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After almost four months of waiting, the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event resumes this weekend. The second edition of the November Nine will take to the felt at noon in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 7th and will likely compete until some time Sunday morning when two players remain. Those two will battle heads-up on Monday do determine the newest world champion.
And while people may debate on whether or not poker is gambling, most will agree that betting on sports is gambling. And what better sport to bet on this weekend than poker? For those who want to pick a horse at this weekend’s final table, PartyBets.com offers the opportunity. Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey, despite being the third-shortest stack at the table, is the current favorite to win the whole thing at 7-2. Darvin Moon, the chip leader by a wide margin (24 million chips more than his nearest competitor) is the player bettors are picking next at 4-1 odds. Eric Buchman, the second largest stack, is not far behind at 9-2. Steven Begleiter and CardPlayer’s Jeff Shulman are coming in at 6-1. Kevin Schaffel and Joe Cada are 12-1, James Akenhead, the shortest stack, is 14-1, and Antoine Saout is 16-1.
A PartyBets.com spokesperson was amazed that Ivey is the favorite, saying, “Has the world gone mad? Ivey is a short stack and Moon is a massive chip leader with 30% of the chips in play. It just doesn’t make sense but the punters just keep coming for Ivey and we have had no choice but to make him favorite because of our large six figure liabilities and the consistent interest.”

Mike Sexton, PartyPoker.com ambassador and newly-elected Poker Hall of Famer, added, “Phil Ivey is the most well known pro to the public and this has to be a sentimental bet for action on the tournament. It is hard to imagine, more astonishing, that a player can be favorite with just 5% of the chips in play. I regard Ivey as the best player in the world and it would be nice to see him win but as everyone knows chips are power.”
It is possible that the betting lines could move before the final table begins on Saturday, but it is unlikely that enough money will flood PartyBets.com to knock Ivey out of the favorite’s position.
PartyBets.com isn’t limiting the final table betting to the player results, though. If you really want to test your luck, you can bet on the turn of a card. The site is paying out slightly less than even odds (91-100) on the color of the final river card. As for the value of that card, the odds are 2-1 that it will be 2 through 5, 2-1 that it will be 6 through 9, and 8-5 that it will be 10 through Ace. Bets on the suit of the final river card are all running at 11-4, while the odds on the strength of the winning five card hand varies. The most money is being put on two pair, which has 7-4 odds. Next is one pair at 11-5, followed by a straight or flush (this is a single bet) at 4-1 and three of a kind at 6-1. The longest shots are high card or a full house/quads/straight flush, both coming in at 9-1.
PartyBets.com is owned by PartyGaming. Also under the PartyGaming umbrella are PartyPoker.com, PartyCasino.com, PartyBingo.com, PartyGammon.com, and PartyMarkets.com. Players can use a single account to wager on all of the sites. PartyPoints can be earned on all of the PartyGaming sites except for PartyMarkets.com.