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With the World Championships just around the corner, we thought it was the ideal time to highlight snooker as our Sport of the Month.
Snooker is an ideal sport for the in-play connoisseur: one risky pot or one bad shot and the markets can swing dramatically. Despite snooker running alongside the soccer season from August to May, it most certainly does not find the players complaining of tiredness and airing their discontent about the amount of snooker they are being made to play throughout the season! There are only eight major tournaments during the year and with the fields being largely restricted to the same players form can be pretty easy to follow. Getting Started If you are new to snooker or just new to betting on snooker, never fear. Although the research facilities are poor in comparison to most other sports, it is very easy to get up to scratch with current form and thus put you on a level footing with your fellow Betfairians. By far the best place to get quality information about the players and the game in general is www.worldsnooker.com. This is the official website for the professional game and although much of the information is basic – and in many ways not the kind of format you would like for punting analysis – it is easy to navigate. Given some time and effort you can get a comfortable grasp on the current snooker scene. Making It Pay With all the information at hand you can now make an informed bet. Pre-play bets should be placed following an assessment of the player's current form. The Draw: To place a bet on the Outright Winner market, the draw is a vital piece of information that should be analysed thoroughly. Regardless of whether you fancy one of the outsiders or the favourites you need to plot the route your chosen player will potentially have to travel. If you like Ronnie O'Sullivan to secure his third world title, you may wish to avoid ‘tactical' players that Ronnie notoriously struggles to play against, so if his path is likely to involve the likes of Fergal O'Brien or Peter Ebdon it may influence your decision markedly. The same thought would apply if you were looking to back one of the lesser-known players if their path involves players on the rise through the rankings like Ding Junhui or Judd Trump, and you shouldn't be put off backing an outsider as the last two winners of the world title have been little fancied at the start of the tournament. Total dominance of the sport that we witnessed in the 80s and 90s by Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry has not been replicated in the 21st century despite Ronnie's undisputed advantage talent-wise over his opponents; in fact nine different players have made up the last six world finals with only Ronnie, Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon appearing in more than one final in the last six years. IP Betting: Whether you are playing the match odds or the innovative frame-by-frame markets, it is important to be prepared for all possible eventualities and react accordingly. Even the first round of the World Champs is the best of 19 frames so there is no need to overreact to an early frame victory in the Match Odds market. Most of the matches are played over two days and all are played over two sessions so be aware that, as with all sports, form can change dramatically from one day to another. Swings can even occur over the mid-session interval which happens after four frames of each session. Keeping Score: Always try and follow the score during each frame and work as far in advance as possible as you try to evaluate the situation if a player is at the table. Are there any reds safe on the cushion? Will the player need to go into the pack at any point? Are the black and pink in pot-able positions? If the frame is in its advanced stages then consider if there are any colours safe that will still be required to win the frame for the player at the table. You will see quite large movements in the market depending on who is at the table so gaining a clear picture of how the frame may develop is imperative if you are to make it pay. Be aware that using scoreboards to play in-play markets is a dangerous game if the match is being televised, which all World Champs games are. Seeing the scoreboard tick up one point next to a players name means far less to the scoreboard watcher than the TV viewer who can clearly see if the player is now on a colour or will have to play a safety. If you play off scoreboards then take precautions like noting down each red as it is potted so you can work out how many are left on the table at any point and thus what is required for each player to win the frame. A scoreline of 22-6 can be very misleading if you don't know how it has been achieved. Reading the players: Try and keep an eye on the players' body language where possible. Snooker is a sport with a fine skill base and it is very difficult to play the game if you are not in the correct frame (forgive the pun) of mind. Many players over the years have let matches slip away as a result of this, most notably players like Ronnie himself, Michael Holt, the now retired Quentin Hann and even the poker-faced Ding Junhui appeared to give-up during the recent UK final. Give-away signs like slamming the cue down, muttering to themselves, taking on over-ambitious shots and playing their shots very quickly are just some to look out for. With all the information now at hand you can make informed pre-tournament outright picks, play the match odds in-play and even the frame-by-frame markets through your ability to read a game. With five different winners the last five years it may pay to follow that trend again this year, Neil Robertson would certainly be a prime candidate to spring a surprise...but will Ronnie show his class and walk away with the title with consummate ease. Only the 17 days of some of the finest sporting drama around will tell us that. More resources: |
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