With the excitement mounting everyday as we get closer to this weekend's NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC), online sportsbook Bodog has added to the hype by posting their odds on this year's starting 64.

The favorites this year are pretty much those who astute poker fans may expect, however, the long shots are a bit more surprising (even to those of us who pay quite a bit of attention to this sort of thing) and may offer some value for sports gamblers interested in taking a shot.

Chris Ferguson - 22/1 (odds on favorite)
In the past four year's of the NHPC, no player has done better than Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Ferguson has made it into the final round of the NHPC an astounding three of the last four years and won the event in 2008 for $500,000. Coming off a recent final table at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event, expect Ferguson to come into Caesars Palace more confident than ever and ready to attempt to repeat as NHPC champion.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan - 25/1
Who knows heads-up poker right now better than "durrrr"? Currently in the midst of his first, highly publicized heads-up online challenge against Patrik Antonius, Dwan can be found on Full Tilt Poker almost every night of the week playing (and usually winning) against the best heads-up players in the game. Despite only making it into the second round last year (before being defeated by Mike Matusow (45/1)) this was an easy pick for the numbers guys at Bodog.

Daniel Negreanu - 25/1
Long time readers of Daniel's blog (which can be found here at PokerRoad), know how much Daniel wants to win this thing. A self-proclaimed nut for stats and brackets, you can be sure Negreanu will come into this year's event with a solid game plan for taking it down and the skill and knowledge to follow that plan through.

Phil Ivey - 25/1
What else needs to be said about PokerRoad's Phil Ivey? Without a doubt one of the most respected pros by fans and professionals alike, Ivey easily has the ability to go very deep in this event, as evidenced by last year's impressive semi-final finish (before losing to Ferguson).

Other favorites include 2008 NHPC runner-up Andy Bloch (30/1) and Jonathan Little (30/1).

The NBC NHPC doesn't just invite top poker players to this prestigious televised event, much of the field is also often made up of celebrities, and this year is no exception with players like Don Cheadle, Brad Garrett and Orel Hershiser also in the mix.

These celebrities didn't seem to garner much respect from the odds makers at Bodog this year, in fact some of the worst odds in the field were assigned to this year's crop of well known stars.

Brad Garrett and Don Cheadle - 90/1
This will be "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Brad Garrett's first attempt at the NHPC so perhaps his odds can be understood, however, Cheadle seemingly deserves a bit more consideration. Although it's true that the "Ocean's Eleven" star has only made it as far as the second round in the last two events, it is perhaps worth noting that he advanced to that round in 2007 by defeating none other than Phil Ivey and was then knocked out by top player Scott Fischman (40/1), who for the record, is the only player in NHPC history to ever knock out Ferguson in an early round.

Orel Hershiser - 95/1
Baseball great Orel Hershiser is considered by Bodog to be the longest shot in the entire field of 64, which the smart money may want to take notice of. A friend of PokerRoad Radio's Gavin Smith (40/1), Hershiser went all the way to the Quarterfinals in last year's NHPC, along the way defeating such top pros as Freddy Deeb and Allen Cunningham (35/1). Surely any amateur player able to defeat two top pros with more than a half dozen WSOP bracelets between them deserves a bit more consideration from the Bodog oddsmakers.

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is a single elimination, bracket style event, which means just like basketball's March Madness, you never really know what can happen. Luck definitely plays a role, beginning at the PURE NHPC Draw Party where all 64 players will learn who they will have to contend with in the first round.

This year's draw party will be covered live by PokerRoad Radio with an unprecedented three hours of live streaming video and audio coverage starting at 10 PM PT. Stick with PokerRoad tonight, for what is sure to be a historic night of podcasting.

Bodog is not just a popular sportsbook, they are also well known to host some of the best value poker tournaments on the net and currently offer poker cash games for both PC and Mac players. To open an account with Bodog Poker just click here.


Story by Mark Anderson