This article is part of our Betting Advice series.
The 2024 USBC Masters began with 465 competitors bowling 15 games of qualifying over three days. The top 64 scorers earned their spots into a double-elimination bracket -- a bracket that was "busted" faster than your NCAA tournament bracket. In typical March Madness fashion, we saw big comebacks (Francois Lavoie over Andrew Anderson), buzzer-beaters (16 matches decided by 10 pins or fewer) and a great Cinderella story (DeeRonn Booker).
All the buzz going into Sunday's stepladder finals seems to be focused on giant killer and no. 1 seed Booker, who was a big underdog in each match throughout the tournament, pulling off massive upsets over Anthony Simonsen, E.J. Tackett and Sam Cooley, among others. However, the betting favorite is four-time Masters champion and no. 3 seed Jason Belmonte. Patrick Dombrowski, Sam Cooley and Richie Teece round out the field for Sunday's event on FOX.
The BetRivers Sportsbook app offers a variety of ways to get in on the action, and we've been sharing picks and betting trends on X (@RotoWireBowling & @TheSpatula300) all week. With one more chance to cash in, let's dive into our picks for Sunday's show.
USBC Masters Predictions
Exact Finishing Order: 1. Booker, 2. Dombrowski, 3. Cooley, 4. Belmonte 5. Teece (+2000)
The odds forecast an opening match win for Cooley, followed by a run to the title for Belmonte. But something has been a little bit "off" about Belmo's game this year, and I'm looking for a big payout. So I'll take Cooley, who finished highest in qualifying out of the remaining bowlers, to knock off Teece and Belmonte before the seeding holds true with a win for Dombrowski followed by a title win for Booker.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of March 31st 10:15 am CST
USBC Masters Best Bets
DeeRonn Booker to Win (+190)
We're playing the number here. It's rare to see the top seed come in as high as Booker's opening line of +160. As of Sunday morning, the number is up to +190. It's even rarer that the no. 3 seed is the favorite. But it's also unusual to have a +100000 longshot rise to become the top seed in a major tournament.
Booker said that heading into his match with E.J. Tackett he had the mindset that he'd have to shoot a perfect 900 series to win. He proceeded to start the match with games of 279 and 300. You might be worried that he'll be overwhelmed by the bright lights of national television, but nothing has rattled him up to this point.
Parlay: Sam Cooley over Richie Teece and under 440.5 total (+200)
Cooley may finally be turning the corner after a poor start to the season. He put up huge scores through qualifying and the first four rounds of bracket play before slowing down the last few rounds. Now the oddsmakers are giving him a 62% implied probability to beat Teece. Pair that with a trend of low-scoring TV matches to get a nice +200 two-leg parlay. It's a small sample size, but another factor pointing to the under is that during qualifying Teece shot 210 and Cooley shot 224 on the TV pair (17-18).
2024 USBC Masters TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Pacific Time)
Sunday, March 31st
USBC Masters Stepladder Finals (LIVE on FOX): 10:30 AM
