2006 WSOP ODDS

Here’s a list of the top 16 favorites at the 2006 WSOP main event:

1. Phil Ivey 150-1
2. Daniel Negreanu 225-1
3. Howard Lederer 250-1
4. Phil Hellmuth 250-1
5. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson 300-1
6. Gus Hansen 300-1
7. John Juanda 300-1
8. Marcel Luske 400-1
9. Greg Raymer 400-1
10. Barry Greenstein 400-1
11. Carlos Mortenson 400-1
12. Layne Flack 400-1
13. Scotty Nguyen 400-1
14. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow 400-1
15. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi 400-1
16. Sam Farha 400-1

Now I’ll run down the chances of the some of the top pros mentioned on BetUSA’s list.

Phil Ivey 150-1

Last year Phil Ivey went deep into the main event, which didn’t shock to many people. It was sort of expected, especially since a few weeks earlier he won a bracelet in the PLO event. He wasn’t going to play that day and was sleeping just before the event started. Barry Greenstein woke him up with a phone call and suggested he play since that’s one of his best games. Ivey showed up at the Rio in time to play and the next day he won his fifth bracelet. Ivey doesn’t play too many tournaments since he’s a regular in high stakes games in Las Vegas. And tournaments are too time consuming for him since he wins more in cash games than he can get for coming in first place in some of the WPT and smaller WSOP events. Although Ivey doesn’t play too many tournaments, his skill at the tables more than compensates for his light tournament schedule.

Since he took 20th in last year’s main event, Ivey went on to win the Monte Carlo Millions and no one knows for sure how much he’s won playing in the Big Game or other high stakes side games in the past year. One thing is certain, Phil Ivey is a favorite in ANY tournament that he enters.

Daniel Negreanu 225-1

I picked Negreanu to win last year’s WSOP and he had a horrible run at the Rio. In 2006, he picked up a first place victory when he won the Jack Binion WSOP circuit event in Tunica. He also finished in 6th place at the National Heads-Up Championship at Caesar’s Palace. BetUSA has him as the second favorite on the board and I think he’s in the top 15 or so but should not be one of the top two favorites.

Howard Lederer 250-1

Howard Lederer gets a ton of respect even though he has not cashed in a major tournament since last year’s WSOP main event when he finished 133 out of 5619. His career stats are impressive with over $3 million in tournament earnings. He’s currently 56th on the all time WSOP money list and won two bracelets. He’s also won two events on the WPT. Considering that Lederer has not cashed in any major events this year, I’d say that his odds were also slightly inflated.

Phil Hellmuth 250-1

I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that 2006 is going to be a big year for Phil Hellmuth at the WSOP. The new host of Celebrity Poker Showdown is going to win a bracelet this year and make a couple of final tables. Hellmuth is still steaming about Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson winning their 10th bracelets before he did and I know he wants revenge this year. And it seemed as though every day last year, he and Berry Johnston were jumping back and forth for the leader in all-time number of cashes at the WSOP. Right now Men the Master holds a slight edge with 49 career cashes over Johnston, Hellmuth, and TJ Cloutier who all have 48 each. This could be the year that Hellmuth gets hot during the main event. And the suits at ESPN would love to see Hellmuth go deep this year with a few chair kicking tirades and witty one-liners berating inferior opponents along the way

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson 300-1

Out of all the former champions, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson has the best shot of winning this year’s main event. Jesus has been on a roll in the last year. He won a WSOP circuit event at Harrah’s and took 11th at the Monte Carlo Millions. For a second year in a row, he came in second at the National Heads-Up Championship. In 2005, he lost to Phil Hellmuth and this year he was defeated by Ted Forrest. He also made a final table at the WSOP Circuit event in Atlantic City a few months ago. Jesus is running hot and is currently 11th on the all-time WSOP earning list. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a run at the main event this year.

Gus Hansen 300-1

Some pros think Gus Hansen is overrated as a tournament player. Although he does have 4 WPT titles, Hansen has never won a WSOP bracelet. He only cashed in one WSOP tournament in his career when he took 130th in the main event in 2004. He made couple of final tables on the EPT this past season but the Great Dane has been relatively quiet this year on the tournament circuit. Maybe he’ll snap out of his WSOP funk and play more events this year. There are dozens of other players who have a better chance of winning this year than Hansen. His 300-1 odds are also grossly inflated.

John Juanda 300-1

I like John Juanda as one of the dark horses to win this year’s WSOP. I even put down a few bucks on him at 300-1. Juanda has won over $6.5 million in tournament earnings over his stellar career. Since Juanda is a quiet guy at the tables, he’s often over looked by the TV cameras and not everyone out there knows just how excellent of a player Juanda really is. He won three bracelets in his career and cashed in five events at last year’s WSOP. He also finished in 31st place in the 2005 main event. Since then he made three final tables at WSOP Circuit events including a second place finish at the Showboat in Atlantic City. In January, Juanda headed down under and won $1 million (Australian Dollars) at Aussie Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. He’s also chased in three WPT events in 2006. Juanda is on pace to cash a couple of more times at the WSOP this year and has a shot at making the final table of the main event. Maybe he can catch some cards and do some damage this year. At 300-1, I hope so

Marcel Luske 400-1

The Flying Dutchman comes in at 400-1 and is the highest ranked European on the list. He currently ranks 9th all-time on the European WSOP money winners. The always entertaining and flamboyant Luske has been playing all over the world since he cashed in four different WSOP events last year. Luske has cashed in tournaments in France, Austria, the Netherlands, The United States, the Caribbean, Australia, England, Monaco, and in Spain. Since the 2005 WSOP ended, he won the Hall of Fame Poker Classic at the Aviation Club in Paris and beat Frenchman Jan Boubli heads up for the victory. He made the final table at the London Open and made the final table at the Master Classics of Poker at the Holland Casino. He also made a final table on the EPT. Luske is always ready to play no matter where he happens to be and be prepared to hear him sing.

Greg Raymer 400-1

No one expected Greg Raymer to win the 2004 WSOP and no one even thought he had a chance to go far in the 2005 main event. Yet the Fossilman went out of his way to prove to the poker world that he wasn’t a fluke. He probably played better in 2005 than in 2004, despite the fact he finished in 25th place. He was on pace to make the final table if he didn’t run into that horrible bad beat. Raymer cashed in three events at last year’s WSOP and made one final table. If there’s anyone who has experience in large fields, it’s Raymer. He’s finished 1st out of 2576, and then 25th out of 5619. He survived over 8170 players in the main event over two years before he was finally knocked out last year. That’s a record that may never get broken.

Barry Greenstein 400-1

At last year’s WSOP, Barry Greenstein cashed five times and won a PLO event. In the story of the 2005 WSOP, an emotional Greenstein dedicated his second bracelet to a terminally ill fan named Charlie Tuttle, who would pass away the next day after hearing about Greenstein’s heroic victory. Since then, he cashed in 6 WPT events with one victory at the WPT Invitational and two TV final table appearances. He finished 9th at the WPT Aruba and 10th at the WPT Doyle Brunson North American Classic. Barry is dangerous any time he sits down at the tables. And since he donates his tournament wins to charity, $10 million for first place is enough incentive to push himself towards his first WSOP championship.

Carlos Mortensen 400-1

Carlos Mortensen won the WSOP main event in 2001 and is currently the all-time money winner at the WSOP among Europeans. He had a mediocre run at last year’s WSOP and cashed in two events. He finished 3rd at the World Heads-Up Poker Championship in Barcelona. He also won a smaller buy-in WSOP Circuit event in Tunica. He also made the final table of the H.O.S.E. event at the WSOP Circuit event at Caesar’s Palace. The two time WSOP bracelet winner is also the only player aside from Doyle Brunson to have won a WPT event and a WSOP main event championship.

Layne Flack 400-1

Layne Flack is always dangerous at the tables. If he can control his aggression and catches cards, he’s one of the toughest opponents to beat in a NL tournament. He cashed in four events at the 2005 WSOP and made two final tables including a second place finish. He also went deep at the main event, cashing in 194th place. With 5 WSOP bracelets and 1 WPT title, he’s got plenty of major tournament experience.

Scotty Nguyen 400-1

Another former WSOP champion, Scotty Nguyen is looking to add another bracelet to his collection of four. He’s won almost $6.5 million in tournaments over his career. He’s currently 17th on the WSOP All Time Money List and 16th on the WPT All Time Money List. Earlier this year, Scotty Nguyen finally broke through and won his first WPT event in Tunica. He made the final TV table three other times and never won. Since then he’s cashed in two other WPT events and made a final table at a WSOP Circuit event. Scotty Nguyen took 3rd last year in the $5,000 Short-handed NL event, which was the event that Doyle Brunson won to earn his 10th bracelet. He would love to add some more bling to wear around his neck. And $10 million for first place in the main event could buy Scotty Nguyen a lot of jewelry.

Mike “The Mouth” Matusow 400-1

Mike Matusow admitted that he was playing the best poker of his life in the 2005 WSOP main event after he switched medications. Whatever he was taking worked because he settled down and focused. When he sat down at the final table, he was the most known pro and was the clear favorite to win out of the remaining players. He ended up in 9th place and still won $1 million for his efforts. Four months later, he won the Tournament of Champions after beating Hoyt Corkins heads-up. Matusow has had a quiet tournament run since then, but you know he’s itching to play in the main event again, looking to get back to the final table.

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi 400-1

During a ten day period earlier this year, The Grinder won a WPT event at the Borgata and nearly won another when he finished in second place due to a bad beated by Scotty Nguyen in Tunica. In his short career, The Grinder has won over $5.2 million in tournaments with two victories on the WPT. He’s currently ranked 3rd on the all time WPT Money List. The Grinder is still looking for his first WSOP bracelet, although he cashed seven times last year to tie for the most cashes at the 2005 WSOP. Since last year’s WSOP, he’s won two of the weekly Bellagio tournaments and took 9th at the National Heads-Up Championship and is coming into the 2006 WSOP on a good note after he recently won a $2,000 buy-in event at Mandalay Bay. Keep an eye out for The Grinder. If he can survive the first few days of the main event, he’ll most likely be leading the pack with a big stack. That’s his game and if the Grinder has chips, he’s a tough player to be up against.

Sam Farha 400-1

Sam Farha is mainly a high stakes cash game player and can be found in the Big Game and other lucrative side games. He cashed in last year’s main event and took 5th in the National Heads-Up Championship. Aside from that, he hasn’t cashed or played in too many tournaments. Sammy is a dangerous cash game player, but since he doesn’t play too many tournaments, it’s safe to say that at 400-1 he got a favorable line.

Visit BetUSA.com to read a full list of 2006 WSOP odds. Here’s a selected list of pros and their 2006 WSOP main event odds:

Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott 500-1
Erik Seidel 500-1
Huckleberry Seed 500-1
Johnny Chan 500-1
Johnny “World” Hennigan 500-1
Men “The Master” Nguyen 500-1
Paul Phillips 500-1
Phil “Unabomber” Laak 500-1
Ram Vaswani 500-1
TJ Cloutier 500-1
Dan Harrington 500-1
Antonio Esfandiari 500-1
Annie Duke 500-1Alan Goehring 750-1
Allen Cunningham 750-1
Alex Brenes 750-1
Amir Vahedi 750-1
Asher Derei 750-1
Chris Bigler 750-1
Chip Jett 750-1
Chris Grigorian 750-1
David Chui 750-1
Dave Colclough 750-1
David Singer 750-1
Doyle Brunson 500-1
Chip Reese 750-1
Dutch Boyd 750-1
David “The Dragon” Pham 750-1
Erick Lindgren 750-1
Freddy Deeb 750-1
Gary Jones 750-1
Gabe Thaler 750-1
Gavin Griffin 750-1
Hassan Habib 750-1
Humberto Brenes 750-1
Jennifer Harman 750-1
John DAgostino 750-1
John Spadevechia 750-1
John Shipley 750-1
Julian Gardner 750-1
Josh Arieh 750-1
Jean-Robert Bellande 750-1
“Minneapolis” Jim Meehan 750-1
Kathy Liebert 750-1
Lucy Rokach 750-1
Mel Judah 750-1
Minh Ly 750-1
Lee Watkinson 750-1
Prahlad Friedman 750-1
Paul Darden 750-1
Paul Maxfield 750-1
Phil Gordon 750-1
Scott Fischman 750-1
Surindar Sunar 750-1
Tony Cosineau 750-1
Todd Brunson 750-1
Tony Ma 750-1
Ted Forrest 750-1
Toto Leonides 750-1
Young Phan 750-1
Michael Gracz 750-1
Brian Wilson 750-1
Chris Moneymaker 750-1
Andrew Black 1000-1
Andy Bloch 1000-1
An Tran 1000-1
Bill Gazes 1000-1
Billy Duarte 1000-1
Blair Rodman 1000-1
Cindy Violette 1000-1
“Syracuse” Chris Tsiprailides 1000-1
Chau Giang 1000-1
Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf 1000-1
Daniel Larsson 1000-1
Dan Alspach 1000-1
David Williams 1000-1
Dan Heimiller 1000-1
Dennis Waterman 1000-1
David Plastik 1000-1
David Levi 1000-1
David Benyamine 1000-1
David Oppenheim 1000-1
Erik Sagstrom 1000-1
Farzad Bonyadi 1000-1
Gavin Smith 1000-1
Harry Demetriou 1000-1
Hoyt Corkins 1000-1
Jason Lester 1000-1
“Miami” John Cernutto 1000-1
Joseph Hachem 1000-1
Jeff Shulman 1000-1
Jesse Jones 1000-1
Joe Beevers 1000-1
John Bonnetti 1000-1
John Esposito 1000-1
John Phan 1000-1
James Van Allstyne 1000-1
Keith “The Camel” Hawkins 1000-1
Kenna James 1000-1
Mike Sexton 1000-1
Mike Carson 1000-1
Martin De Knijff 1000-1
Mickey Applebaum 1000-1
Mark Seif 1000-1
Oneil Longson 1000-1
Padraig Parkinson 1000-1
Peter Costa 1000-1
Patrick Antonius 1000-1
Paul Wolfe 1000-1
Pascal Perrault 1000-1
Robert Williamson 1000-1
Rob Hollink 1000-1
Thor Hansen 1000-1
Tony Bloom 1000-1
Tony D 1000-1
Tony G 1000-1
Tuan Le 1000-1
Capt. Tom Franklin 1000-1
Thomas “Thunder” Keller 1000-1