Survivor season 40 aka Winners at War is entering the highly anticipated merge after shaking off the likable Yul on Wednesday. This is the moment everyone has been waiting for, and when Vegas sportsbooks begin to take notice and offer actionable odds of the event. The old guard hasn’t fared well so far, with all of the older cast being relegated to the Edge of Extinction. But with more twists and turns than any season prior anything can happen which makes this season the most exciting one to bet on yet. Who will win? Let’s look at the favorites, along with a pair of sleepers and a long shot that could pay some serious dividends.
Anthony (Tony) Vlachos was the $1 million winner of Survivor: Cagayan (Season 28) and is a frontrunner at the sportsbook to win Winners at War. His goofball antics may rub some the wrong way but others find him entertaining which can help with the social game aspects He is also a force to be reckoned with when it comes to both reward and immunity challenges. But there’s another reason that Vegas likes this the Jersey boy – rumors. There’s a rumor floating around that the final 3 will consist of two females and one male whose name begins with a T. Granted, that may refer to Tyson Apostol, or the rumor is nothing more than just that. Water cooler speculation aside, Tony is a very legitimate contender.
Sophie isn’t the most exciting of players. She’s one of those who you completely forget about until the camera pans across her face. But that is a strategy in itself. She doesn’t feel like a threat, which makes her a threat. Plus, she has an immunity idol in her pocket and has a fairly strong alliance which will likely maintain going into the merge. Watch out for this one.
It seems like a bad guy is due for another Survivor win, and this player fits the category well. Donald Glover doppelganger Wendell Holland looked like he was on the chopping block on Wednesday March 25 but his ex-girlfriend Michele Fitzgerald (winner of Season 28) saved his pompous butt and now he’ll enter the merge in search of a stable alliance. But Fitzgerald (overvalued at +280) will remain to be the key to his success, as despite how badly he treats her, she clearly still has feelings for him. Armed with a new merge alliance and Fitzgerald in his back pocket throughout Holland has good odds to make it to the finale, and win.
Sure, the odds of someone making it from the Edge of Extinction to win are long, especially since it’s been done before (by Chris Underwood, Season 38) which effectively reduces the chances that it will happen again. But this season gives unprecedented opportunity to come back from the dead and if anyone can do it, it’s Boston Rob. Fans wants it, we want it, and with odds set at +1500 Mariano makes for a high-value sleeper that bettors love.
Likable enough to score a great post-merge alliance and athletic enough to excel in future immunity challenges, the winner of Survivor: Cambodia, Jeremy Collins, is a high-value sleeper. So far Collins hasn’t bothered a soul and while physically imposing he manages to keep himself from being a target. He’ll go far, and may even bank $2 million.
Adam has better odds to win than sleeper Jeremy Collins (+2000) but the sportsbook has it reversed. Still, Klein is the kind of player that can fall ass backward into the final four. He has no game, no solid alliances, and no real idea of what he’s doing at any given moment. And yet some how he was the winner of Survivor Season 33 and you just get a feeling that he’ll make it further in 40 by seeming like a harmless albeit irritating kid brother. Strategy or not, it has worked and can work again.
Writer’s Prediction
We like the sleeper on his one. Boston Rob makes his way back from the Edge of Extinction with a big bold move to solidify his place as the best Survivor player of all-time.
