Sportsbook.com is usually the first online sportsbook to post the odds for the Time Magazine “Person of the Year” award and this year is no different. According to the posted odds, Google Chairman and CEO, Eric Schmidt is most likely to grace the cover of the 79th Time Magazine special Christmas issue after Bill Gates’ cover appearance last year.

Schmidt is the outright favorite at the moment with 9-2 odds followed by former Vice President Al Gore, who surprisingly stepped up to the head of the race as an environmentalist dealing with global warning concerns, at 5-1 odds. Completing the top three candidates is Apple computer CEO, Steve Jobs, with 7-1 odds.

There are also some controversial political leaders in the list. North Korea’s Kim Jong-II, Hamas leader Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah received respectable 10-1 odds while Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who comes in as a 20-1 long shot.