The first set of odds deals with the big question of who will actually walk away as the 2009 WSOP Main Event champion. The current chipleader – Darvin Moon – is listed as the favorite at 17/10, followed by Eric Buchman at 3/1. Right behind them are Phil Ivey, Steve Begleiter and Jeff Shulman, who are all listed at 4/1.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, November Nine short-stack James Akenhead is a slight favorite to be the first player eliminated at 2/1 over Antoine Saout, who sits at 23/10. The next closest are Joe Cada and Kevin Schaffel, both at 4/1.

For the performance of specific players, Bodog offers odds as to which place Moon – the current chipleader – will eventually finish. At 10/11, the odds favor him exiting in second or third place. For Ivey, the most experienced player at the final table, the oddsmakers have put him exiting in sixth or seventh place as the favorite at 3/2. While the short stack of Akenhead is not expected to get him very far as he is 4/7 to go out in eighth or ninth place.

Along with these wagers, there are odds as to whether the winner will be European or American (there are only two Euros at the final table), what suit the final river card on the final hand will be and numerous last longer bets between the November Nine. One of the most intriguing of these match-ups pits monster stack chip leader Moon (-450) against the extremely talented crowd favorite, Ivey (+325).

Head over to the Bodog Sportsbook to bet on the 2009 World Series of Poker winners and then tune into ESPN on November 10 from 9-11:00 PM ET to watch the Main Event Final Table.

The statement of intent was put forth by Scotty in an interview with PokerListings.com that can be viewed here, and the infamous poker pro was willing to wager on the outcome himself at $100 from the interviewer to his $1,000. So, since everyone is in the betting mood, will Scotty Nguyen reach his stated promise to PokerListings.com that he will earn $4,000,000 or more in combined winnings at this year’s WSOP or else retire? The Bodog oddsmakers have put up their thoughts on the wager at Yes +2500.

To place your bets on Scotty's fortune (good, bad or otherwise) head over to the Bodog Sportsbook and check out all of the 2009 WSOP prop bets.

One of the biggest areas of speculation surrounding the Main Event always involves the performance of previous Main Event champions. Will one of them be able to pull off the unthinkable and repeat their feat (Yes +2500)? Or will one of them reach the final table (Yes +900)? The champions listed as the favorites to last the longest this year are Phil Hellmuth, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Peter Eastgate at 9 to 2 with Chris Moneymaker and Jerry Yang not getting much respect at 16 to 1.

The performance of any poker pro is always of considerable interest and this year the Bodog oddsmakers have pegged Phil Ivey as the favorite to last the longest at 5 to 1. He is followed by Phil Hellmuth and Bodog poker pros David Williams and Justin Bonomo all at 6 to 1. Female poker pros also get a lot of attention (as they should) and Bodog is asking if a woman will win the Main Event (Yes +1800), reach the final table (Yes +400, No -800) and which will last longer, the favorites being Jennifer Harman and Kathy Liebert at 5/1.

To view the full list of 2009 WSOP prop bets, head over to the Bodog Sportsbook and place your wagers now. Then, head over to the Bodog Poker room  for the chance to qualify online for the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event through the Bodog Flight Club promotion. Winners of a Bodog Flight Club package receive travel and accommodations to the event, buy-in to the 2009 series, spending money, a Bodog swag bag, featured articles published on the Bodog Beat following their progress and the chance to make extra money based on performance and exposure.

The first matches today will be from the Heart Bracket and will feature some interesting face-offs, including poker old-timers Eli Elezra and Johnny Chan, fellow shareholders Erick Lindgren and Howard Lederer, perennial punchline Jamie Gold and Scott Fischman and then Bodog poker pro David Williams and Johnny Chan.

Other interesting first-round match-ups include Doyle Brunson vs. Vanessa Rousso, Mike Matusow vs. Dario Minieri (there may be too much fodder there for Matusow to keep his mouth shut, we'll set the "scarf joke" line at 42), two nosebleed stake online players David Benyamine vs. Gus Hansen and poker's first Triple Crown winner Gavin Griffin vs. Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who is online poker personified.

Check out the full list of match-ups and a printable bracket at the NBC site here. NBC will also have live updates from the tournament, as will CardPlayer. We'll post as we see fit over the weekend. Don't forget to check out the Heads-Up Poker Championship prop bet in the Bodog Sportsbook now that the matches have been set. Should be much easier to get an idea of who may have the "easiest" route to the $500,000 first-place prize.

Featuring 64 of the best heads-up poker players in the world, the NHUPC takes place at Caesar's Palace this weekend – March 7-8 – and will pay out $500,000 to the winner. Bodog oddsmakers have been busy with their calculators and complex algorithms coming up with lines for the participants and they are now up and available in the Bodog Sportsbook.

As the defending champion, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is the favorite of the Bodog oddsmakers and poker pundits alike, but by no means an overwhelming one at 22/1. Nipping at his heels at 25/1 is a collection of players that you would expect to see as near-favorites, online poker phenom Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu, and they are followed by Johnathan "FieryJustice" Little and Andy Bloch, who was Ferguson's heads-up opponent in the final last year, at 30/1.

Getting no respect for his deep run last year is baseball great Orel Hershiser, who is staring down 95/1 odds that he will win this event. In fact, none of the celebrities participating this year are getting good odds. So, if you're looking for a long shot to take a chance on, look no further than movie star Don Cheadle and TV star Brad Garrett at 90/1.

Other notables in the field include Bodog poker pro David Williams, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and 2008 WSOP Main Event final tablist Ivan Demidov all at 40/1.

For a full listing, check out Bodog's NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship prop bets and place your bets now.

The expert oddsmakers at Bodog have given wagerers many options, some of which are as simple as asking whether or not a single player will win two world series bracelets over the course of the 57 events scheduled (Yes +155. No -230), or even possibly three bracelets (Yes +1300). Others are more specific, such as asking if a Team Bodog poker pro — David Williams, Justin Bonomo, Evelyn Ng or Jean Robert Bellande — will win a  bracelet this year (Yes +250) or possibly a woman poker player in an "open" event (Yes +155, No -230).

Several last longer bets also are available that feature poker authors, past world champions and poker pros in the $50,000 HORSE event. Players racing for the record books by accruing bracelets are also the subject of two separate prop bets. Will Phil Hellmuth win his record 12th world series bracelet this summer (Yes +300, No -500), or will Doyle Brunson or Johnny Chan catch up to him by winning their 11th? The odds are 13/1 that one of them will do so or 35 to 1 that both of them will.

To view the full list of 2009 WSOP prop bets, head over to the Bodog Sportsbook and place your wagers now. Then, head over to the Bodog Poker room  for the chance to qualify online for the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event through the Bodog Flight Club promotion. Winners of a Bodog Flight Club package receive travel and accommodations to the event, buy-in to the 2009 series, spending money, a Bodog swag bag, featured articles published on the Bodog Beat following their progress and the chance to make extra money based on performance and exposure.

While we don't have a lot of details, or really any at all, we do know that Bodog poker pro Evelyn Ng will be one of the players featured on the show, along with several other big name poker pros. So, make sure to check it out and get caught up in the fervor of the Final Table madness, or the complete lack thereof.

Either way, don't forget that you only have a few more days to get in on Bodog's November Nine WSOP prop bets, so head over to the Bodog Sportsbook and check out the odds.

Adding to the classic prop bet of who will actually win – the odds on favorite is Dennis Phillips, the chip leader going in – is the wager on what nationality that person will be. Obviously, with five Americans sitting at the table (Phillips, Chino Rheem, Craig Marquis, Kelly Kim and Ylon Schwartz) and the aforementioned Phillips as the chip leader, the odds are good that the winner will be US-born and the Bodog oddsmakers have pegged that at 5/7. However, there are two Canadians at the table (Scott Montgomery and Darus Suharto) and the fact that Montgomery has WPT final table experience and neither of them are the short stack puts them at 2/1 that one of them will take it down. That leaves Denmark (Peter Eastgate) and Russia (Ivan Demidov) at 9/2 and 7/2, respectively.

The second new prop bet Bodog has posted concerns which player will be first to exit the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio on November 9. As you can imagine, the short-stacked Kim is the favorite to be that player as he only has nine big blinds with which to try and make a move, so his odds are set at 5/2. However, this is poker and anything can happen so take a look at the full list of participants and their odds:

Dennis Phillips – 13/1
Craig Marquis – 4/1
Ylon Schwartz – 5/1
Scott Montgomery – 13/2
Darus Suharto – 5/1
Chino Rheem – 7/2
Ivan Demidov – 10/1
Kelly Kim – 5/2
Peter Eastgate – 13/2

Head over to Bodog and check out the 2008 WSOP prop bets and get in on some of the final table action, it'll give you a reason to watch next month and possibly make a little cash in the process.

The first set of questions asked revolve around the nationality of the player who will win one of the first three WSOP bracelets on offer. American or not? Last year, no US-born player was able to break through and take home a bracelet. So, can an American step up this year and take home some jewelry, or will the Europeans continue to dominate like they do in the Ryder Cup?

Then the prop bets turn to the WSOPE Main Event. Again, the question asked is whether an American can take home the big one. Last year, the last American standing was Team Bodog poker player Matt McCullough, who came in third. Not too shabby a showing, but can another American beat out his finish this year and even possibly win the whole thing.

Then come the last longer bets for the Main Event. Who will outlast their fellow pros on the list? Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey or Bodog poker pro David Williams among others. Will a female make the final table? Will two of them make it? And finally, how many people will actually show up to play? All of these questions are begging for answers in the Bodog Sportsbook.

So, head over and check out the WSOP Europe prop bets and see if you're as good at this whole prognosticating thing as we are.

The first part of the question asks whether you agree with the decision to postpone the WSOP Final Table until November 9, 2008.

Considering that the general opinion in the media has been a positive one to this decision we here at the Beat were pretty surpised to find that of the 1,620 people polled 55% said they disagreed with the decision while only 45% approved.

Wow, I guess that speaks for volumes for those old school proponents that don’t want the integrity of the WSOP Final Table messed with.

The next part of the question asks who you think will win the WSOP Final Table. Check out the results so far:

We are not quite sure what’s more bizarre here, that five people actually expect Kelly Kim to overcome his crippling chip deficit to win it all, or that chip leader Dennis Phillips only got 1.8% of the vote.

Bodog’s oddsmakers are anticipating a very different result from those polled as their WSOP props have Phillips as the favorite at 3-1.

One thing that both sides do seem to agree on is that Scott Montgomery has a great shot at taking down the WSOP Final Table. Bodog gave him the second best odds at 4-1. For some insight on why Montgomery is expected to do so well despite only having the third most chips head over to Bodog Nation for their take on Scott Montgomery and the WSOP Final Table.