Betting Odds for DWTS Season 10

I noticed some odds for the celebrities in season 10 of Dancing with the Stars.  (I think the site was bodog.com).

For recreational purposes only, here are the odds:

Evan Lysacek: 2/1
Nicole Scherzinger: 3/1
Erin Andrews: 7/2
Chad Ochocinco: 9/2
Pamela Anderson: 12/1
Jake Pavelka: 16/1
Kate Gosselin: 16/1
Shannen Doherty: 16/1
Aiden Turner: 18/1
Niecy Nash: 25/1
Buzz Aldrin: 50/1
(For those that don't know, an example is one dollar placed on Jake to win will get you $17 back if he's the champion)

Sometimes bookmakers are the best indicator, and they obviously see this as a four horse race (with due respect to the celebrities, and horses for that matter).

Skaters have always done well (Kristi, Apolo), as have football players (Emitt, Jerry, Jason, Warren).  People who have dancing experience are always there or thereabouts (Mario, Mel B, Mya).

The thing that jumps out to me is how short the odds are on Erin is.  She may turn out to be a marvelous dancer, but nothing in her past shows she has any real dancing experience, she's not a trained athlete and she is popular among a very focused group - people (mainly men) who watch sports (mainly college) on ESPN.  Good luck to Erin, but I think she deserves higher odds than that.

The rest are considered to have no real chance, but you can't really tell until two or three weeks into the competition who the favorites are and who has no chance.


By the way, I'm really not encouraging you to gamble - that's a fools game!

Who's the Favorite to Win Season 10 of dancing with the Stars?

I came across the odds for who will win Season 10 of Dancing with the Stars.  It only covers the professionals of course, as the celebrities have not yet been announced.

It was an interesting list as so much depends on the celebrity and you have to imagine all the professionals have the same partner (gender aside).  Here's the list:

• Derek Hough +600
• Mark Ballas +700
• Julianne Hough +750
• Cheryl Burke +800
• Maksim Chmerkovskiy +800
• Lacey Schwimmer +800
• Chelsea Hightower +1000
• Dmitry Chaplin +1200
• Karina Smirnoff +1400
• Kym Johnson +1400
• Alec Mazo +1600
• Louis van Amstel +1800
• Edyta Sliwinska +1800
• Anna Demidova +2000
• Tony Dovolani +2500
• Anna Trebunskaya +2800
• Jonathan Roberts +3000
• Ashly DelGrosso +3300
• Elena Grinenko +4500
• Inna Brayer +4500
• Corky Ballas +6600

(Example: If you bet $100 on Derek Hough and he wins you get $600 plus the original $100.  If he loses you get nothing!) 
Source: Sportsbooks Offer Early Voting on Season 10 Of Dancing WIth The Stars

Some thoughts:

• Derek and Mark deserve to be at the top given their track record and their popularity
• While she does deserve to be one of the favorites, Julianne has not even confirmed she will participate in season 10!  (Or I've missed something?)
• Given so much depends on the celebrity, I am a little surprised at how wide the range of the odds are.  I don't think Tony, Anna T and Jonathon deserve such long odds...perhaps worth a flutter?

What do you think?