July 1, 2005

With the World Series of Poker being one of the hottest wagering events/spectator sports, it was only a matter of time before bookmakers began offering betting odds on the tournament series.

Miami Beach, Fla. Betting odds on the World Series of Poker have been announced by a number of esteemed sportsbooks. Entering into this relatively uncharted field, the bookies will tend to offer quite a wide variance in odds per player.

Case in point, www.BetUS.com lists odds on Phil Ivey at +4500, meaning that the BetUS bookmakers believe Ivey is the most likely to win. All other payout odds increase dramatically from this point onward.

Phil Helmuth is listed at +30000 at www.betwwts.com, one of the oldest and most respected offshore bookmakers catering to the North American market. Plus they offer a cash bonus of 20% of your initial deposit. Not too shabby considering many online sportsbooks list Helmuth among the top four most likely to win.

In the case of BetWWTS.com, they anticipate a win by Daniel Negreanu, listed at +20000.

Ivey and Negreanu are both the bookie's choice at www.bodog.com. The two players are listed at 200/1 or a $100 wager pays out $20,000.

Even though there tend to be a handful of likely candidates favored, the field is such that each of the poker players should have only a small number of people betting on them and the chances of a surprise win by some "unknown" is highly probable, hence the huge payout odds offered by a handful of online bookmakers.

Public perception seems to differ greatly from that of the actual bookmakers. Take for example www.matchbook.com. This betting exchange allows gamblers to bet against one another, with the line influenced solely on how much each player is laying down.

Matchbook.com customers appear to like Phil Ivey the most with +900 odds featured at press time. But Chris Ferguson, Eric Lingren and Michael Mizrachi appear to be getting the next best action while bookie favorite Howard Lederer is listed at +2000.

How about a bet on Leonardo DiCaprio or Ed Norton? Both are listed at +120000 at www.hollywoodsportsbooks.com and we can't even begin to count the amount paid out on either of these two should they win with those odds.
Interestingly enough, most of the online sportsbooks do not list famed poker player Doyle Brunson among the top favorites to win, yet Hollywood Sportsbook does - at +30000, that is right up there with Phil Ivey, also +30000.

Brunson's namesake poker room is closely aligned with Hollywood Sportsbook, therefore that line might be somewhat subjective - not to take anything away from Doyle Brunson, one of the greatest poker players of our time.

With all these juicy odds, why would anybody hold back from placing a little bit of money on several players at a number of different sportsbooks? Gambling911.com in fact suggests that all bettors should maintain at least three online wagering accounts in order to maximize value. Odds on the 2005 World Series of Poker reinforce this point.

No matter who ultimately wins the WSOP, there are bound to be some major windfalls among gamblers betting from the sidelines.

About Gambling911.com:

Gambling911.com is recognized as the leader in online gambling and sports betting information around the world. As a portal begun in 2000 dedicated exclusively to covering internet gambling, Gambling911.com has since expanded into various other arenas that has led to a tremendous surge in readership over the past year. Gambling911.com provides all the latest celebrity betting props and exotic wagering opportunities. The web site's founder and President, Christopher Costigan, will be speaking at the highly regarded Bodog Poker and Sports Marketing Conference in Las Vegas this July. Gambling911.com has been mentioned in/on the Miami Herald, The Las Vegas Sun, The Hartford Courant, Fox 6 Milwaukee and many more fine media outlets.

The World Poker Showdown is making another appearance due to last year's great success and this year just it's just in time for Christmas. This year the turnout for the Poker Tournament's Caribbean Cruise is expected to double and maybe even triple last years count. So, if you haven't made any Christmas plans yet, stop on by the website, www.worldpokershowdown.com and signup for your Christmas Vacation of a lifetime.