Wager on Gambling During the 2016 WSOP November Nine
The final table of the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event – the November Nine, if you will – begins in three weeks. Unfortunately, I am disappointed to announce that I will not be participating in said final table, as I was unable to catch any cards – a direct result of not actually having bought into the Main Event in the first place. Despite not being in the running for the $8 million first prize, though, I can – as can all of you – still get a good sweat during the November Nine by having a little money riding on the outcome. That’s right, it is time to look at the betting odds for the 2016 WSOP Main Event final table!
A number of live and online sportsbooks have the betting lines posted for the final table, but for this article, I am using Ladbrokes because they are easy to see without an account well-laid out on the website. I have no connection to the site at all and I would expect other sportsbooks to have very similar – if not exactly the same – odds available.
As is always the case for the November Nine, the odds of any specific player winning the whole shebang correspond directly with the chip counts to begin the final table. Chips are ammunition in poker, and having more bullets to fire (enough with the violent imagery, already!) gives one a distinct advantage. Thus, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, with his 74.6 million chips, enters as the favorite at 12/5. It also helps that he is the most experienced player at the final table. He was one of the first internet poker stars and held the number one online tournament ranking on PocketFives about a decade ago. At 51-years old, he is also the oldest player at the final table. Often that would be seen as a disadvantage for stamina reasons, but Josephy has so much experience both live and online that the possibility of three long days shouldn’t be an issue.
2016 WSOP Main Event November Nine
Photo credit: WSOP.com
Here is a look at Ladbrokes’ odds of victory:
Cliff Josephy – 12/5
Qui Nguyen – 4/1
Gordon Vayo – 5/1
Kenny Hallaert – 5/1
Michael Ruane – 9/1
Vojtech Ruzicka – 10/1
Griffin Benger – 10/1
Jerry Wong – 33/1
Fernando Pons – 50/1
And, as you can see, if falls right in line with the final table chip counts:
Cliff Josephy – 74,600,000
Qui Nguyen – 67,925,000
Gordon Vayo – 49,375,000
Kenny Hallaert – 43,325,000
Michael Ruane – 31,600,000
Vojtech Ruzicka – 27,300,000
Griffin Benger – 26,175,000
Jerry Wong – 10,175,000
Fernando Pons – 6,150,000
For comparison, let’s look at the odds and chip counts going into last year’s Main Event final table:
Joe McKeehen – 33/20
Zvi Stern – 5/1
Neil Blumenfield – 7/1
Max Steinberg – 7/1
Pierre Neuville – 7/1
Joshua Beckley – 16/1
Thomas Cannuli – 16/1
Patrick Chan – 28/1
Federico Butteroni – 28/1
Joe McKeehen — 63,100,000
Zvi Stern — 29,800,000
Neil Blumenfield — 22,000,000
Pierre Neuville — 21,075,000
Max Steinberg — 20,200,000
Thomas Cannuli — 12,250,000
Joshua Beckley — 11,800,000
Patrick Chan — 6,225,000
Federico Butteroni — 6,200,000
Just like this year, and essentially every year prior, the odds correspond to chip counts. In last year’s case, there were two groups of players with very close chip stacks, so no distinction was made amongst them when it came to setting the lines.
There have been some minor variations in the ranking of favorites in certain situations, but they were slight. On occasion, if two players have roughly equivalent chip stacks but one is significantly more experienced or accomplished than the other, that player is sometimes given slightly better odds to win.
Ladbrokes didn’t stop at setting the odds for the winner of the tournament, though. Oh, no. There are plenty more bets someone can place. Want to bet on what the winning hand will be? You can get 6/5 odds on it being one pair or worse and 8/13 odds on it being two pair or better. Ladbrokes expands that even more for more specific hands:
High Card Only – 7/2
One Pair – 13/10
Two Pair – 7/4
Three of a Kind – 16/1
Straight – 16/1
Flush – 25/1
Full House – 50/1
Four of a Kind – 200/1
Straight Flush (Excluding Royal Flush) – 250/1
Royal Flush – 500/1
Now, I don’t know why anyone would even want to put a buck on not only a royal flush showing up at any point during the final table, but specifically on the winning hand, but hey more power to you.
Bettors can also wager on the winning hole cards. Will they be a pocket pair (7/1)? Suited (19/10)? Unsuited (11/20)?
How about the color of the flop? Ladbrokes has it at 31/20 that it will be either two red and one black card or two black and one red card. A monochrome flop (you have to pick which color) is coming in at 7/1.
Other final table bets include the last turn or river card. Choosing the value of the card is an 11/1 bet, while choosing the exact card is 45/1. Suits and colors of these cards can also be bet upon.
COMMENTS