This article is part of our Betting Advice series.
Qualifying games for the 2025 PBA Players Championship began on Tuesday with two squads of 86 bowlers each. After 16 games, the field was cut in half, followed by another eight games with the top 43 advancing to the Cashers Round. After another eight games, the top 16 advanced to round robin match play. Ultimately, the top four advanced straight to Sunday's stepladder finals, while seeds 5 through 9 earned a spot on the preliminary show on FS1 on Saturday.
Kevin McCune made the impressive run up the ladder from the ninth position on Saturday to claim the fifth and final spot on Sunday's show. He will face his friend and doubles partner Tim Foy Jr. in the first match. The winner will advance to face third seed Alec Keplinger, followed by Ryan Barnes and Ethan Fiore.
Foy, Keplinger and Barnes all had a strong showing in match play to move up multiple spots. Meanwhile, McCune fell from second place to ninth with a 6-10 record in match play, putting himself in the uncomfortable position of needing to win eight straight matches to claim the title. And then there's Fiore, who had the lead after 16 games and only briefly slipped to second before reclaiming the top spot. Of the five players remaining, McCune is the only one who has a PBA Tour title, so there's a good chance that we will once again see a first-time title winner.
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 11-7 in these articles this season, including a +400 winner.
2025 PBA Players Championship Matchups
Kevin McCune (-9.5) over Tim Foy Jr. (+100)
McCune has the advantage of having bowled on the TV pair on Saturday already. He bowled great in three of the four games, as he shot 240 or better, while none of his opponents topped 210. Even in his one down game, he made good adjustments in the end to strike out for the 190-189 victory over Jason Sterner.
We haven't seen many matches won by fewer than 10 pins in the stepladder finals this season, so I'm comfortable laying the points for a shot at the better payout.
Kevin McCune vs. Tim Foy Jr. under 435.5 (-117)
The four matches that we saw on FS1 on Saturday give us some insight into what to expect on Sunday. And while McCune put up some big scores, his opponents averaged under 195. On Saturday's The House Bowling's Pre-Game Show, all four pros agreed that picking the under at 430.5 would be the best bet, and they were right. On Sunday we get an extra five pins to work with, so we'll take it.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of April 13th 6:00 am EST
2025 PBA Players Championship Best Bet
Ethan Fiore (+110)
Again, Fiore has been leading the tournament nearly from start to finish. Not only did he put up impressive numbers throughout the tournament (leading with a 226.98 average), but he went 11-5 in match play. We're getting good value at +110, considering we just need him to win one match. There will be the extra pressure of competing for his first title, but odds are his opponent will be feeling the same pressure, as McCune is the only past title-winner.
Casual fans will want to back second seed Ryan Barnes, the son of legends Chris and Lynda Barnes and the Rookie of the Year favorite, and it looks like the books have built that into his odds at +250. I'd put his odds closer to +300 (an implied probability of 25%), and considering his performance in two stepladder finals earlier this season, maybe if he had a different last name his odds would be closer to +350. Barnes has games of 133 and 141 in his two television appearances this season.
For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X (Twitter).
2025 PBA Players Championship TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Eastern Time)
Sunday, April 13th
PBA Players Championships Finals (LIVE) on FOX: Noon
