2009 WSOP Props: Will the Winner be an American or European?
by Bodog Poker | Nov 5 2009
In three days the November Nine will sit down at a poker table again to find out who will become this year's
WSOP Main Event champion. As always, Bodog is offering side action on the outcome of the final table with a number of prop bets to choose from.
One of the props you can get odds on is whether an American or European player will win the coveted bracelet. There are two European players and the rest are American, and the European players are both on stacks that are well short of the chip average. But you might want to take a look at the odds that Bodog is offering on a European player winning; it might be worth the risk.
Betting on an American to win the bracelet is essentially a "can't lose" bet. The European players, James Akenhead and Antoine Saout, are the shortest stacks in the field and both are expected to exit in the early going. Americans are the -1600 favorite going into Saturday, and if you bet the maximum $50 Bodog allows, you'll likely make the easiest cash you've ever made. Even at +800, betting on one of the Europeans is a very longshot bet at best, and one will need multiple miracles to occur for a European player to end up winning it all.
The best chance that the Europeans have to win would be with Akenhead. This talented young player has a long list of live cashes as well as a strong internet career under his belt. He has the skill to come back and make a run at the whole thing, but he'll have to duck and dodge the odds along the way. The Frenchman Saout doesn't have the big game experience that Akenhead has, and he'll likely try to get as deep as possible without risking any major chunks of his chip stack. If he comes in aggressive he'll either double up or go home early.
The fact that the biggest chip stacks belong to American players is enough for anyone to realize that betting on a European player to win will be a tall order, but when you consider that they'll have to beat out seasoned professionals like Phil Ivey and Jeff Shulman, the task seems insurmountable.
It really looks like the crown will once again be worn by an American player, but stranger things have happened in poker than one of these short stacked European players coming back to win.
This would be a real juicy bet if there was no limit on the size of the wager. Bodog limits the bet to $50, which will only provide a small profit if you bet and win on America.
If you have some extra money and decide to put it on a European player you'll get a nice payout on your investment if the unlikely can occur.
Either way it will make the action more interesting to watch once play resumes on Saturday.
