Beyond simply picking who the next pope will be, players and gamblers also can guess how many tries it will take the cardinals to choose the leader, which day of the week he’ll be elected, what new name he will decide on, or where his priorities will land on the progressive-conservative scale.

How long will the upcoming papal conclave take? Likely not that long, according to one Cardinal, who is personally hoping for somebody similar to Pope Francis

At private dinners and at formal gatherings of cardinals, talk among church leaders of who will next lead the church has certainly already begun.