PBA World Series of Bowling XVII: Best Bowling Bets, Picks and Predictions

Cameron Crowe, Jason Belmonte, Zach Wilkins and Ronnie Russell earned the top seeds for the PBA animal pattern tournaments at the WSOB, but none make Steve Bulanda's cut as a "best bet" to win.

May 7, 2026

PBA World Series of Bowling XVII: Best Bowling Bets, Picks and Predictions

By:

Steve Bulanda

May 7, 2026

Betting Advice

From May 1st through May 4th, the best bowlers in the world took on the challenge of 10 games of qualifying per day on four different oil patterns with four different titles at stake. The top 12 scorers on each of the four PBA animal patterns — Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark — advanced to the televised bracket finals.

A total of 11 players advanced to multiple animal pattern brackets, while also keeping their hopes for a PBA World Championship alive. (We'll have more on that major event in a future article.)

According to pba.com, during each animal pattern show, the semifinal round will feature two concurrent matches each game:

Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed + No. 5 seed vs. No. 12 seed
Game 2: No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed + No. 6 seed vs. No. 11 seed
Game 3: No. 1 seed vs. No. 8/9 seed + No. 4 seed vs. No. 5/12 seed
Game 4: No. 2 seed vs. No. 7/10 seed + No. 3 seed vs. No. 6/11 seed
The winners of games 3 and 4 will advance to continue the bracket. The title match will be a Race-to-Two format.

This unique format creates plenty of betting opportunities on the BetRivers Sportsbook app. 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 World Series of Bowling Matchups Best Bets

PBA Cheetah Championship: Hayden Stippich (+115) over Bill O'Neill

There's no doubt that the experience advantage goes to Hall of Famer Bill O'Neill. But in this particular tournament, the Cheetah oil pattern proved to be favorable for the lefties who dominate the top of the leaderboard.

That's why I'm going with Stippich here -- in addition to the plus odds. The two-handed lefty got off to a sluggish start in qualifying, including back-to-back games in the 180s, but he followed those up by averaging 244.7 the rest of the way. In that same stretch of six games, O'Neill averaged 230.2.

PBA Chameleon Championship: Santtu Tahvanainen (-139) over Deo Benard

No player improved more from the first block of qualifying to the second block than Tahvanainen did. He went from 1,047 in the first five games to 1,182 in the next five. In fact, only one player in the entire field had a higher second block score than Santtu did. Look for him to apply his learnings to come out firing in the next round.

PBA Scorpion Championship: Thomas Larsen (+105) over Kris Prather

Larsen edged out Prather in qualifying. Each player made one show earlier this season and performed well, picking up wins and putting up impressive scores, despite ultimately falling short of winning a title.

This is a classic case of two experienced players with an equal chance of winning, so the betting edge goes to the bowler with the more favorable odds.

PBA Shark Championship: Alex Horton (+105) over Tobias Boerding

This is my favorite bet of all, as Horton established himself as a clutch player and match play hero just two weeks ago at the PBA Tournament of Champions. Horton went from earning his spot through the PTQ to making the top 24 in TOC qualifying and then dominating round robin match play with the best record (17-7) in the field. He proceeded to win the major title with two decisive victories.

Boerding is a star from Germany, who typically only participates in the World Series. His fourth-place finish in the Scorpion Championship last year is evidence that he is capable of winning this match and making a run, but should he be a -139 favorite? I think not. Horton is the value play.

All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of May 7th 11:00 am ET

2026 PBA World Series of Bowling Winner Best Bets

PBA Cheetah Championship Winner: Spencer Robarge (+500)

When Robarge is at the top of his game, there are few players who can keep up. His game clearly matches up well with the Cheetah oil pattern at Bowlero Brooklyn Park, as he averaged 242.6 during qualifying and never had a game under 207. Only Cameron Crowe had a higher average (246.5), and along with Matt Sanders (239.9), these three lefties were a clear tier above the rest of the field.

I'm giving Robarge the edge because I like his path through the bracket more than the others. He's the player who I'm most confident to make it to the semifinal match. After his bye, he will face either Brandon Kreyer, a player with no national Tour experience who barely earned a berth in the WSOB main field by finishing 17th in the pre-tournament qualifier, or AJ Johnson, whose best finish this season was 11th place back in early March.

PBA Chameleon Championship Winner: Santtu Tahvanainen (+1500)

You already know I like Santtu to win his first match, so why not take it a step (or three) farther? Again, I'm looking for a player who I'm confident will make it to the semifinal match, and then anything can happen. I like that he's on the side of the bracket where he'll avoid the two biggest favorites -- Jason Belmonte (+200) and Anthony Simonsen (+450) -- until a potential championship match. After beating Deo Benard, he'd face Jason Sterner, whose previous best finish this year was 28th. A win there would set up a semifinal match between Boerding, Boog Krol or Darren Tang, who don't scare me either.

PBA Scorpion Championship Winner: Graham Fach (+1100)

By finishing with a perfect 300 game in the last game of qualifying, Fach established himself in the upper tier of contenders in this tournament. That wasn't quite enough to earn him a bye, but I like his chances in the first round against Darren Tang, who also shot a 300 game in qualifying but had five games of 202 or less to barely make the cut to the top 12.

Once again, I'm picking a player who landed on the more favorable side of his bracket. After beating Tang, he'll face Zach Weidman, whose best finish this season was previously 32nd back in early March. Fach will also avoid back-to-back-to-back Player of the Year and current Tour Points leader EJ Tackett and another top 10 player in Chris Via until a potential championship match.

PBA Shark Championship Winner: EJ Tackett (+600)

Tackett has by far the most PBA Tour Points, highest average and highest earnings, but he won't be eligible to win a fourth straight Player of the Year award if he doesn't win a title. He has seven top 5 finishes this year but hasn't been able to close the deal... yet. Tackett has owned the Shark Championship, winning it the past two years and coming in with a solid ninth place finish in 2023.

With a win over 12th seed Mitch Hupe, Tackett would move on to a revenge match against Brandon Bonta, who beat him 300-238 in the PBA Players Championship final in the first event of the season. Next up would be either top seed Ronnie Russell, Tommy Jones or Packy Hanrahan, who have just one combined top 10 finish this season. I like how the bracket sets up for him.

For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X.