2018 World Series of Poker Odds: Betting Favorites Include Negreanu and Ivey

Despite not winning the World Series of Poker main event in the past, two popular names sit atop the betting board this year in Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey.

Negreanu, a two-time WSOP Player of the Year, and Ivey are both listed at +5000 (bet $100 to win $5,000) to end up with the most chips on the 2018 WSOP main event odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. That event gets underway on July 2 at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas.

Negreanu made $1.96 million in WSOP earnings five years ago en route to earning his second Player of the Year award. Even though the 43-year-old Negreanu did not win the WSOP main event in 2013, he did take home the inaugural WSOP Asia Pacific title.

Meanwhile, Ivey is one of three players to earn 10 WSOP bracelets during his career along with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson; that's tied for second all-time behind Phil Hellmuth's 14. The 41-year-old Las Vegas resident has also won one World Poker Tour title and made the final table in nine WPT events.

In addition to wagering on which poker player will win the main event, bettors also have the opportunity to take a shot at numerous World Series of Poker betting props available. For example, you can wager on whether the winner will be at least 28 years old or under that age with a pick'em price of -120 (bet $120 to win $100) either way.

Another interesting WSOP prop involves the region of origin for the main event winner, with the United States coming in as a solid -150 favorite. Europe is the +205 second choice, followed by Canada (+400), Central or South America (+900), Australia (+1200) and any other country in the field (+900).

It is worth noting that an American has won the WSOP main event five of the past six years, including 2017 winner Scott Blumstein, and 39 times dating back to the first one in 1970. Negreanu is a Canadian who splits time between Toronto and Vegas, but only one of his countrymen has ever won it: Jonathan Duhamel in 2009.

For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week's top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.