With only three days remaining until the start of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine, odds makers around the world have set Jonathan Duhamel as the odds-on favorite to take the title.
Duhamel, who will come to the felt on Saturday as the chip leader of the November Nine with 65.975 million, opened as the favorite on many sports books after the final table was determined in July. Where the lines are differentiating, however, is who will be the potential challengers once play begins.
At Bodog, Duhamel is the 5/2 prohibitive favorite among the nine men who will compete for the WSOP Main Event bracelet. Lines makers have set the player with the second largest chip stack, John Dolan (46.25 million), as a 15/4 second favorite on the board. Perhaps surprising given his short chip stack, $50,000 WSOP Poker Player’s Championship winner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (14.45 million) is the third favorite at 6/1. Joseph Cheong (23.525 million) and John Racener (19.05 million) pull in at 13/2 on the Bodog betting boards, with Matthew Jarvis (16.7 million, 10/1), Italy’s Filippo Candio (16.4 million, 11/1), Soi Nguyen (9.65 million, 16/1), and Jason Senti (7.625 million, 18/1) rounding out the field.
At Paddy Power, all of the players are getting similar action to that found on Bodog. According to the latest action, Duhamel’s odds of winning the WSOP Main Event title sit at 11/5, with Dolan (7/2) and Mizrachi (5/1) taking the second and third slots. Paddy Power bettors are giving more action on Cheong (15/2) over Racener (9/1) and the odds on the remainder of the field are similar to Bodog. Jarvis pulls in at 10/1 and Candio (14/1) remains behind him, but Senti (16/1) is favored over Nguyen (18/1) at Paddy Power.
Betfair is offering a couple of options for wagering on the November Nine. Through the site’s “Back & Lay” method (with “Back” meaning wagering on a player’s odds to win and “Lay” meaning a bet against a player), the wagering has been active. While Duhamel is favored to win on the Betfair board, there has been sizeable action betting the “Lay” option against him taking the WSOP title. On the flip side, Dolan and Cheong are getting good “Back” action.
The most betting options on the WSOP “November Nine” can be found at Sportingbet. There are five plays that a bettor can make on the Sportingbet board for the WSOP Main Event: who will win, match bets, the first elimination, the chip count of the leader once heads-up play begins, and what the river card will be on the final hand.
As to which player will be eliminated first, the Sportingbet punters have set the short stacked Senti at 11/5 odds, but Nguyen (13/5) isn’t far behind. Candio and Mizrachi have the same odds (19/4) and Jarvis is currently sitting at 7/1. Not surprisingly, the four largest chip stacks of Racener, Cheong, Dolan, and Duhamel have longer odds – from 10/1 for Racener to 80/1 for Duhamel.
Sportingbet’s odds on the final table have a couple of differences not reflected at the other sports books. While Duhamel (13/5) and Dolan (7/2) maintain their top spots on the odds board, Cheong (11/2) is the third favorite of bettors on the site. Mizrachi drops to fourth at 15/2 and Racener holds the fifth slot at 8/1.
All of these sites will be accepting wagers until the start of the WSOP Main Event final table on Saturday at Noon Pacific Time. Although Betfair, Sportingbet, and Paddy Power do not accept action from the United States, Bodog is an option for those from the U.S. who want to place a bet.
