'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Spoilers: Vegas Odds Reveal Which Character Wins

Game of Thrones fans have spent 63 and a half hours watching the many different powers of Westeros fight for control of the Iron Throne. This April, GoT Season 8 will finally reveal who succeeds and get to place their butt on what I can only imagine is a pretty uncomfortable sword-based chair, but who will it be?

Beneath the surface of the internet, there’s an entire community of online gamblers who have sunk real money into their predictions. The results of these Vegas odds boards may tell us more about the likely outcome of the show than any fan theory could.

That’s right. Betting isn’t just for sports anymore. You can bet on most anything you’re interested in. Who is going to win Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards? (Odds were, accurately, in Regina King’s favor). Who is going to play the next James Bond? (Currently, the most money is behind Tom Hiddleston). For the world’s favorite television show, Game of Thrones, there are a couple of questions people are betting on, but the biggest by far is, “Who is going to claim the iron throne?”

Game of Thrones’ audience are no strangers to fan theories. No stone goes unturned when it comes to predicting the outcome of this show. Some are truly convinced that they know exactly what’s going to happen, but, it’s a whole different game when you have to put real money on the line based on these convictions.

Sure, it’s a cool theory that Gendry, Robert Baratheon’s bastard son, will take the throne from Cersei, but are you willing to stake your paycheck on it? What people talk about at parties and what people truly believe will happen are very different things.

Dissecting these Vegas betting odds is one method of seeing where people’s hearts truly lie. It’s an interesting way to gauge what an outcome is most likely going to be. It strips away what people want to see — the theories that are coolest on paper — and leaves behind only what we truly believe will happen.

Here’s a quick explanation of how these types of Vegas betting lines work:

Betting lines are based on a spread, and look like a number with either a + or - before it. Positive lines are based on a 100 dollar bet, and they represent how much money you would net gain on that bet. So +200 means that you would make 200 dollars in profit. The higher the number, the more money you make, but the less likely it is to win.

Negative lines represent the frontrunner. A lot of people are betting on this outcome. These odds are based on how much money you would have to bet in order to win 100 dollars. -250 means you would have to make a bet of $250 to make $100. Negative lines means it’s the likely bet, smaller positive lines means there’s a fair chance, and large positive odds means it’s a longshot. 

Here are the current odds for who takes the Iron Thrones at the end of Game of Thrones Season 8:

The results are fascinating. For many, it might seem odd to see Bran leading the pack as the most likely ruler of Westeros, but here he is comfortably in the lead, with the largest percentage of bets in his favor. Jon or Daenerys may be the obvious choices, but both characters will net you more money than Bran. How? Well, apparently these people have done their fair share of internet research. Bran, according to many online theories and fans of the book, is going to end up having a significant impact on the resolution of this series. His ability to warg into others and manipulate the past makes him almost infinitely more powerful than any other candidate. Some even believe that he will eventually become the Night King. These, combined with something that can only be described as a gut feeling, have led many to put their hard-earned money on the line.

Season 8 of Game of Thrones begins April 14. After all six episodes have aired, you may find yourself a little bit richer.