Last post we looked at the betting odds for the top of the favorites in the NBC Heads Up Championship. For those thinking about a little sports betting here’s the rest of the odds. David Williams, Andy Bloch, Vanessa Rousso, Annette Obrestad, Dario Minieri, Bertand Grospellier, Paul Wasicka, and Sam Farha are in the next grouping at 25/1. David Williams is perhaps surprisingly highly rated.
Annette Obrestad shows that some of the online poker players get a little respect. A lot of people think she is going to break out this year, this would be a good early start. Wasicka has a title under his belt and Bloch has made it to the finals, so too Rousso. Farha is another surprisingly highly rated bet. He’s had a deep run, but most people wouldn’t think of Farha and heads up action as being too closely aligned. His failure against Moneymaker after all created the poker boom.
Greg Raymer, Erik Seidel, Ted Forrest, Jennifer Harman, and Antonio Esfandiari are all 33/1. Ted Forrest doesn’t have many trophies in poker but he’s won this event and a handful of bracelets. He’s more noted for consistently winning in cash ring games and to a degree Jennifer Harman fits the same profile. Erik Seidel is a math whiz and a dark horse in this event. Like the deep runs of Ferguson and Bloch, Seidel could surprise. Greg Raymer is probably appropriately ranked, and the same is true of Esfandiari if he’s still playing like he did at last years World Series.
Eli Elezra, Pieter De-Korver, Eric Baldwin, Scotty Nguyen, Jason Mercier, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, Jesper Hougaard, Joe Cada, Howard Lederer, Peter Eastgate, Phil Gordon, Johnny Chan, Jaime Gold, Kara Scott, Phil Laak, and Gabe Kaplan are all 40/1. No disrespect to the High Stakes Poker announcers but Kara Scott and Gabe Kaplan aren’t really in these guys league. In fact, Scott should be getting the odds of the online qualifiers. Perhaps, the oddsmakers think bettors will be more likely to bet on a pretty face. Eric Baldwin and Jason Mercier are probably undervalued due to their lack of name recognition and is clearly a case where an online stud like Baldwin isn’t getting his due.
This is a mixed bag. Some strong older players like Barry Greenstein (who admittedly hasn’t done much in this format), Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow, and Erick Lindgren are probably unfairly lumped in with this group. Peter Eastgate and Cada may be young World Series of Poker Main Event champions they are certainly better than Kara Scott and probably Gabe Kaplan. The rap on Cada was he was a heads up specialist so why wouldn’t he garner more credit then some of the other guys.
The next group of players seems interchangeable with this previous group. For that reason alone, as they are getting a better price, you’d be better served betting on these guys at 50/1; Chris Moneymaker, John Paul Kelly, Greg Mueller, Doyle Brunson, Leo Wolpert, Darvin Moon, Jerry Yang, Mike Sexton, Brock Parker, and Joe Hachem. Brock Parker and Greg Mueller seem like good players to take a risk on at this price. Joe Hachem and Doyle Brunson might be wondering what they have in common with Darvin Moon, and Jerry Yang.
The next group includes two players Annie Duke and Dennis Phillips at 66/1. Phillips has some deep runs recently so he seems perhaps a little too low. He’s certainly more likely to go deep than Moon or Yang. Annie Duke is by far the lowest rated female pro player and her odds are more in line with the celebrities. Think that’s bad, poor Gavin Smith is all by his lonesome at 80/1.
The celebrities are next with Orel Hershiser (who has a deep run to his name) at 80/1 as well. Jennifer Tilly, a WSOP bracelet winner is 100/1 along with Don Cheadle. The seven qualifiers including Shawn Rice are 150/1.
