World Championship Snooker Betting Update

After the first round the only casualties in terms of seeds so far has been the less fancied Mark King and Marco Fu who were not expected to trouble the likes of Higgins, Selby and O’Sullivan for the World Championship title. Taking another look at the outright market of the World Championships using the odds from https://www.bwin.com we can assess whether there are any value bets emerging after assessing the early form of the players. Here are my thoughts on which players are the best bets at the moment.

Ronnie O’Sullivan 3/1 – Favourite

At 3/1 it looks value but in Ronnie’s quarter of the draw he faces Mark Williams, the China Open champion in the second round and if successful can look forward to facing either Mark Selby or Stephen Hendry in the quarter-finals. He struggled to get over the winning line against Liang Wenbo but got through this potential banana skin match 10-7 and on the whole looked like he was playing well.

Ronnie does tend to get stronger and his possible opponents before winning the title are Mark Williams, Mark Selby in the quarter-finals, Stephan Maguire or Mark Allen in the semi-finals before facing a finalist that looks likely to be John Higgins, Neil Robertson or Ding Jun-Hui. If Ronnie does win this tournament it will be one of the toughest draws imaginable to do so and at 3/1 I would say that the hill is looking a little steep at the moment.

My Verdict – Wait until after this round and assess his form and the draw.

John Higgins – 11/2 – Joint Second Favourite (with Mark Selby)

Trailing 6-2 against veteran Steve Davis John must win one of the remaining sessions 6-2 you feel in order to have a chance. Anything less than a 5-3 in the afternoon session puts him in real trouble. My feelings are that he will win this match after the early scare as he is one of the players who can find real consistency after a poor start. I doubt Steve Davis can see the form through against John but the crowd will be behind him and anything can happen. On that basis I would say that John is good value at 11/2 as he gets stronger as the tournament progresses.

My Verdict – Back John if you believe he can come back against Davis and go on from there.

Mark Allen – 15/2

Mark Allen leads Mark Davis 11-5 and will be looking to quickly end proceedings in the evening session to book a place in the quarter finals. He will probably play Stephan Maguire who I fancy to beat Graeme Dott in his match and I would give him the advantage over Maguire if he meets him in the quarter-finals too.

Beating Tom Ford then playing Mark Davis is, with respect to both of those players, as easy a draw in the World Championships as you could hope to get. Allen beat Ford 10-4, looks like comfortably beating Davis and has nearly had a 147 and also had the first ever 146 at the Crucible. He looks in top form and will be difficult to beat. I could see him winning the World Championship title this year.

My Verdict – Bet on Allen at 15/2.

Certainly Allen is the best bet as I write this. Mark Selby should also be considered if he does well against Hendry but that is a tough match for any player. Ali Carter is my outside pick for a good run and he is in the right half of the draw with 20/1 seeming value for a former finalist who always seems to finish in the quarter or semi-finals of the ranking tournaments these days. He could easily make the final if he plays well.

Stay tuned for more betting tips in the near future and keep watching the action for information on player form, scores and action from the Crucible at the 2010 World Snooker Championships.

By Malcolm Clarke