This article is part of our Betting Advice series.
The PBA World Series of Bowling has been a three-week marathon bringing together nearly 300 of the world's best bowlers in Reno, Nevada, all leading up to today's World Championship.
The World Championship is arguably the most prestigious of all the PBA events, as the number of participants is massive, and the number of games bowled across several different oil patterns will filter out the pretenders. Like the U.S. Open, which also features several patterns and a lot of games, the cream rises to the top at the WSOB World Championship, leading to the most compelling stepladder finals with the best of the best competing.
Who is in the PBA WSOB World Championship Stepladder Final and How Did They Get Here?
The entire WSOB field competed in the Scorpion, Viper, Chameleon and Shark Championships over the past three weeks. Twelve games of qualifying in each of those title events contributed to qualifying for the World Championship. The top 50 after those 48 games advanced to bowl another 16 games with the top 16 bowlers then advancing to bowl 16 games of match play. After 80 total games, the top five competing in today's stepladder final will be Jason Belmonte, E.J. Tackett, Tim Foy Jr, David "Boog" Krol and B.J. Moore.
Jason Belmonte earned the top seed. He was second to E.J. Tackett through the first 64 games but pulled ahead during match play despite only finishing with a 7-8-1 record. Adding in the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic, Belmo finished in the top 20 of all six events in Reno over the past month. He is a three-time World Championship winner and two-time runner-up and is locked into another top 2 finish as he has already earned his spot in the championship match.
E.J. Tackett enters as the second seed. He's the frontrunner (by far) to win a third straight Player of the Year award, as he has already won three titles this year and has finished in the top four in every WSOB event. Surprisingly he finished with a poor 5-10-1 record in match play (third worst of the 16 participants) to slip to the second seed.
Tim Foy Jr. was in third through 64 games and despite a strong 11-5 record in match play, he was not able to pull ahead of Belmonte or Tackett. He finished in the top 30 in each WSOB event, including a fourth-place finish in the Shark Championship.
Boog Krol is the fourth seed. After 48 games, he was in sixth place. A good advancer round moved him into fifth, and an impressive 11-5 match play record moved him up to fourth. After barely missing both the Viper Championship and Scorpion Championship stepladders with sixth place finishes, he was able to lock in his spot for today's show.
B.J. Moore secured the fifth and final spot despite just one top 10 finish in the animal pattern tournaments. He was in seventh place after 48 games, rose to fourth after 64 and settled into fifth with a 10-6 match play record, edging out Jesper Svensson by just two pins and Kyle Troup by 24.
PBA WSOB World Championship Betting Recap
For each PBA tournament, I 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 9-6 in these articles this season, including a +400 winner.
Throughout the WSOB, I've been posting my picks on X. Be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 and never miss a best bet.
WSOB Recap:
PBA Scorpion Championship Best Bets: 1-2
PBA Viper Championship Best Bets: 3-0
PBA Chameleon Championship Best Bets: 2-1
PBA Shark Championship Best Bets: 0-3
2025 WSOB XVI World Championship Matchups
B.J. Moore over Boog Krol (-115)
Last time we saw B.J. Moore make a show was last year's Cheetah Championship, where he ended up being the victim of some of the worst breaks I've ever seen. A 7-pin, two stone-8s and a ringing 10-pin led to a 235-227 loss to Alec Keplinger.
Krol, on the other hand, caught some of the luckiest breaks we've seen on his way to a title at the Delaware Classic last year.
If the PBA had "Luck Rankings," they would suggest that Moore is due for the win in this matchup. I know it's not the strongest analysis, but I'm going with Moore in the first match.
B.J. Moore vs. Boog Krol under 450.5 (-117)
I'm looking at the match play scores to take my best guess at how this match will play out. Neither bowler averaged over 230 in match play, and scores tend to be lower on TV. I think it's more likely that we get one low game that drags the total down than we get a huge game that pushes it over.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of March 22nd, 9:30 am CST
2025 WSOB XVI World Championship Winner Bet
Jason Belmonte to Win (but wait until the final match is set to bet on him)
Earlier this week we saw Belmonte and E.J. Tackett go head-to-head in the first match of the Viper Championship with Tackett winning it 247-220. Tackett has surpassed Belmonte as the best bowler in the world, but I think Belmo has at least one more big win in him. I expect that E.J. will win his match to advance to the championship, and we can hope that the matchup lives up to expectations, as it did at the World Championship in 2023. In that match, Tackett edged out Belmonte 254-247.
Belmonte comes into the day as the -115 favorite, but if Tackett does make it to the final match, I could see that moving to -110 or better. It's not a huge difference, but every bit of value helps. If Tackett doesn't advance, then I'd take Belmo (-9.5) to get the better payout.
A win and a Belmo BOOM! are the outcomes we need to keep the Belmo vs. E.J. rivalry strong!
2025 WSOB XVI World Championship TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Pacific Standard Time)
Saturday, March 22
PBA World Championship FINALS / (LIVE on FOX): Noon
