The most prestigious of the PBA Tour events, the PBA Tournament of Champions welcomes only players who have won a PBA Tour title to participate, plus a select few PBA Regional Tour champions who can earn their spots through the pre-tournament qualifier.
A total of 72 players bowled 18 games of qualifying on Wednesday and Thursday to determine the 24-player field for round-robin match play.
After 42 games, Zach Wilkins, Alex Horton, Andrew Anderson, Brandon Bonta and Jason Belmonte emerged as the five players with the most pins to advance to Sunday's stepladder finals.
All season long, I analyze every win, spread, total and futures bet available on the BetRivers Sportsbook app and identify my favorite bets for the stepladder finals.
If you don't have access to BetRivers Sportsbook, keep an eye on PrizePicks, where bowling picks have been posted sporadically all season long and where new users who play $5 get $50 in lineups instantly.
2026 PBA Tournament of Champions Matchups
Brandon Bonta +19.5 (-129) vs. Jason Belmonte
I wouldn't be opposed to taking Bonta (+125) on the moneyline, but I'll play it safe here and take the extra pins. Bonta edged out Belmonte to earn the fourth seed in part by beating him head-to-head 235 to 234.
Bonta had the higher average this week and the better win/loss record in match play, so why is Belmonte such a big favorite? Belmo does have a record four TOC victories on his resume. His experience could be an advantage against most, but Bonta is the same guy who came out and won a major title by shooting 300 against the best player in the world (EJ Tackett) earlier this season.
Brandon Bonta vs. Jason Belmonte under 450.5 total score (-117)
This week proved to have a lower scoring pace than a lot of tournaments this season, and I expect that to be the case on Sunday, particularly early on. A lot of the players' lower scores happened early in the tournament on the fresh oil, so I'm banking on a slow start. In the first and second games of qualifying, Bonta and Belmonte had a combined nine games out of 12 at 225 or less.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of April 25th 7:00 am ET
2026 PBA Tournament of Champions Winner Best Bet
Zach Wilkins (+110)
Wilkins rode the momentum of having won his first title last week all the way to the title match this week, and now we're getting good value at +110 with just one match to win. He was sitting in fourth after three rounds of qualifying then catapulted himself to the top with a strong run in match play, beating Bonta, Belmonte, Anderson AND Horton along the way, averaging a ridiculous 270.75 in those four games!
Lock it in before the show starts because I suspect that when we get to the final match his odds won't be quite as generous.
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2026 PBA Tournament of Champions TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Eastern Time)
Sunday, April 26th
PBA Tournament of Champions Finals (LIVE) on The CW: 4:00 p.m.
