2023 PBA League: Elias Cup Best Bets, Expert Picks and Predictions

This article is part of our Betting Advice series.

The 2023 PBA season is set to conclude with the PBA League Elias Cup in front of a rowdy crowd at Bayside Bowl – a.k.a "Bowling Heaven" -- in Portland, Maine. You can get in on the action via the BetRivers Sportsbook app.

The entire competition will use the Baker format, where five team members take turns filling frames. The first bowler rolls the first and sixth frames, second bowler rolls the second and seventh frames and so on. Team rosters were built out earlier this summer with each team retaining three players from last year's event and then having a two-round snake draft from a pool of the top 75 players in points during the 2023 season.

Competition begins Saturday, September 23rd. During this round the 10 teams will bowl 10 games of round-robin match play with 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 for a tie and zero for a loss. Results will determine seeding for the next rounds.

Play resumes Sunday with the sixth through tenth qualifiers competing in a stepladder with a series of one-game matches. The last team standing earns the No. 6 seed and advances to the quarterfinals.

On Monday, the No. 4 seed takes on the No. 5 seed, and the No. 3 seed matches up against the No. 6 seed in race-to-two matches. If one team wins both games, they advance. If they split the games there will be a 9th/10th frame roll-off.

In Tuesday's semifinal matches, the winner of the 4/5 match plays the No. 1 seed, and the winner of the 3/6 match will take on the No. 2 seed in race-to-two matches. The winners advance to a best-of-five championship match Wednesday, September 27th.

2023 PBA League Odds

All odds via BetRivers as of 4:00 PM ET Monday.

PBA League Betting Tips

As with handicapping any bowling tournament, the first variable to consider is the oil pattern that will be used. The PBA League will once again be bowled on the 42-foot Mark Roth pattern, which makes last year's results a good place to start with analysis.

In 2022, the Portland Lumberjacks, Milwaukee Pounders, Dallas Strikers and Las Vegas High Rollers were the highest qualifiers, with the Lumberjacks ultimately defeating the Strikers in the finals. It was Portland's third consecutive PBA League championship, and four of five team members return in 2023. So why is Portland such a long shot to win? In one of the more surprising roster moves, they decided to retain injury-plagued Wes Malott over rising star Packy Hanrahan, who was then selected first in the draft by the NYC Kingpins. Graham Fach, who finished 45th in Tour points, is the newcomer on Portland and will be making his first PBA League appearance.

The High Rollers were able to reacquire their two dropped players and will run it back, looking to repeat the success they had in the 2022 qualifying rounds before losing in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Pounders star Sean Rash has battled a degenerative disc disease in 2023, and the Strikers took a step back by losing 2022 Rookie of the Year Santtu Tahvanainen to the Atom Splitters.

It is worth noting that the Mark Roth oil pattern was also one of two patterns used for the Roth/Holman PBA Doubles Championship in May. Hanrahan (NYC Kingpins) and Mitch Hupe (Motown Muscle) paired up to win the doubles event, beating Rash (Milwaukee Pounders) and Matthew Ogle (Dallas Strikers) in the championship match.

2023 PBA League Best Bets

Motown Muscle to Win +300

Eighteen PBA Tour Titles were awarded in 2023. Motown won 10 of them! Led by the top two candidates to win the 2023 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year Award in E.J. Tackett and Anthony Simonsen, it's clear why they are the favorite. Choosing to keep Mitch Hupe over Keven Williams was a questionable decision, leaving the team without a lefty on the roster. However, adding #10 points leader Sam Cooley and veteran Nathan Bohr should be enough to position the Muscle to win it all.

Las Vegas High Rollers to Finish in 1st or 2nd +275

The High Rollers were one of the top qualifiers last year, and they managed to bring back the entire roster for this year's competition. While they may not have a top-20 player, they have a strong, balanced roster with experience together. A.J. Johnson is coming in with some momentum, having just won the Lucky Larsen Masters, beating Simonsen head-to-head in the semifinals and Jesper Svensson (Atom Splitters) in the finals.

Portland Lumberjacks to Win +900

If you're looking for a long shot, you could do worse than the three-time defending champions. Kyle Troup and Kris Prather are still arguably two of the top 10 bowlers in the world. If they would have kept Hanrahan instead of Mallott, they would've likely been in the mix with L.A. X and Motown Muscle as the favorites to win. With four returning players and home-lane advantage, I could see the Lumberjacks making another deep run.

2023 PBA League Elias Cup TV Schedule

All times listed in Eastern.

• Sunday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. — Quarterfinals – FS1
• Monday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. — Quarterfinals – FS1
• Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. — Semifinals – FS1
• Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. — Finals – FS1

Check BowlTV for additional coverage.