PartyBets.com has closed its market on the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event making Phil Ivey the 22/1 well backed favourite to make the final table.

A PartyBets.com spokesman said: “Betting patterns for the Main Event have been very similar to previous years. If a big name makes the final table it will probably be expensive!”

“Structuring a market on the Main Event is always hard as it is difficult to predict the number of runners and you will never have confirmed entry details. The best a bookmaker can do is give a large sample of players. Even then you have a massive field and it is hard to get enough money in any book to balance it out.”

In other markets, actor James Woods is favourite to be the top celebrity player, Julian Gardner is 18/1 favourite to be top British Isles player and Gus Hansen favourite to be top European player.