Snooker: German Masters

[kevshat]

The second new snooker event in the space of a week begins on Wednesday. Will be interesting to see how this pans out as it looks like a normal ranking event format but played out over 5 days as opposed to 7 so players will be playing more than once a day on occasions. As ever with these ranking events, Eurosport have it covered :ok.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters I'm starting early:lol. Going to take a few outsiders here as I think there are doubts aplenty surrounding the market leaders. J.Trump to win German Masters, 0.5pts EW @ 66/1 Betfred (1/2 odds 1-2) J.Trump to win 2nd quarter, 1pt @ 9/1 Betfred I'll stick with Judd again after taking him in the shootout. He played some decent stuff this weekend before losing to finalist Rob Milkins who potted a brilliant red to nose in front. What appeals to me this week is his ability to start quick as well as a draw I really like the look of. Hendry first up and, in the form he's in, Judd should take that out comfortably before facing Selby most likely next. For me, the Jester looked out of sorts this weekend despite getting to the last 16, and that follows a first round defeat at the Masters. If I'm honest, I think Higginson is the biggest danger to him winning the quarter. He has form too overseas, winning one of the EPTC events earlier this season so at a price that's way too big for a lad with his ability, I'll take the young gun to prevail here. M.Williams to win German Masters, 1pt EW @ 14/1 Betfred (1/2 odds 1-2) Sticking with the left handers, I'll have a bit of Mark J at 14's. Part of this bet is based on the price, the standout value amongst the favourites and the fact that Ronnie is the biggest threat in his quarter, yet I'm not sure what frame of mind he'll be in. I'm pretty sure Ronnie thought he was nailed on for the shootout so losing in the semi to a guy ranked 33 will have been a shock. In the last 3 major events, Williams has lost to the eventual winner (Ding in the Masters, Higgins in the final of the UK and Robbo in the World Open). That proves to me he's still in cracking form. I'm not concerned he only played once at the Shootout, losing to Higgins is nothing to be ashamed of. Should have a comfortable opener against, most likely, Anthony McGill and then it's Ronnie. If, as I suspect, the Rocket turns up in his recent disinterested manner, then Williams' price will look huge. R.Day to win German Masters, 0.5pts EW @ 66/1 Betfred (1/2 odds 1-2) R.Day to win 4th quarter, 1pt @ 12/1 Boylesports I'm not sure whether I've gone mad or not but I like the look of Ryan Day for this event. Murphy, Allen, Higgins, Ronnie & Robbo are the most likely opponents in his quest for the crown but I'm convinced this event will be full of shocks. Day comes here in really good form and he looks as though he's regaining the form that took him to number 5 in the world not too long ago. Edged out 9-8 to slow starter Murphy in the UK, this shorter format will suit Day in the first round rematch, and qualified for this with a whitewash over the Nugget. Beat Mark Allen and Graeme Dott in the Shootout so definitely cueing well. Saves his best for events overseas too so this could just suit him and I'll hope we can get a run for our money this week.

[Boycie]

Re: Snooker: German Masters It's nice to see snooker thread again :) I would like to know what do you expect from this tournament as this one is brand new as ranking event, and with fact that there will be a lot of snooker on schedule in following weeks/months I'm wondering how serious will players approach to this one. At first sight money prizes are (http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/GermanMastersArticle/0,,13165~2241553,00.html) quite big here but Wales (main tournament) is coming already on 14th of February. I suppose that one is much "important" to players but I'm quite new one in this, and I'm not sure what to expect from big names in first rounds, especially because some of them will play against relatively weaker opponents.. Good luck with bets :hope

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters

It's nice to see snooker thread again :) I would like to know what do you expect from this tournament as this one is brand new as ranking event, and with fact that there will be a lot of snooker on schedule in following weeks/months I'm wondering how serious will players approach to this one. At first sight money prizes are (http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/GermanMastersArticle/0,,13165~2241553,00.html) quite big here but Wales (main tournament) is coming already on 14th of February. I suppose that one is much "important" to players but I'm quite new one in this, and I'm not sure what to expect from big names in first rounds, especially because some of them will play against relatively weaker opponents.. Good luck with bets :hope

Personally, I think there will be a few 'shocks' this week. Forget the fact there's a lot of events, it's more to do with the travel factor. There always seems to be a few more odd results when snooker is played on foreign soil. If you're asking from a perspective of backing the shorties, I'd urge extreme caution. The gap now between the top players is narrowing all the time in my opinion.

[Boycie]

Re: Snooker: German Masters I notice already that EPTC events brings lower ranked players wining on almost daily basis, that's why I'm asking this. Some of players are already banned for that kind of betting (e.g. Ronnie, Hendry, Carter...) and that saved me some money but still this is a good sport to back favorites when their concentration and motivation is on highest level. Of course, regardless of used strategies this is most important factor in betting. At least for me. Next thing I like here is quite long format and big prizes although for biggest names sometimes that's not enough to force best performances. Thanks anyway, probably I will not put my previews till next season until I learn something more from you veterans :clap p.s. What do you think about Shoot-out idea, from what I've seen I hope it will stay only idea, didn't like dart atmosphere around table to much..

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Not really sure what to expect this week but I suspect we will see some surprises. 1.5pts ew M.Selby to win German Masters 10/1 Stan James (1/2 1,2) I think it's fair to say for someone of Mark Selby's undoubted class his trophy cabinet is far too empty in terms of ranking event successes with just a sole Welsh Open win to his name. It's time he put that right and I think he can begin that with a decent run here. He's been handed a very tidy draw here with Ding only a real threat to a semi final spot. He's in the top half of the draw which is where you want to be with the bottom half littered with big names. Selby hasn't had a great season so far but with Sheffield beginning to appear on the horizon he will want to win a few matches to get his form up for that. I would say he's got more motivation to do well here than some of the top names having not done too well in the ranking events so far so at 10/1 I'll take the Jester to be the one laughing at the end of the week. 1pt ew M.King to win German Masters 100/1 Blue Square (1/2 1,2) 1pt M.King to win the 4th Quarter 16/1 Boylesports Mark King is a very big price here I think even though he's firmly sandwiched in the tough section of the draw. The Essex cueist is playing about as well as I've ever seen him play at the minute. He played really top snooker against Mark Selby at the Masters before illness contributed to a shocker against Jamie Cope. He almost won a group in the Championship League and then looked up there with the best of them in the Shootout last weekend. Having beaten Selby in Wembley he'll know he can beat anyone and although the draw is not good reading to begin with, if he can bring the game he's had for the last month to Germany then I think he can do some damage. Hopefully the draw will open up a bit and if it does 100/1 outright and 16/1 for his quarter will become big prices by the weekend. 2pts G.Dott to win 1st Quarter 4/1 Betfred Graeme Dott played well at Wembley and in the UK Championship prior to that and he has a nice enough draw here. You would think the world champion Neil Robertson is his biggest danger but if he's on form Dott can win that contest. Dott beat Higgins at the Masters and couldn't do a lot about running into Ding in the quarters. Ding was majestic in that match and would've beaten anyone that afternoon. Dott only lost in a last frame decider to Higgins in Telford but Higgins won that week so there's no shame in that. Having beaten Higgins at Wembley he knows he can beat anyone and if it falls into place this week we could easily be collecting here come Saturday tea time.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Nothing for me from the morning matches tomorrow but I'll take one now from the afternoon starts. A.Higginson to beat P.Ebdon, 4pts @ Evs Betfred Every time I see Andrew Higginson, he impresses me and I think he's getting better all the time. Has made the final stages of each of the 4 ranking events (including this one) and what's more, he's progressed to the last 16 of each of them, disposing of Ryan Day, Marco Fu & todays opponent, Ebbo, in the process. Add to that, he's reached the semis of 2 PTC events, he remains in great form. In the UK, he took out Ebdon 9-7 so has the edge and didn't disgrace himself going down 9-5 to Robbo in the last 16 having been 7-0 down. In those first 7 frames, Robbo hit 7 50's including 2 tons but Higginson hit back in style winning 5 of the next 6 frames, with breaks of 110,75,86,107 & 60. In anyone's book, that's top snooker. Ebdon, on the other hand, hasn't broken any records despite a decent start to the season beating Robbo in Shanghai and reaching the semis of the World Open. Since then though, has reached 1 PTC quarter final, lost in the first round of the UK, lost in the last 8 to Fu at the Masters 6-0 and crashed out to the Nugget in the 1st round at the Shootout. Ebbo is a tough nut to crack but I think Higginson is in enough form to prevail here, and represents the value at Evs.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters 2nd bet from the afternoon. M.Selby (-2.5 frames) to beat N.Bond, 3pts @ 11/10 Boylesports On the face of it, this may look a silly bet taking on the surprise Shootout winner but I'm pretty sure his exertions of the weekend will have taken its toll. Bond stayed in Blackpool an extra day to get drunk and to have fun with a donkey (maybe!), meaning he's been late out to Germany. From what I've heard, he was very poor tonight and only won 5-2 because his opponent was bloody terrible. Both players gave chance after chance, and that sort of snooker will be punished heavily by Mark Selby. As Kev says in his outright post, Selby is a disappointment in the ranking events for a lad with so much talent but will aim to put that right. Was clearly out of sorts in the Masters but looked in ok nick at the weekend until running into a Ronnie ton. In strange set ups (here, there are 5 tables without partitions), I always feel his pool background is a plus. Whether Nigel will be fully wound up for this, I'm not sure so soon after his seaside exertions so I'll take the odds against on the Jester winning 5-2 or better.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Heavy day of snooker on Thursday with 15 matches being played. 4pts D.Junhui vs M.Stevens - Over 4.5 50+ breaks 8/11 Paddy Power The tables out in Germany look to be playing ok. Joe Swail was on a 147 and missed on 112 so that bodes well for these two heavy scorers. We saw the damage Ding can do at the Masters and Stevens was in excellent break building form at Crondon Park last week, making 10 50's and 3 tons in his group which he topped the table in. So both men will be coming here in pretty decent touch. You would think two players in decent form would yield 8 frames if not the full 9 but the way they score this total could be covered in as few as 6 frames. Both men love to get in the balls and get stuck in and build high breaks so with that in mind I'm happy to take the overs here. 3pts S.Hendry to beat J.Trump 5/4 Sportingbet Stephen Hendry comes into this event and the Welsh Open in two weeks time knowing he has to win some matches to boost his ranking a bit because it's only going in one direction - down. He's got a more than fair chance here as I still think Judd lacks consistency in his game. He's got to all 3 venues so far but has only won one match when he's got there and that was against Cope in the UK when he lost in the following round to Mark Joyce. For whatever reason for a kid of his talent he doesn't get the results he should when he gets to the ranking event venues themselves. Hendry got a bit of match practice in the Championship League last week and with the time for push to come to shove and wins becoming vital I'll take Hendry to show he's still good under pressure and win this one in a match he has every chance in. 4pts A.Higginson to beat P.Ebdon Evs Betfred There isn't a great deal I can add to Russ' post on this match really. I think Higginson is a good up and coming player in the game who can score pretty heavily when he gets going as Neil Robertson found out in the UK as Russ said. Having been to a ranking event final, these first round encounters hold no fears for Higginson who can let it all go. Ebdon is under pressure for wins and he's often a slow starter in competitions. When he does win early round matches it's as much down to poor play from his opponent - such as Carter in the Masters - as it is his own good work. I'm a big believer Ebdon prefers the longer matches and tournaments anyway so at Evs I'll take Higginson here. 4pts J.Cope to beat J.Perry 5/6 Totesport This is the first venue Joe Perry has qualified for this season. His game has really gone downhill and although he beat McManus to get here he's probably going to have to play well to beat a guy who holds a 4-1 winning record over him. I didn't think Cope played as well as he can in the Masters but he made the semi finals which is no mean effort at a tournament as prestigious as that one. He also made the semi finals in Shanghai at the start of the season and he tends to go well overseas having made the China Open final a few years ago. Perry is steady but rarely spectacular whereas Cope has a gear which Perry doesn't have. If he finds that gear this evening I would expect a comfortable win for the Shotgun. 3pts S.Lee to beat A.Carter 11/8 William Hill The Captain's season has encountered a bit of turbulence recently in the big events. He has barely shown up at the last two majors since winning in Shanghai at the beginning of the season. A defeat to Mark Joyce in the UK Championship was followed up with a very disappointing defeat and performance against Peter Ebdon in the Masters. Away from the majors he's going ok but there's something about these big events all of a sudden that Carter isn't performing. Stephen Lee is performing much better than his results suggest. In the UK Championship he played Higgins in the opening round and although he lost he put in a pair of 137's and 4 or 5 more 50 breaks and really looked like the Stephen Lee who was in the world's top 5 a few years ago. He's always had a gorgeous cue action and when that is on song he can still compete with any of them. He looked ok in the Shootout at the weekend beating Michael Holt in the opener before standing and watching a 92 from Bond in the last 32. He's playing well though is Lee and given the respective form of the two players I think he offers a fair bit of value here at 11/8.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters 1 more very quick bet from the afternoon session. T.Thirapongaiboon (+2.5 frames) to beat G.Dott, 3pts @ 5/6 Betfred The 17yo Thai Torpedo is a player going places and I really fancy him to take 3 frames off Dott here. The key to this match is the speed and openness both play with, so there are likely to be chances aplenty for both of them to win frames. Whilst I think the class of the Scot will be more than enough, I do see this one being close enough for the kid to get in amongst the balls and nick 3. In recent qualifiers, I've noticed the qualifiers impressive results, none more so that in qualifying for this. He beat Pat Wallace 5-0, Alfie Burden 5-1 and Barry Hawkins 5-2. Now, I've seen enough of those 3 players to suggest that dropping just 3 frames there is impressive. He also has match table experience having played last night and winning 5-3. Should be a whirlwind of a match and I'll take this to go 8 frames or more.

[smokeit34]

Re: Snooker: German Masters selby dott allen all 3 to win todays games pays just over evens with Ladbrokes cant see any of the 3 getting beat today looks a very good bet :hope

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters

selby dott allen all 3 to win todays games pays just over evens with Ladbrokes cant see any of the 3 getting beat today looks a very good bet :hope

Welcome. However, you need to provide reasoning or else tips will be deleted. Thanks:ok

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters 2 for me tonight. S.Lee to hit highest break v A.Carter, 4pts @ 5/4 SportingBet As Kev eludes too above, Lee is in great form at present and is cueing as well as ever whilst the Captain doesn't look totally at ease since his Shanghai win. I'm honestly not sure which way this match will go so I'm having a pop at the high break. Lee cues so well that, when in amongst the balls, he's dangerous and is always liable to hit a big century. A pair of 137's in a 9-6 defeat to Higgins at the UK adds weight to that. Carter, meanwhile, is looking vulnerable when in amongst the balls and he seems to have adopted the Mark Williams attitude of 'score enough to secure the frame'. Managed a high break of 64 in the UK and 83 in the Masters, which I don't see being enough against heavy scorer Stephen Lee. With all that said, I'll take the odds against on Lee here. R.Walden v J.Lisowski, over 7 frames, 3pts @ 10/11 Bet365 This should be a cracker of a match with the up & coming Lisowski taking on another excellent young player in Ricky Walden. I'm not sure how Lisowski will cope with the pressure of a first round ranking event match but he's done very well to get this far, beating Mike Dunn & Marcus Campbell along the way, and disposing of the talented 15yo Luca Brecel last night. Walden, for me, flatters to deceive but can be an excellent player on his day. Went down 9-6 to Selby at the UK having hit the front early but crashed in the opening round of the Shootout. In their 1 previous meeting, Lisowski won 4-0 at one of the PTC events. That will give him confidence but I don't see Ricky giving in like that. This one is likely to be close in a high quality encounter, so I'll take the overs in a match I need to end 5-3 or closer.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Ok yesterday was a shambles of a day despite it's good start. King's annoying defeat this morning - annoying from the point of view that had he won with Higgins pulling out he'd be in a QF against Joe Swail :wall - means I'm -14.25pts. So it's time to get this thing nailed I think ;). 2 for tonight. 4pts M.Williams (-1.5 frames) to beat D.Dale 8/11 Bet365 Dominic Dale has beaten Williams in 3 of their last four battles but it must be said the Welsh potting machine was in his dry spell then. Now that he's out of this I expect the Spaceman to be sent back home this evening. Mark J had a warm up match on the tables this morning which will have sharpened him up nicely for this match. Dale is yet to play in the tournament so he might need a frame or two to find his feet on this ultra quick TV table. By then Williams could be out of sight really. I expect Williams to win this and he should win it a shade cosily. I nearly took the -2.5 but given the losses I've been hit with this week so far I've decided to play it a bit safer and take the former world champion to win this no worse than 5-3. 3pts R.Walden vs S.Maguire - Over 7.5 frames 5/6 Paddy Power These two players are fairly evenly matched. Both are pretty strong break builders and both are what I would call competent in the safety department without being special. Both like to knock in the long balls and go from there and so I think that will lead to a to and fro match this evening. These two have met twice before with a win for each player and both matches were 5-3. Both looked ok in their opening matches in the tournament and recently neither have won matches very comfortably. I think this will be quite tight and I wouldn't be surprised to see a 9th frame here but I do think whoever wins it will win it 5-3 or 5-4 so I'll take the overs here.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters I'm with Kev here in that yesterday was a complete washout. I'm around the -14 mark too. With Williams outright running for me, I'll take bets in the other 2 matches. J.Perry vs A.Carter, under 0.5 centuries, 4pts @ 11/10 Paddy Power Gentleman Joe had a great win yesterday against Jamie Cope and I think he'll make it tough for the Captain tonight. One thing about Joe is he's a pretty decent tactical player and won't give chances easy. Another is that he's not the greatest break builder in the world. Carter should win this but hasn't been at his best recently and may struggle to win frames at one visit tonight if Joe's safety is up to scratch. Last night, they won 10 frames between them, hit 6 50+ breaks (3 each) with highest runs of 66 Perry and 87 Carter. Only 1 of those frames was won at a single visit so I'll take the odds against here. R.Walden vs S.Maguire, over 7.5 frames, 4pts @ 5/6 Paddy Power R.Walden vs S.Maguire, match to go to a deciding frame, 1pt @ 12/5 Paddy Power Not much to add to Kev's post really. There isn't a 3 frame gap between these 2 players and I think we'll get the required 8 frames to land this bet. Both Mags & Ricky gave their opponents 2 frames in their openers against lesser lights so neither are in form that would concern the other. Decent amongst the balls, we should see an open match with plenty of chances and they'll be keen to progress knowing that Robbo no longer stands in their way. First meeting since 2006, I think this could be a cracker that goes the distance so I'll also take a small bet on the 5-4 scoreline either way.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Ricky fcukin Walden:wall:wall:wall

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Absolute tosh so far for me. -15.3pts although I still have 1pt EW running on Mark Williams at 14's so here's hoping he can win it:hope. Really looking forward to tomorrow and I think there's some decent bets. Going to put them up now and I'm wading in on all 4 matches, you could call it sh1t or bust:lol. S.Maguire to hit first century break vs G.Dott, 4pts @ 6/4 Paddy Power 2 players who play good, open snooker and heavy scorers once they are in amongst the balls. I strongly fancy there to be a century in this and I'm taking Maguire to hit it (or at least the first one). Neither one of them has a ton yet in this but that will change tomorrow. In the 4 major events so far this season (Shanghai, World Open, UK & Masters), Dotty has 2 tons versus Mags 7, including 4 at the UK. Maguire bids to keep up his record of at least 1 ton in each event this term and he's been scoring heavily enough in the last 24 hours to suggest a 3 figure break ain't far away. There won't be a great deal of safety play in this so I'll take Mags to be 'on fire' and hit the 1st ton of the match. J.Swail to beat M.Fu, 3pts @ 11/8 Skybet I like the Outlaw here. He's played some cracking snooker this week and has disposed of both Mark Allen & Shaun Murphy, both better players in my opinion than todays opponent, Marco Fu. Conceded only 5 frames to those 2 and also whitewashed a qualifier making a 112 en route to a possible maximum in that. Fu, meanwhile, has only seen the table once as he had a bye today due to the withdrawl of John Higgins because of the illness and subsequent death of his father. He may have beat King 5-1 today but that doesn't tell the whole story. In every single frame, King had a chance and scored first in 4 of them. In all frames, King scored, his minimum points tally of 18 whilst the other 4 frames he lost, he scored over 35 in each. In my book, I don't see Fu as favourite so at odds against, I'll happily take Joe Swail to reach the semis. M.Selby vs D.Junhui, over 5.5 50+ breaks, 5pts @ 6/5 Paddy Power Match of the round and destined to go the distance. If we do get 8 or 9 frames, then I'm very confident we'll see 6 50 breaks. In their respective last 16 matches, both looked in fine break building nick. Selby scored a 50 in each of the 5 frames he won, whilst Ding hit 3, including back to back centuries in the final 2 frames of his match. I do like both these players as heavy scorers and I think it will take a few frames of '1 chance' snooker to win this. The biggest worry here is that one of them doesn't turn up and we see a 5-0 or 5-1 scoreline. Assuming they both get in amongst the balls, I strongly fancy this one to come in. M.Williams vs J.Perry, under 0.5 centuries, 4pts @ 13/8 Paddy Power Another great win tonight for Gentleman Joe and the fact still remains he's a decent safety player, meaning it won't be easy to hit a massive break here. Joe failed to hit a ton tonight and I'll go for more of the same in this match. Williams meanwhile did hit a century in his match against Dominic Dale tonight, but only just. We all know that Mark J is renowned for scoring enough points to secure the frame, he just ain't interested in big breaks. He'll be confident of reaching the final now so his mind will be focused on winning frames, not friends, so I'll take him to follow his UK exploits and score plenty of 50's en route to a win without converting any into 3 figures.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Great stuff on Dotty, Kev. Getting slowly back on level terms and still Selby to run in the outrights:clap Another frustrating afternoon for me, with just the Maguire bet coming in. What annoys me is things like Selby winning 5-1. Wtf was Ding playing at, so many chances. 5 50's in 6 frames:wall:wall. Anyway, that's another massive loss taking me to -21.3pts. Best I can hope for now is that Mark J goes on to win this....6pt profit if he reaches the final, 21pts if he wins it. C'mon Mark:lol

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters I'm just taking 1 tonight and it's my most confident bet of the week, despite the poor form I'm in. M.Selby (-1.5 frames) to beat G.Dott, 7pts @ Evs SportingBet I really like the Jester here. He's proved to me this week that his blip at the Masters was just that. From what I've seen and read, he's played some super stuff this week, mixing his excellent potting and break building with some superb safety and tactical play. He disposed easily of Nigel Bond 5-1 before beating Hendry 5-3 including 5 50+ breaks. Today was completely different against Ding, losing the first frame before taking 5 on the bounce, where his tactical game was at its best. Dott has also come through 3 matches but Thira & Hamilton didn't present that much of a challenge. He did play better against Mags including a 140 but that was always going to be a game of pots. With Selby's all round game looking superb, I'll take him to win this no worse than 6-4.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Dott's slowly getting me back into this tournament. A Selby win tonight pretty much wipes out the losses for the week. One for tonight. 5pts M.Williams (-1.5 frames) to beat M.Fu Evs William Hill Mark Williams has been very good this week and that was the case again this afternoon as he knocked in a couple of tons from 1-0 down to see off a spirited Joe Perry. Fu's playing some good stuff too but his problem is when Williams is on it, even if Fu's at his best he's unlikely to be good enough to stop the Welshman. When Williams is knocking in three tons in two matches like he has here you know as his opponent you have problems because he's not normally a prolific century maker. Fu's in good nick as he showed in the Masters but Williams is at another gear and I think he wins this and wins it no worse than 6-4.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Great stuff tonight with both -1.5 bets in this thread coming in and an outright apiece in the final:ok It was almost indicative of the recent luck though in the Selby match, where he scraped over the line. Some could say he was lucky but far from it, despite being 3-1 and 4-3 down. Selby had the 1st chance in the first 9 frames and, in all but one of the 10 frames, he scored in excess of 30 points. Just proves how he didn't put them to bed tonight. Saying that, I think we have the best 2 players this week contesting the final. My deficit now is 14pts and should Williams win tomorrow, it would take me into positive figures. God knows how:lol. Great stuff too Kev to claw it back after the start we had:clap

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Excellent shout with Selby, Russ. Like you say we've done well to get back to anything approaching level for the week after the poor start. Hopefully that's given us both the momentum to build on for the remaining 5 tournaments of the season plus any qualifying bets which may arise :hope. After finding myself -14.34pts after Friday night I'm now back to just -1.34 now with a guaranteed 6pts to come which would become 22.5pts should Selby win tomorrow's final. With the Selby bet going I'm only hitting with one more in the final. 3pts M.Williams Highest Break vs M.Selby 6/5 Coral I know what everyone is thinking. Is he mad? Well yes I am but not necessarily because of this bet :lol. Taking Mark Williams in a highest break market can never be advised too often but I think he's value here. Selby won his QF and SF fairly well but he never really looked at ease in the balls and managed nothing more than a 64 in the two matches. Williams has looked regal this week in the balls. He looks better than I've seen him in a long while. He's popped in 3 tons in the week and on Saturday he also put together runs of 88, 71 and 65. I know Williams usually gives up on a break when he's won a frame but with the packed house that will be in for this final, and the venue is sold out again so it will be packed, Williams may well continue to entertain the massive crowd that has gathered. Even if he doesn't he's going to need a break of somewhere around 80 to win a frame in one visit and that size of break has been beyond Selby in his last two matches so at 6/5 I think the value is in the Welshman to notch up the highest break in the final. Good luck in the final Russ. If memory serves this is the 2nd time in the 4 ranking events this season so far that we've opposed each other in the final having had both finalists in the World Open which is a good effort from both of us. Hopefully it's a good final but if it comes to Williams needing snookers at any point you're laughing if my past record is anything to go by :lol.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Aye Kev, 2nd in 4 we've had the finalists. Not sure I could've picked Carter/Burnett in the Shanghai either, whilst I wanted to take on Higgins in the UK 'just because':lol. Good luck for today, should be a cracker. I'm taking a couple in this final. M.Williams vs M.Selby, under 2.5 centuries, 8pts @ 8/11 Paddy Power Bet of the week if past stats are anything to go by. This line looks high to me and, despite the scoring prowess of these finalists, I think they'll struggle. As Kev eludes to, Selby hasn't been at his best amongst the balls and top runs of under 70 in his 2 matches yesterday prove that. He's hit just 1 ton in the 20 frames he's won this week whilst Williams has hit 2. In a final where there's also a bit of pressure, I don't see them covering a line of 3. The other thing that pushes me down this route is the previous century record in ranking event finals, 0 in the Shanghai in 17 frames, 1 in the World Open in 6 frames (ok, that was Robbo/Ronnie), 1 in the UK in 19 frames between Mark J & Higgins. Even the first to 18 World's only produced 1. In fact the last time we saw more than 1 was in the China Open almost 12 months ago. I was tempted by the 1.5 line but have gone for the additional safety net here where everything points to under 2.5 tons today. M.Williams 1st session winner vs M.Selby, 3pts @ 6/4 Paddy Power I'm on Williams outright but just can't ignore this bet at the price. He's been lightening out of the blocks this week and has been rushing round the table as thought he's got to be somewhere sometime soon! Gave Joe Perry the first frame yesterday before rattling off 5 in a row and did similar to Fu where he lost the first and claimed the next 3 in double quick time. Selby has been less convincing, won 3 of the first 4 against Ding (although that could have been so different) and lost 3 of the first 4 against Dott. I know the first session is 8 frames but I'm just highlighting the relevant starting power of the 2. This is Selby's first ranking final for a while whilst Williams contested the last one at the UK where he blasted out in double quick fashion racing into a 6-2 lead at the break against Higgins. We all know what happened thereafter so I'll leave the evening session alone and rely on my outright bet but will take him to get off to a flyer and be leading 5-3 or better at half time.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Snooker: German Masters

Aye Kev, 2nd in 4 we've had the finalists. Not sure I could've picked Carter/Burnett in the Shanghai either, whilst I wanted to take on Higgins in the UK 'just because':lol. Good luck for today, should be a cracker. I'm taking a couple in this final. M.Williams vs M.Selby, under 2.5 centuries, 8pts @ 8/11 Paddy Power Bet of the week if past stats are anything to go by. This line looks high to me and, despite the scoring prowess of these finalists, I think they'll struggle. As Kev eludes to, Selby hasn't been at his best amongst the balls and top runs of under 70 in his 2 matches yesterday prove that. He's hit just 1 ton in the 20 frames he's won this week whilst Williams has hit 2. In a final where there's also a bit of pressure, I don't see them covering a line of 3. The other thing that pushes me down this route is the previous century record in ranking event finals, 0 in the Shanghai in 17 frames, 1 in the World Open in 6 frames (ok, that was Robbo/Ronnie), 1 in the UK in 19 frames between Mark J & Higgins. Even the first to 18 World's only produced 1. In fact the last time we saw more than 1 was in the China Open almost 12 months ago. I was tempted by the 1.5 line but have gone for the additional safety net here where everything points to under 2.5 tons today. M.Williams 1st session winner vs M.Selby, 3pts @ 6/4 Paddy Power I'm on Williams outright but just can't ignore this bet at the price. He's been lightening out of the blocks this week and has been rushing round the table as thought he's got to be somewhere sometime soon! Gave Joe Perry the first frame yesterday before rattling off 5 in a row and did similar to Fu where he lost the first and claimed the next 3 in double quick time. Selby has been less convincing, won 3 of the first 4 against Ding (although that could have been so different) and lost 3 of the first 4 against Dott. I know the first session is 8 frames but I'm just highlighting the relevant starting power of the 2. This is Selby's first ranking final for a while whilst Williams contested the last one at the UK where he blasted out in double quick fashion racing into a 6-2 lead at the break against Higgins. We all know what happened thereafter so I'll leave the evening session alone and rely on my outright bet but will take him to get off to a flyer and be leading 5-3 or better at half time.

Following both of these, the century bet looks a cracker :hope For anyone else following VC go 4/5 on the century line and 13/8 on Williams first session. Just a lit bit extra for anyone interested.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Mixed emotions from the afternoon although, all in all, it was a good one for me. Disappointed that Mark J managed 2 tons so I need a century free evening to bring in that bet but, on the plus side, he wins the afternoon session 5-3 to bring the 1st session bet in and is looking good on the outright front. Hopefully, he can land the 4 required frames without anyone hitting 3 figures...that would also bring in Kev's high break bet:hope

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Is that 5 re-racks? Must be a record, surely:loon

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: German Masters At last, the tide's turned and luck was in. A cracking final, not necessarily the most flowing snooker but intriguing nonetheless. A good day today with all match bets coming in as well as the outright. From a 21pt deficit 30 hours, the numbers have turned on their head completely finishing with a profit of +17.02pts. Kev also finishes well in profit too so hats off there:clap. This thread finishes around 25pts in profit after being around 35pts down yesterday. Welsh Open qualifiers start this week with the main event just 8 days from now:nana

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: German Masters These finals are starting to do my nut in now :wall:wall. 7-4 to 7-7 then gets the chance to go 8-7 up and Selby misses a red he'd pot 999 times out of 1000 :wall. Anyway was a cracking final despite the result and with Selby not getting close to Williams' 108 it means I end the tournament +8.26pts. Excellent call on Williams, Russ :clap:clap. Roll on the Welsh Open with yet another new format to factor in :dude.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Snooker: German Masters Great work chaps :clap As I mentioned, I followed both your tips for the final Russ.... your insight was not only spot-on but nicely profitable to boot... I thank you sir :notworthy