The first tournament of the season has brought some big scores on the new Cheetah oil pattern. Nine different bowlers recorded one perfect game, while Cameron Crowe and Bill O'Neill had two each. Michael Davidson, who had to qualify for the tournament through the 7-game pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on Monday, set a new 12-game PBA record by shooting 3,086 (257.17 average) on Tuesday.
To make the cut to the top 24, players needed to average over 233. A.J. Johnson was the last above the cutline and made the most of the opportunity by winning best-of-7 series against Chris Via, Andrew Anderson and Davidson to claim the fourth seed in tonight's stepladder finals. Jakob Butturff, who entered as a +3300 longshot to win, punched his ticket to the championship match by earning the top seed. Nick Pate, Graham Fach and Davidson will also get their shot at winning the season's first title.
I've analyzed every win, spread, total and futures bet available on the BetRivers Sportsbook app and identified my favorite bets heading into tonight's stepladder finals.
2025 PBA Delaware Classic Matchups
Michael Davidson over A.J. Johnson (+115)
The first match of the night will feature a rematch between the no. 1 seed and no. 24 seed from qualifying. In match play, Johnson topped Davidson in game 7 to claim the no. 4 seed on the show, knocking Davidson from the top seed to the no. 5 seed. Johnson is favored as the more experienced player, but Davidson is having a special week and is the better value at +115. Davidson was rolling through the competition as the top qualifier after 18 games and then a quick 4-1 series win over Brandon Runk. He was up 3-1 on Johnson before Johnson put together three straight wins.
If you want to side with A.J. Johnson, you should be safe to bet the -9.5 spread (-122) rather than the moneyline (-150). In 12 games of match play, Davidson didn't have a single game decided by less than 15.
Michael Davidson vs. A.J. Johnson total under 465.5
I've already addressed how high the scoring has been this week, and this match features the player who literally broke a scoring record. However, we see it over and over again -- the stepladder scoring rarely matches the qualifying and match play scoring. There's a chance that one player tops 260, almost guaranteeing the over, but I think it's more likely that the high score lands in the 230s, leading to the under.
Pair Davidson to win and the under for a nice +325 parlay.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of January 25th 11 am CST
2025 PBA Delaware Classic Winner Best Bet
Graham Fach +400
With the no. 2 seed, Nick Pate at +400 is the best value, but I don't see him winning two high-pressure matchups on national television. I'll take my chances with Fach, who had arguably the most dominant run through match play with 4-1 wins over the no. 2 and no. 7 qualifiers with six games of 255 or better.
For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X (Twitter).
2025 PBA Delaware Classic TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Eastern Standard Time)
Saturday, January 25th
PBA Delaware Classic Finals (LIVE on FS1): 5 p.m.
