This article is part of our Betting Advice series.
The first major title of the season will be awarded this Sunday at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. Following 24 qualifying games and an additional 24 games of match play on likely the most challenging oil patterns the players will face all season, five players remain. Only one will walk away with the coveted green jacket, awarded to the U.S. Open champion.
Andrew Anderson, EJ Tackett, Chris Via and Francois Lavoie had already locked in their spots in the stepladder finals. 2022 U.S. Open champ Anthony Simonsen punched his ticket with a win over Tom Daugherty today. Simonsen isn't the only past U.S. Open champion fighting for the title. In fact, Andrew Anderson, the top seed and 2018 Player of the Year award winner, is the only player remaining who has not captured the prestigious title yet. With just one win standing between him and the title, he enters as the favorite at +110.
I've analyzed every win, spread, total and futures bet available on the BetRivers Sportsbook app and identified my favorite bets heading into Sunday's stepladder finals.
2025 U.S. Open Matchups
Francois Lavoie over Anthony Simonsen (+150)
Lavoie, the 2016 and 2019 U.S. Open champion, entered match play in 16th place then finished an impressive 14-9-1 in match play, averaging over 227 on "Pattern #4," which will also be used on Sunday. Simonsen is understandably the big favorite, considering his more recent PBA success, but at +150 I cannot resist the value I'm getting with Lavoie.
You could also play it more cautious and take Lavoie +9.5 pins at +120 odds, but it's unlikely that the extra pins will matter. In Saturday's four TV matches, for example, every match was decided by 22 or more.
Francois Lavoie and Anthony Simonsen total over 435.5
In Saturday's four televised matchups, only one topped this number, so I'm a bit hesitant with this pick. However, the numbers don't tell the whole story. In the first two matches, Kris Prather built huge early leads and was able to cruise to wins, where the last few frames didn't mean anything to any of the bowlers involved. Landin Jordan is probably the best 18-year-old bowler on the planet, but he fell short on the biggest stage. Multiple players missed easy spares. In other words, they left a lot of pins out there, which I don't expect to be the case on Sunday.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of February 1st, 8:30 pm CST
2025 U.S. Open Winner Best Bet
EJ Tackett +185
Tackett made an even more impressive run to earn his spot than Lavoie, as he used an 18-6 match play record while averaging nearly 233 to move from 22nd in the standings to 2nd. He clearly figured out this unique oil pattern, as he got better and better on it throughout match play, averaging 244 for the last eight games. Anything can happen in one-game matches, but I'll take the back-to-back reigning Player of the Year to add to his already impressive resume with his second U.S. Open title in three years.
For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X (Twitter).
2025 U.S. Open TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Eastern Standard Time)
Sunday, February 2nd
U.S. Open Finals (LIVE on FOX): 4 p.m.
