This article is part of our Betting Advice series.
Seventy-two bowlers began qualifying on the 2025 Aulby 39 oil pattern at Coconut Bowl at Wild Island in Sparks, Nevada on February 26th. The field was narrowed down to the final five on February 28th. Since then, bowlers from all over the world have been competing in several other tournaments as part of the World Series of Bowling. Now we'll finally watch the long-awaited conclusion of the Mike Aulby Nevada Classic on Saturday, March 15th. It will be the first of six titles decided over a busy eight days of bowling.
Andrew Anderson will be the top seed in the Nevada Classic stepladder final, followed by E.J. Tacket, Ethan Fiore, Alec Keplinger and Jesper Svensson. Tackett led after 18 games of qualifying, but Anderson was able to climb from seventh to first after another 12 games in the elimination rounds. Meanwhile, Fiore and Keplinger had to earn their way into the tournament through the PTQ and have made the most of their opportunity.
For each PBA tournament, I'll analyze every win, spread, total and futures bet available on the BetRivers Sportsbook app and identify my favorite bets heading into the stepladder finals. So far I am 9-3 in these articles this season, including a +400 winner.
2025 Mike Aulby PBA Nevada Classic Matchups
Jesper Svensson -9.5 over Alec Keplinger (-129)
It has been a rough start to the season for lefties, especially Svensson, who currently ranks 59th in Tour points after finishing 10th in 2024. But after 17 days in Nevada, Jesper is back on track. In addition to being the fifth seed here, he is alive in the round of 16 in the Viper Championship, Chameleon Championship and Shark Championship and sits in 8th in the World Championship standings. While the previous rounds of the Nevada Classic were completed at Coconut Bowl, these finals will take place at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, where Svensson has dominated. Through the 48 games of qualifying for the World Championship at the stadium, he averaged 233.83 compared to 219.4 for Keplinger. We haven't seen many matches decided by fewer than 10 pins on TV this season, so I'm not hesitating to lay the points for a better payout.
Jesper Svensson vs. Alec Keplinger under 460.5 (-117)
We've seen some massive scores over the past two weeks, but I'll always take the under when the number gets this high. Both players averaged 232 throughout the tournament at Coconut Bowl, but scores are rarely as high in the stepladder as they were throughout the rest of the tournament, plus Keplinger is now two weeks removed from his impressive run from the PTQ to the fourth seed.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of March 14th, 8:30 pm CST
2025 Mike Aulby PBA Nevada Classic Winner Best Bet
E.J. Tackett to Win (+165)
Perhaps the only bowlers hotter than Svensson right now are all-time greats E.J. Tackett and Jason Belmonte. Tackett will be doing a lot more bowling next week, as he is still alive in the round of 16 in the Chameleon, Shark, Viper AND Scorpion Championships and sits atop the World Championship standings.
Svensson will have the advantage of being the only lefty. However, +700 odds are a poor value for someone who needs to win four matches to claim the title. I think he'll edge out Keplinger and Fiore but will fall to the back-to-back Player of the Year. That will set up a rematch of the U.S. Open Championship match between Tackett and Anderson. Anderson is having a great year, and anything can happen in a one game match. But week after week, the gap between Tackett and the rest of the PBA seems to get wider and wider. Tackett will claim his third title of the season and all but lock up a third straight Player of the Year award before we even reach the halfway point of the season.
For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X (Twitter).
2025 Mike Aulby PBA Nevada Classic TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Pacific Standard Time)
Saturday, March 15
PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic Finals (LIVE on FS1; NATIONAL BOWLING STADIUM): 3 p.m.
