This article is part of our Betting Advice series.
The 2025 PBA Tournament of Champions started with the most star-studded PTQ of the year, as top 25 players Tomas Käyhkö, Tim Foy Jr. and Justin Knowles were among 42 players fighting for nine spots. Knowles made the cut to join the field of PBA Tour champions for a total of 64 competitors.
After 18 games of TOC qualifying, righties E.J. Tackett, Kevin McCune and A.J. Johnson sat atop the leaderboard, and the field was cut to 24 for round robin match play. That's when the lefties took over. Jesper Svensson climbed to the first seed, while Graham Fach took over second, pushing Tackett and McCune to third and fourth. Keven Williams and Jakob Butturff moved ahead of Johnson, and Matt Sanders and Packy Hanrahan rounded out the top nine who made the cut to Saturday's preliminary stepladder, giving the lefties six of the top nine spots.
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 13-8 in these articles this season, including a +400 winner.
2025 PBA Tournament of Champions Matchups
Matt Sanders over Packy Hanrahan (+105)
Hanrahan was one of the most successful pros from 2022 to 2024, finishing in the top 13 in Tour points each year. However, 2025 has been a down year for him, as he currently sits in 51st place. Sanders has had the more consistent 2025 season, topping Hanrahan in Tour points thus far, despite missing the Mike Aulby PBA Nevada Classic due to illness. He has also had the edge throughout this tournament, taking the early tournament overall lead and staying ahead of Hanrahan throughout the majority of the tournament. However, through 42 games, it's almost a dead heat between the two, as both went 11-12-1 in match play and Sanders outscored Hanrahan by a total of just 15 pins. With that said, this is less of a bet on Sanders than it is a bet on the number. Packy's odds are at -139 (58% implied probability), and the value is with Sanders.
Matt Sanders vs. Packy Hanrahan under 445.5 (-117)
I'm following the trends that we've seen in stepladders so far this season. In the first match of last week's prelim stepladder match, Nick Pate and Kevin McCune combined for 426. In the first match of the stepladder final show, Tim Foy Jr. and McCune totaled 420. At the Shark Championship, the first match totaled 439, and in the Scorpion Championship, the total was just 329.
The World Championship, Viper and Chameleon Championships had higher scores to start the shows, but those tournaments were all higher scoring than the TOC has been. Sanders and Hanrahan have averaged about 226 each this week, and I expect at least one player to have a lower game under the bright lights on Saturday.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of April 18th 6:00 pm EST
2025 PBA Tournament of Champions Prelims Winner Bet
Jakob Butturff (+265)
I'm hunting for a bigger win this week, and I think Butturff could be the one to bring it. After a tough 2024 season, he's back in the top 15 in 2025, 18 spots ahead of the next best of the group participating in the prelim. He came out strong with a second-place finish at the PBA Delaware Classic and has quietly cashed in nine other tournaments this season. He'll have to knock off Sanders, Hanrahan or A.J. Johnson, and then Keven Williams, who hasn't finished better than 72nd in a singles title event since January.
2025 PBA Tournament of Champions Winner Bet
Jesper Svensson (+120)
Betting on Svensson has been a losing proposition so far this season, but the odds are too good for me to pass up. The Swedish two-hander leads the TOC with a 235.3 average, nearly five whole pins over the next best competitor. He started out match play 8-0 and finished with the second-best record in the field at 15-9.
Last week I picked a +110 winner with Ethan Fiore as the top seed, and once again I'll gladly take the top seed at plus money.
For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X (Twitter).
2025 PBA Tournament of Champions TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Eastern Time)
Saturday, April 19
PBA Tournament of Champions Prelims (LIVE) on FS1: 5 p.m.
Sunday, April 20
PBA Tournament of Champions Finals (LIVE) on FOX: 3 p.m.
