I personally wish they would just have the league phase and then playoffs like in previous iterations. The play-ins are really not needed in my opinion. Two reasons;
1, too many brackets. its a bracket to qualify for a bracket to qualify for a tournament. They definetly could've just made the playoffs bracket 16 teams. top 4 teams play against the tier 2 teams and teams 5-8 play against teams 9-12.
2, It makes the league phase feel less important. I've always been a SEN fan and I usually find myself looking at the group throughout the seasons and trying to see what games they need to win to make it to the playoffs and then it makes the games more exciting. because of the play-ins, there isn't much on the line anymore. It's pretty much "will they have to play a tier 2 team first or will they get a buy"

tldr, i think riot should get rid off the "play-ins" aspect and just stick to the groups and a playoffs bracket.

The betting odds are perfectly even.