Betting on the WSOP Final Table

News / Dave Allan / 30 October 2008 / Leave a comment

The World Series of Poker Final table will restart on November 9 after a 117-day break in proceedings, with each of the players knowing they are at least $900,670 richer, the payout for ninth place. However, with over $31m left to play for, including a first prize of $9,119,517, each of the 'November Nine' have the chance of winning an astronomical sum of money, writes Matthew Pitt.

Betfair have created a betting market exclusively for the 2008 WSOP Final table, so lucky punters could also find themselves better off financially if they correctly predict the winner of the tournament.

It should not come as a surprise that Kelly Kim is the outsider, with odds offered in the 43:1 range at time of writing. The 31-year old from California is the tournament's short stack, holding just 2,620,000 chips and with an "M" of less than five, it is easy to see why the odds of a Kim win are extremely long.

The current favourite is also the current chip leader, Dennis Phillips. Phillips had played some great poker to reach the final table and has amassed 26,295,000 chips in the process. The 53-year old from Missouri currently has odds of 9:2 but these will shorten drastically should he take out one of the medium stacks still left in the competition.

Ivan Demidov of Russia did the unthinkable and not only reached the final table of the 2008 WSOP but also battled his way through a pro-heavy field at the WSOPE to finish third, claim £334,850 and write him into the record books. His odds of 4:1 reflect his 24,400,000 stack but after his exploits in London, these odds will lengthen once one or two of the remaining players are eliminated.

Whilst the majority of money will be placed on the current chip leaders, the medium stacks will yield the best value. Players such as Ylon Schwartz and Craig Marquis can be found at 10:1 and 13:1 respectively and each of them are only one double up away from being within touching distance of the leaders. Both players mentioned here are prolific online players and their experience of playing shallow stacks should stand them in good stead at this stage of the tournament.

Punters can back or lay their favourite player before and during the final table on November 9 at the Betfair betting site.