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outright odds from bwin
Without naming names, there are dozens of players in this field that would be worse than 250:1 even if given a bye into the last 16.
Tough to disagree with the top six betting favorites, as each has already won a World 9-ball championship. Filler and Gorst are the logical favorites, too. Each has prevailed over some big, tough fields, with Fedor a two-time winner of the Derby City Classic 9-ball, which tends to have a field of over 400. As we know, Josh has won everything in sight, but Fedor's silver at the 2023 US Open, which featured one of the toughest fields we've ever seen. reminds us that Gorst knows how to go deep in the toughest spots. Yes, he's without a Matchroom major, but his game travels as well as anybody's.
Filler and Gorst have more composure at the table than anyone else in the game today, and they have probably played the two most electrifying matches of 2024 against each other: 1) the Derby City 10-ball semifinal in January, in which Filler prevailed 10-9 and 2) the World Pool Masters final in April, in which Gorst beat Filler 13-12. Although they rarely get credit for it, they are also both counted among the ten best defensive players in the game.
Picking these big field events is never easy, and perhaps somebody is about to write a story comparable to that of Robbie Capito at the UK Open, but as a rule, the World 9-ball doesn't produce Cinderella stories,
I expect Ko Pin Yi to have a good event.
