Baseball Toto

What Baseball Toto is

Baseball Toto is the baseball arm of Sports Toto, South Korea's official sports prediction lottery. Alongside soccer, basketball, volleyball and golf versions, it lets you predict outcomes of real games rather than bet at fixed odds: the prize pool is built from ticket sales, and winners split it. It sits alongside Proto fixed-odds betting in the country's state-run sports betting offering, and you can read more about the wider landscape in our guide to sports betting in South Korea.

The games on offer are drawn from Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league fixtures and major games held in Korea and abroad³. Each round lists its target games in advance, and you pick the outcomes you expect. Because prizes depend on how many people picked correctly, the operator announces total sales and the number of winning tickets so you can see how the payouts were built⁴.

Baseball Toto is a pari-mutuel product, one of the "special" and "match" families in the Sports Toto line-up, as opposed to the fixed-odds Proto games⁵. The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) runs the system, and the fixed refund rate style returns 50% of the sales amount to players².

The three game types at a glance

Baseball Toto comes in three formats, each with its own way of playing:

Special and Special Plus look similar on paper: both ask you to predict final score bands across a small set of games, both come in Double and Triple types, and both carry the same headline odds. The differences sit in how each round is issued and structured, which is why Sports Toto runs them as separate products¹.

Match is the odd one out. It focuses on a single game and asks two questions about it: whether there will be a home run, and what range the final score falls into³.

Baseball Toto Special: predicting final scores

Baseball Toto Special asks you to predict the final score of the target games, extra innings included¹. The target is 2 to 3 games chosen from KBO fixtures and major games at home and abroad¹.

You do not predict exact scores like 5-3. Instead, each team's final score is sorted into one of six bands: 0-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, or 10+ (meaning 10 or more points)¹. So for each game you pick a band for each team.

There are two game types:

• Double: you predict games 1 and 2 (picking from games 1 to 2).
• Triple: you predict all 3 games¹.

The voting method is score-style, and multiple purchases are allowed, so you can cover several band combinations on one ticket¹. Results are decided on the score up to the end of the final game, extra innings included, and the result announcement is scheduled for the day the final game ends¹.

One detail worth knowing: if a target game turns out to be a doubleheader, the first game played is the one that counts as the target game¹.

Baseball Toto Special Plus: odds of 1/1,296 and 1/46,656

Baseball Toto Special Plus works the same way as Special: you predict the final score, extra innings included, of the target games, using the same six score bands described above⁶. The target is again 2 to 3 games from KBO fixtures and major games in Korea and abroad⁶.

The two game types are the same too:

• Double: predict games 1 and 2. The odds of hitting are 1/1,296.
• Triple: predict all 3 games. The odds of hitting are 1/46,656⁶.

To win, you need every game's final score result correct: both games for Double, all three for Triple. The entire winning pool goes to first place, with 100% allocated to the top prize in both game types⁶.

The payout method is the fixed refund rate style, meaning 50% of total sales is refunded to players⁶. Results are announced on the day the final game ends, and multiple purchases are allowed⁶. As with Special, the first game of a doubleheader counts as the target game⁶.

Those odds help you set expectations. A 1/1,296 chance on Double means that even with perfect baseball knowledge, most rounds will not pay out, and the Triple's 1/46,656 is closer to a lottery than a bet. The flip side is that when few people hit, the pool splits among very few winners.

Baseball Toto Match: home run OX and score ranges

Baseball Toto Match is the simplest of the three. It targets one game, chosen from KBO fixtures and major games in Korea and abroad, and asks you to predict two things about it³:

• Home run OX: will there be a home run? O means one or more home runs; X means zero home runs. Two options.
• Final score range: the final score, extra innings included, falls into one of six ranges, starting at 0-2 and running up to 11 or more³.

To win the first prize, you need the home run OX and the final score range correct for both teams in the one game, and first prize takes 100% of the refund pool³. The odds of hitting are 1/144, the best of the three Baseball Toto games³.

The voting method is the special type, and multiple purchases are allowed, so you can cover several combinations of home run calls and score ranges³. The target period runs from the start of the game to its final end, extra innings included, and results are announced the same day the game ends³. As with the other two games, the first game of a doubleheader is the target game³.

Stakes, sales periods and when results are announced

The unit bet price is KRW 100 for all three game types, and multiple purchases are allowed across the board³. In practice, most players buy several combinations on one ticket, so a typical spend is a few thousand won.

Sales periods work the same way for all three games:

• Sales open one to three days before the deadline.
• Sales close at the start time of the first target game (for Match, at the single target game's start time)³.

So if the first game in a round starts at 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, that is when sales shut off, regardless of when you bought the ticket.

Results are announced on the day the final game in the round ends, for all three game types³. For settlement, the game result counts from the start of the game to its final end, extra innings included³. If the organizing body declares a shortened game a regulation game, it is settled as a valid result, while a game declared suspended is treated as void across all Toto products⁷.

For baseball doubleheaders, the first game played is the target game, and a resumed suspended game counts as the first game of the doubleheader held after it ends⁸.

Prizes, carryover and the 50% refund rate

All three Baseball Toto games use the fixed refund rate style: 50% of total sales is returned to players as prizes³. The terms spell this out as 50% of the sales amount of the voting tickets for the relevant games, with carryover rules set by the KSPO Foundation². That 50% figure is the same level as tax-free lottery tickets in the region⁹.

How the pool is divided:

• Special and Special Plus: 100% of the winning pool goes to first place in each game type. You must get every game's score result correct to win¹.
• Match: 100% of the refund pool goes to first prize, which requires the home run OX and final score range correct for both teams³.

Because this is pari-mutuel, your payout depends on how many other people picked the same combination. Winnings are rounded up to the nearest won, and any winning amount below the KRW 100 unit stake is paid out at KRW 100³.

If nobody wins:

• Special and Special Plus: the prize for that game type carries over to the same game type in the next round¹.
• Match: if some or all games carry over, the amount is divided equally and carried to the next round's games³.

Carryovers can build the pool over several rounds, which is when the headline payouts tend to appear.

On tax: no tax is imposed if the winning odds are 100x or less and the refund is KRW 2,000,000 or less, or if the refund is KRW 100,000 or less regardless of odds³. Larger wins are taxed. You can read more in our guide to tax on gambling winnings in South Korea.

Canceled games, void rounds and ticket rules

Once a ticket has been properly issued, it cannot be canceled, refunded or modified. This applies to all three Baseball Toto games, so check your selections before you confirm the purchase³.

If a target game is canceled:

• Special and Special Plus: only the game type that included the canceled game is voided and refunded. For example, if game 3 is canceled, only the Triple is voided, and the Double is processed normally¹.
• Match: if three or more games are canceled, the sale is voided and refunded³.

There are also rules around rescheduled games: if a match schedule changes, the game is valid if the new date falls within the last target game date of the issuing round (Korea time), and void if it moves to the next day or later. For baseball, the changed date is judged in local time⁸.

For tickets bought on Betman, the online channel, winnings are paid to a deposit account or a refund bank account of your choice. Refunds go automatically to your deposit, withdrawals are paid into your bank account, and any amount bought with Betmoney is automatically refunded as Betmoney³.

Prizes can be claimed for one year from the day after the official results announcement, and payment can in fact start on the announcement day itself. If the deadline falls on a non-banking day, the next banking day becomes the deadline³.