gambling strategy.
- Lower volume of wagers – The volume of KBO bets can’t compare with the money bet on the MLB. As a result, the odds won’t be moving as rapidly before the games start.
- Less information online – You can find a ton of key betting information about the MLB on the internet, but that’s not really the case with the KBO. Digging up useful stats or team news is much harder. We can help in that regard as we share a list of KBO gambling resources later in this guide.
- Starting times – The time difference makes it hard to watch KBO games live because the games are played late at night in most US time zones. Make sure you watch replays or highlights because betting on sports without some first-hand observations is never a good idea.
With all the key betting differences between the KBO and the MLB out of the way, let’s move on to our expert tips on how to bet on KBO games.
How to Prepare for Betting on KBO Games
The KBO regular season features a total of 1,440 games. That’s a lot of opportunities to get some bets down.
Betting on individual games is the best way to make money from gambling on Korean baseball. Here are our top tips that can help.
Check the Starting Pitchers
Checking the starting pitchers of each team is one of the golden rules of baseball betting. It’s even more important in the KBO because the teams are often unbalanced in that regard.
Some squads feature one or two exceptional foreign pitchers that have an insane win rate, but the rest of the players in that position are typically nowhere near as good.
That’s why you should always know who’s getting the nod before placing your wagers. The KBO betting sites and gambling apps use this information as the starting point for their evaluations, so you should do the same.
Explore the Motivation of Both Sides
Every single improvement in a teams’ seed for the playoffs makes a massive difference, so the teams are giving everything during the regular season.
That could affect their motivation against direct rivals because such games have a double effect on the standings.
Conversely, a team’s performance levels can drop significantly once they’re out of the postseason chase.
You should always check the latest standings and the context surrounding each squad, as that could make the difference between losing and winning money from KBO betting.
Momentum Matters More Than Historical Data
There’s something else our baseball gambling experts have noticed. The leading teams in the KBO often fall down the pecking order and vice versa.
Let’s take a look at the position of the last five champions and bottom seeds in the year before that to illustrate this point.
Season | Champion – Position in the Previous Season | Bottom seed – Position in the Previous Season |
2020 | NC Dinos – 5th | Hanwha Eagles – 9th |
2019 | Doosan Bears – 1st | Lotte Giants – 7th |
2018 | SK Wyverns – 5th | NC Dinos – 4th |
2017 | Kia Tigers – 5th | KT Wiz Suwon – 10th |
2016 | Doosan Bears – 3rd | KT Wiz Suwon – 10th |
As you can see, there are some big ups and downs throughout the years.
Only the Doosan Bears have been relatively consistent, but even they haven’t managed to win back-to-back titles recently.
That’s why you shouldn’t pay too much attention to historical data when betting on Korean baseball. The stats from previous seasons are not that useful.
You should analyze the latest campaign and the most recent trends instead. They can give you a better idea of what to expect from both sides.
Useful Resources for Betting on the KBO
One of the most useful resources we can offer you is our list of the best sites for betting on the KBO. Simply using the top sports betting sites will improve your overall chances of winning money.
There are also some other helpful resources for KBO bettors. We recommend the following.
- KBO Official Twitch channel – The KBO broadcasts all games live for free on Twitch. There’s no English commentary for now, but you can watch every single clash from both the regular season and the playoffs without paying a dime which is pretty good.
- MyKBOStats.com – If you are looking for KBO stats, the latest schedule, starting pitchers, and other useful information, this website can deliver it in English.
- Official KBO Website – The official KBO website is another decent source for news and stats that can help you when betting on Korean baseball for real money.
- Baseball Betting Guide – Our guide to betting on baseball is an excellent read for anyone who wants to make money by gambling on the KBO, so be sure to check it out.
Our baseball writers provide lots of additional information and advice for betting on the KBO on our baseball blog. That’s well worth keeping an eye on before and during the season.