# MLB Playoff Ladder Pool — Rules, Scoring & Hosting > How an MLB playoff ladder pool works: rank all 12 postseason teams from 12 to 1, and each team earns you its rank value for every series it wins. Source: https://piksheet.com/pools/mlb_ladder Last updated: 2026-10-06 **MLB Playoff Ladder:** Rank all 12 playoff teams. Every series they win pays their rank. Rank the 12 MLB postseason teams from 12 down to 1 before first pitch. Each team earns you its rank value for every series it wins. Sport: [MLB](https://piksheet.com/mlb) ## How it works 1. Before the Wild Card round's first pitch, rank all 12 playoff teams from 12 (your strongest) down to 1, using each number once. 2. Every series a team wins earns you its rank value: a team ranked 10 that wins two series is worth 20. 3. A team that plays through the Wild Card round and wins the World Series wins four series — ranked 12, that's 48 points. 4. Bye credit (off by default): when on, the 1 and 2 seeds in each league count their Wild Card bye as a series won. When off, a top seed can win three series at most. 5. Ties go to the closest prediction of total runs in the final World Series game. 6. Ladders stay hidden until first pitch. PikSheet records each series result, and the standings update from there. ## Postseason example (bye credit off) 1. 12 on an AL 3 seed that wins the Wild Card Series, Division Series, and pennant, then loses the World Series → 3 × 12 = 36 2. 11 on an AL 1 seed that loses its Division Series → 0 (with bye credit off, the bye doesn't count) 3. 9 on the NL 2 seed that wins the World Series → 3 × 9 = 27 (36 with bye credit on) 4. 4 on an NL 5 seed that wins its Wild Card Series, then loses → 1 × 4 = 4 5. Those four teams: 67 points. Your other eight teams add their own series wins. ## How to win - Your 12 is the biggest lever. Put it on the team you think goes deepest, not the one you like most. - With bye credit off, a 1 or 2 seed can win three series at most, while a team from the Wild Card round can win four. A strong 3 seed can be worth more at the top of your ladder than a top seed. - Teams that meet early can't both go deep. Spreading your top values across both leagues and both halves of each bracket keeps one upset from sinking them together. - The bottom of the ladder still counts: a 3 on a Wild Card-round team that wins the pennant adds 9 points. Don't rank the last few teams at random. ## What the commissioner controls Every setting, including the bye credit, is editable until the Wild Card round's first pitch, when picks, new entries, and settings all lock for the postseason. - Bye credit: off (default) or on — the 1 and 2 seeds' Wild Card bye counts as a series won - Tiebreaker: total runs in the final World Series game (always on) - Entry fee (optional — you collect, we don't touch it) - Max entries per member ## Frequently asked questions ### How is a playoff ladder pool scored? You rank all 12 MLB playoff teams from 12 down to 1. Every series a team wins earns you its rank value, so a team ranked 12 that wins three series scores 36. Your total is the sum across all 12 teams, and the highest total wins. ### What is the bye credit? An optional rule, off by default. With it on, the 1 and 2 seeds in each league count their Wild Card bye as one series won, so a top seed can earn its value four times, like a team that plays through the Wild Card round. With it off, only series actually played count. ### How is a playoff ladder different from a bracket? A bracket asks you to call each of the 11 series; a ladder asks one question — how far will each team go? — and answers it with a single ranking. There are no series lengths to call, and any ranking is a valid ladder. ### When do MLB ladder picks lock? At the Wild Card round's first pitch. Pools can be created before the field is set, and picks open once the 12 teams are final. Until first pitch you can reorder your ladder as often as you like; after it, picks, new entries, and settings are locked and everyone's ladder becomes visible. ## Related - [Compare every pool format](https://piksheet.com/pools/compare) - [Pricing](https://piksheet.com/pricing) --- Most pages on https://piksheet.com have a markdown version: add .md to the URL (the home page is https://piksheet.com/index.md) or request the page with `Accept: text/markdown`. https://piksheet.com/llms.txt lists every page and links each markdown version.