Calcutta Horse Race Odds

Betting is now closed on the 2026 Calcutta! At the bottom are the final odds. Thanks to my AI quant I have a little write up that explains how we got here:

Based on the parimutuel betting action across the Win ($730), Place ($801), and Show ($524) pools totaling $2,055, clear betting patterns, sharp money moves, and market disagreements with the initial odds emerge:

1. The Heavy Public & Sharp Favorites (Top of the Board)

• Team 23 (Brett Notvedt + Pete Crane) is the runaway Market Darling:
  • Win Pool: Took $79.00 (highest in the entire field; ~10.8% of the win pool).
  • What drove it: Heavy insider backing. Pete Crane dropped a massive personal ticket ($50 Win / $25 Place / $25 Show = $100 total), and partner Brett Notvedt added another $15 Win bet, with Steve Couture chipping in $10 Win. The league clearly views this pairing as far more dangerous than their baseline odds suggested.
• Team 11 (Ben Zurn + Kevin Hearnen) is backed by the largest single whale bet:
  • Win Pool: $73.00 (2nd highest), Place: $62.00 (highest in the field).
  • What drove it: Kevin Hearnen laid down the single largest personal bet of the auction: $50 Win / $50 Place ($100 total) on his own team. Combined with side action from Tony Nelson and Steve Couture, this team has massive self-confidence and market respect.
• Team 1 (Ken Hanson + Patrick Hoffman) commands the most total money in the room:
  • Total Across Pools: $152.00 ($59 Win, $52 Place, $41 Show) — the highest aggregate total of any team.
  • What drove it: Wide broad-market respect. Ken Hanson backed the team with a $20 across-the-board ($60 total) bet, Val Nde threw in a $15 across-the-board ($45 total) bet, plus contributions from Luke Rajkowski and Patrick Hoffman. The room treats them as the safest, most reliable two-way contender.

2. High-Respect Value Teams

• Team 10 (Kevin Monogue + Matt Cook):
  • Drew $49 Win / $34 Place / $20 Show ($103 total). They attracted diverse action from teammates and competitors alike (Brett Notvedt, Jeff Martin, Marty Mangold, Tony Nelson), confirming the field views their low bad-hole count and #3 Bogey Avoidance as genuine contenders.
• Team 6 (Gerald Meier + Roger Hamm) & Team 19 (Larry Jocelyn + Richard Brynteson):
  • Both drew balanced, heavy action (~$120–$126 total each). Brynteson’s scratch-level consistency makes Team 19 an automatic target across all pools, while Roger Hamm’s 3 tournament wins drew steady Win/Place backing from Jeff Martin, Marty Mangold, and Richard Courtney.
• Team 7 (Brian Beitlich + Daniel Grubb):
  • Took $37 Win / $47 Place / $37 Show ($121 total). Grubb put in $10 across the board, Val Nde added $15 across the board, and Chuck Bernardy/Kevin Monogue added support. The room caught on to Grubb’s 64.2% bogey avoidance.

3. The Biggest Market Discrepancies & Surprises

• Team 21 (John Von Eschen + Steve Shellenbaum) – The “Show” Pool Monopoly:
  • Only received $24 Win and $31 Place, but received a staggering $68 in the Show pool (13% of the entire show pool).
  • Why: Mark Lange dropped a huge $50 straight Show bet on them. Bettors view Von Eschen and Shellenbaum as an absolute lock to finish in the top 3, even if people spread their outright Win bets elsewhere.
• Team 3 (Luke Rajkowski + Michael Tanaka) – The “Place” Heavyweight:
  • Drew $49 in the Place pool vs only $19 in Win. Luke Rajkowski personally bet $20 Place, and Richard Courtney put down $10 across the board. The room loves their gross ball-striking to reach the podium, but had hesitation on them closing out an outright win over higher-handicap squads.
• Team 29 (Corey Smith + Rick Monro) – Immediate Respect as New Additions:
  • Despite being added late, they pulled in $29 Win / $32 Place / $21 Show ($82 total) with multi-pool bets from Richard Courtney ($10 across), Val Nde ($10 across), and Tony Nelson. The field immediately recognized Corey Smith’s #2 tournament WNL scoring rate.

4. Cold Board / Extreme Longshots (Teams the League Faded)

Several teams barely saw any action beyond table-wide “carpet-bomb” bets (like Larry Jocelyn betting $10 Place on every team or Stan Hop/Ramiro Sifuentes betting $1 across the board):

• Team 12 (Dave Schoeller + Tom Bischel): Only $5 Win (longest implied odds on the board at 145/1). The room showed significant skepticism about converting their high handicap into net wins.
• Team 18 (Darin Allen + Michael Ryan): Only $7 Win (103/1). Despite Ryan being one of the best gross players in the league, the room faded Allen’s 55th-ranked WNL form.
• Teams 2, 4, 8, and 9: All sitting at $8 Win (~90/1). The field showed little interest in backing these duos to win outright, viewing them strictly as place/show lottery tickets.

5. Bettor Tendencies & Table Dynamics

• The Self-Belief “All-In” Bettors:
  • Pete Crane & Kevin Hearnen showed supreme confidence in their own teams, each dropping $100 tickets on themselves (Team 23 and Team 11).
  • Ken Hanson backed Team 1 with $60 across the board.
  • Martin Peyer put $15 across the board on his own squad (Team 28).
• The Portfolio Spreaders:
  • Larry Jocelyn bought a $10 Place ticket on every single team in the tournament ($290 invested in Place), virtually guaranteeing he cashes second-place finishes across the board.
  • Stan Hop and Ramiro Sifuentes systematically spread small $1 bets across almost the entire field.
  • Richard Courtney and Jeff Martin acted as targeted syndicates, placing $10 across-the-board bets exclusively on high-upside contenders (Teams 3, 6, 10, 19, 21, 29).

Summary Hierarchy According to the Money:

1. Tier 1 (Heavy Favorites): Team 23 (Notvedt/Crane), Team 11 (Zurn/Hearnen), Team 1 (Hanson/Hoffman).
2. Tier 2 (Respected Contenders): Team 19 (Jocelyn/Brynteson), Team 6 (Meier/Hamm), Team 10 (Monogue/Cook), Team 7 (Beitlich/Grubb), Team 21 (Von Eschen/Shellenbaum).
3. Tier 3 (Dangerous Podiums): Team 3 (Rajkowski/Tanaka), Team 29 (Smith/Monro), Team 5 (Gomez/Syverson).
4. Faded by Field: Teams 2, 8, 9, 12, 13, 18.