Embassy world snooker

[Rob]

Now I apoloigise if people think this is in bad taste, but here we go... I heard on the radio that Paul Hunter has be diagnosed with cancer of the colon. This must surely be a huge burden on his mind at the moment. I just wondered if any of our resident snooker experts (Paul?) thought there was value in laying Hunter in his first round match against Michael Holt? he can be layed at 1.4 on Betfair at the moment.

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker It could go either way, but I'm gutted for him as he's such a nice bloke. :( I've done a WC preview, which I'll put up later.

[Rob]

Re: Embassy world snooker I don't know much about the other guy, but thinking about it, it could end up messing with his head more than Hunters. PH strikes me as the kind of guy to put on a brave face and not let it get him down. The whole crowd will be on his side (unusual for a favorite) and I'm sure he'll be professional about it, maybe the value is the other way! Heres hoping for a full recovery anyway:ok

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker World Snooker Championships Preview Here I'll give my opinion on the top 7 players in the betting and any dark horses. Ronnie O'Sullivan The greatest talent to ever pick up a snooker cue, and probably always will be. Twice World Champion now and World No.1 guaranteed again for next season. Ronnie is the favourite and rightly so, ever since he has had Ray Reardon in his camp, he has changed into a player that tears his opponents apart consistently, unlike previous seasons. He has a tough first round match and possibly Maguire will be his toughest match of the half. Should he get past Maguire, I think he has a clear path to the final if producing anywhere near his best form. Stephen Hendry This man will not lie down. Certainly he is not the force he was, but still a superb player and a resurgence over the last 18 months has seen him probably do enough to be World No.2 for next season. He has probably one of the toughest draws he will have ever had this year, and I just feel he won't quite have enough to get past everyone. I can see him in the quarter finals, but that may be the end for the great man. Mark Williams Well I have no idea what has happened to Williams in the last 2 seasons, but he has been a shadow of the player that was basically doing what Ronnie is doing now, demolishing everyone. He is very inconsistent of late, showing flashes of his top form, and then losing to players like Alan McManus. You just feel he is very vulnerable, but if he can get back some consistency, he's definitely got a chance and The Crucible is probably the only tournament where you have time to "play yourself into form". Williams has a very good draw and on my draw he makes the semis, but no further. John Higgins Another great player at his best, but another that is terribly inconsistent. He is beginning to get his form together more frequently of late, but still has a cloud hanging over him for me. However, he scores very heavy and his safety is superb, he just has a habit of missing silly balls lately. Can he win it ? He sure can, but he needs to bring his best game to the table every match. Higgins has a tough draw also, and I have him losing in the early rounds. Stephen Maguire A season he won't forget, winning two ranking tournaments, including the prestigious UK Championships. I just get the feeling that as good as Maguire is, it has all come a bit too soon. Combine that with a couple of dodgy results of late and the fact he has to get past Ronnie in the first round and I don't see him as a winner this time, his time will come though, if he keeps on the same road as he is now. Matthew Stevens Stevens always plays well here and that should never be under-estimated. Has had a nightmare season, until recently when he played very well and gave Ronnie a scare in the Irish Masters final. Stevens played well enough in that tournament to suggest that he can do some damage here. Let's not forget, Stevens was very close to winning the world title a few years ago, but lost to Williams after having a 13-7 lead. Some people will say, he has no bottle he'll never win it after that - those people are fools. That kind of experience is priceless, of course it is better for him had he won it, but he will be a different player should that happen again. Stevens doesn't have the easiest of draws but I think that may just work in his favour and if he can produce the form he showed recently in Ireland, he is a big danger here. Paul Hunter Just come to light that he has cancer, and I hope he makes a complete recovery - I wrote the below before I knew of the cancer news. I backed Hunter when he lost a big lead in the semis against Doherty 2 years ago, but he looks a little lost this season and I think he looks very vulnerable indeed. So vulnerable in fact that I am not considering him as a realistic contender, not this season anyway. Health problems, form problems, too many problems. I think Holt could well take him out 1st round if he's on song. The Rest Ebdon can never be written off and has shown flashes of form this season. He loves these longer matches, but I don't see him getting past a potential quarter final against Ronnie. Doherty is class, but lacks self belief and the only reason he won the world title he did, was because Hendry was mentally exhausted after winning a ridiculous amount of tournaments that season. If only he believed in himself more, he could well have been a 3 or 4 time world champion in my opinion. Doherty has a good draw, but I think quarters or semis is where it may all end. Jimmy White - He has the 4th best record in the World Championships ever and that is a fact, yet no wins. I would pay good money to see him win it, and he does have the good draw but he has serious mental scars now. He did play some extremely good stuff lately, but he would need to produce that every round here to stand a chance, and then hope Ronnie was off form in the final - can the whirlwind have one last shot at the title ? Unlikely, but never say never. Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy are players for the future, and could feature in this year's WC too. Robertson has the tough task of overcoming Hendry in the first round, which will not be easy, however if he does, then he can certainly win a couple more at least. Murphy is a player I rate quite highly, and he also has a tough task if overcoming Small, in John Higgins in a potential 2nd round match, if he does get past, he could well go a fair but further. My pick for the winner ? I'm going to go for 5pts Each Way Matthew Stevens @ 17.00 Stan James A good draw, and he plays well here with some very good recent form in Ireland to give him confidence. He is probably going to be one of the freshest players here, as he had a terrible time at the start of the season, which may benefit him enormously here, time will tell.

[dave]

Re: Embassy world snooker Interesting stuff Paul. Difficult to see past O'Sullivan for me, no-one else really stands out like they often do.

[Mullahoran]

Re: Embassy world snooker Cant disagree with 1 word that Paul says and if i were to have a bet on the outright winner i would go for Stevens as well 3 semi's and a final in the last 5 years and his exploits at the Irish Masters.

[alan partridge]

Re: Embassy world snooker O sullivan will probably win it but hes not worth betting on at that price.Theres not much value in the other top players either,Hendry,Higgins or Williams. Im going with Peter Ebdon each way at 26.00.I like him he always gives his all and fights to the death.He gives you 100 per cent effort and sometimes that makes a big difference.I think he will give Ronnie a hard match if they clash in the quarters. For a pure outsider im going to have a small wager on Hann at 151.00.Its probably a waste of a few quid but i just think if this guy actually wanted it he could go quite far.Hes got the ability to give the top players a game,if only he gave the same effort as Ebdon.

[all_funkt_up]

Re: Embassy world snooker i went for ding junhui (sp) at the start of the season - one day maybe....im nackered but will post bit more later on...

[joe mavis]

Re: Embassy world snooker Surely Mark Williams is overpriced at 12.5 with betfair, he has by far the easiest draw with the first decent player he will meet is not till the quaters Mathew Stevens who i feel he should beat by then i reckon his price will have dropped dramatically, especially if 1 of the three big guns is out by then. Other than Williams i reckon Ebdon could be worth a shout 46's on Betfair. What you reckon Paul and other fellow snooker punters??????[/COLOR]

[GETT1NLOTS]

Re: Embassy world snooker I like to watch the snooker but I'm no expert. Here's something that I thought might be useful to you serious snooker punters though. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/draw_predictor/default.stm

[joe mavis]

Re: Embassy world snooker Okay my bet for the tournament is on. I have backed Mark williams at 12/1 on betfair to win it. I dont think he will win it but i am looking to lay him off further down the competition as i think 12's are a juicy price especially with the draw he has, as mentioned in a post above he does not play anyone special till the quater finals and that is only Ken Doherty who he is more than capable of beating. Mark Williams to win the Embasy World Championships 12/1 at betfair

[qxsadI]

Re: Embassy world snooker Paddy power are refunding outrights if a your player hits 141 or more,maybe Higgins or stevens would be ok considering this,id rather take stevens at 16/1,since higgins is in ronnies half.

[qxsadI]

Re: Embassy world snooker Doesnt Maguire have to be worth a small bet at 16.5, he has beaten ronnie before,seems to have gone off the boil a bit lately though :( but if he can beat ronnie in the 1st round he can beat anyone,and higgins and maybe ebbo are the the next toughest in the top half,be amazed if hunter does well if he beats ronnie his odds will fall quite a bit so youll be getting great value, im going to stick a small bit on him just in case

[apenn2510]

Re: Embassy world snooker The two that interest me are Maguire and Doherty. Steven Maguire, as mentioned in early posts has had a tremondous season, and has beaten Rocket twice, as well as running him close recently (10-7?). Also he is provisionally World No 3 for next season. If he had drawn anyone other than Rocket in the first round his price would probably half what it is now. Add this to the fact that Rocket has been struggling recently with illness and chose to pull out of the recent ranking event in the Far East, I think Maguire is in with a great chance of what would be considered an upset. On the spreads Maguire I think is worth a punt at a Buy at 15 on the 100 index. Analysing the draw, the other potential buy on the spreads must be Ken Doherty. Although not having the greatest of seasons, on his day he is a match for anyone, and he always seems to produce his best at the Embassy. He has a decent looking draw, and shoudl at the very least make the quarters. A buy at 27, assuming he makes the quarters at a very minimum will show a 6 point profit. Recommendations :- Buy Stephen Maguire at 15 Buy Ken Doherty at 27 Both on 100 index Sporting Index

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker Welcome to PL Blind Ref. :ok

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker Ok, here are my early bets. :) 10pts Win Ronnie O'Sullivan to win his quarter @ 1.66 SportingOdds Good price this as I expect he will cruise through if taking care of Maguire, which he will be extremely motivated to do. Player to achieve Highest Break of Tourny 1pt Matthew Stevens 21.00 SportingOdds 1pt Paul Hunter @ 26.00 SportingOdds 1pt Ken Doherty @ 34.00 >Bet365 1pt Anthony Hamilton @ 67.00 SportingOdds All very good break builders and the prices are ridiculous. :eek Steve Davis v Gerard Greene 10pt win Davis @ 1.80 >Betfair Don't get me wrong, Greene is a decent player, but Davis is a great bet here. Greene's biggest fault is his safety game, and what is Davis's best attribute ? By my calculations Davis should be about 1.50 here. Highest Seed to get knocked out first round Well, as much as there are shocks, I can't see many falling in the first round and I think this is a tremendous bet! :eek Chris Small @ 41.00 SportingOdds I expect Murphy to beat him and quite how the sportingodds compiler sees this as a 40/1 shot is beyond me! :eek Stephen Lee v Tony Drago Lee -2.5 @ 1.80 SportingOdds I'm not sure if Crusty The Clown is compiling the snooker odds this year for SportingOdds but they seem to have made quite a few alarming errors, this being one of them. I've seen this at -3.5 at the same price, and even that is tempting. Ok, Lee has been anything special this season, but he remains a class act with a slight temperament problem. I'm willing to take on the temperament with the likes of Drago, as I think he could well smash him to pieces. I certainly do not envisage Drago getting 8 frames off Lee anyway.

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker Complete 1st round matches and odds below. :ok

Saturday 16 April 2005
	Player 1	Player 2	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged." align="middle">BPP
Gray v Hamilton (10:00 BST)	2.20	1.83	100%
Maguire v O'Sullivan (10:00 BST)	4.33	1.29	101%
Davis v Greene (14:30 BST)	1.80	2.25	100%
Hicks v Stevens (14:30 BST)	3.35	1.42	101%
Henry v McManus (19:00 BST)	2.94	1.50	101%
Sunday 17 April 2005
	Player 1	Player 2	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged." align="middle">BPP
Murphy v Small (10:00 BST)	1.43	3.20	102%
Holt v Hunter (14:30 BST)	3.45	1.40	101%
Monday 18 April 2005
	Player 1	Player 2	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged." align="middle">BPP
Doherty v Pinches (10:00 BST)	1.48	3.05	101%
O'Brien v White (14:30 BST)	3.10	1.47	101%
Higgins v Selby (18:30 BST)	1.25	5.20	100%
Tuesday 19 April 2005
	Player 1	Player 2	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged." align="middle">BPP
Carter v Fu (10:00 BST)	1.77	2.28	101%
Hendry v Robertson (14:30 BST)	1.25	4.70	102%
Milkins v Williams (18:30 BST)	4.00	1.33	100%
Wednesday 20 April 2005
	Player 1	Player 2	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged." align="middle">BPP
Ebdon v Hann (10:00 BST)	1.36	3.80	100%
Drago v Lee (14:30 BST)	3.85	1.34	101%
Dott v McCulloch (18:30 BST)	1.57	2.75	100%

[Colmar]

Re: Embassy world snooker

Highest Seed to get knocked out first round Well, as much as there are shocks, I can't see many falling in the first round and I think this is a tremendous bet! :eek Chris Small @ 41.00 SportingOdds I expect Murphy to beat him and quite how the sportingodds compiler sees this as a 40/1 shot is beyond me! :eek

I like the look of this bet also but feel that something is not quite right with what Sportingbet are offering? Its the order of odds that they list. eg. Ronnie o Sullivan is 10/3 to be knocked out in the first round while Graeme Dott is 100/1(every other player seeded higher than him would have to win). I just don't really follow why on earth they offer such odds. I think they have listed in the players in the wrong order. Maybe i just miss something!! :o Anyone help? Col

[davidmphill]

Re: Embassy world snooker I'm not a great snooker punter but d watch it when its on but 22/1 for Mark Williams smacks to me of a decent punt for him to be top break scorer with sportingodds. On his day hes an awesome break builder and if he gets in amongst the balls then he has a chance.

[davidmphill]

Re: Embassy world snooker

I like the look of this bet also but feel that something is not quite right with what Sportingbet are offering? Its the order of odds that they list. eg. Ronnie o Sullivan is 10/3 to be knocked out in the first round while Graeme Dott is 100/1(every other player seeded higher than him would have to win). I just don't really follow why on earth they offer such odds. I think they have listed in the players in the wrong order. Maybe i just miss something!! :o Anyone help? Col

Not sure if it happened one year when all the seeds won! Could be worth a wee wager

[Colmar]

Re: Embassy world snooker

If it was there it certainly aint now! If it was i would of snapped their arms off let alone their hands!

Yeah it is still there mate - Who will be the Weakest Link?(Highest Seed to fall in R1) Hope that link works!! lol Col

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker

I'm not a great snooker punter but d watch it when its on but 22/1 for Mark Williams smacks to me of a decent punt for him to be top break scorer with sportingodds. On his day hes an awesome break builder and if he gets in amongst the balls then he has a chance.

Strangely enough he doesn't hit big breaks Dave, he's the type that hits 80 and then doesn't care because he's won the frame.

[davidmphill]

Re: Embassy world snooker

Strangely enough he doesn't hit big breaks Dave' date=' he's the type that hits 80 and then doesn't care because he's won the frame.[/quote']Ahh well, thats me put in my place, maybe i confused him with break building genius' that Doug Mountjoy & Terry Griffiths were!

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker Col, It basically means that he has to be the highest seed to get beat, so basically the first 11 seeds must win, and if he loses, the bet wins. ;)

[Colmar]

Re: Embassy world snooker

Col, It basically means that he has to be the highest seed to get beat, so basically the first 11 seeds must win, and if he loses, the bet wins. ;)

Cheers Paul, but I thought I was missing something, probably like yourself!! :D I don't imagine anyone above being beaten (touching wood as we speak!!) and expect him to lose. The price offered does seem to be a bit of a giggle. Lets hope it comes up trumps!! Col

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Embassy world snooker Yup, I did have to look twice. :)

[stereoman]

Re: Embassy world snooker

I like the look of this bet also but feel that something is not quite right with what Sportingbet are offering? Its the order of odds that they list. eg. Ronnie o Sullivan is 10/3 to be knocked out in the first round while Graeme Dott is 100/1 (every other player seeded higher than him would have to win). I just don't really follow why on earth they offer such odds. I think they have listed in the players in the wrong order. Maybe i just miss something!! :o Anyone help? Col

You've answered your own question there. All it takes is Ronnie to lose to Stephen Maguire. 7/2 for Ronnie being the top seed to fall is just about better than the general odds of around 3/1 on offer for Maguire to beat O'Sullivan for example. For Williams to be the top seed to be knocked out in the first round, Ronnie has to win and Mark be knocked out by Robert Milkins. ....and so on and so on. That's why the odds seem a bit weird. Reference sake before it gets pulled at 10am: * Ronnie O'Sullivan (1st Seed) 100/30 * Mark Williams (2nd Seed) 9/2 * Stephen Hendry (3rd Seed) 8/1 * Paul Hunter (4th Seed) 5/1 * John Higgins (5th Seed) 10/1 * Matthew Stevens (6th Seed) 10/1 * Ken Doherty (7th Seed) 14/1 * Peter Ebdon(8th Seed) 22/1 * Stephen Lee (9th Seed) 25/1 * Alan McManus (10th Seed) 28/1 * Jimmy White (11th Seed) 33/1 * Chris Small (12th Seed) 40/1 * Steve Davis (13th Seed) 66/1 * David Gray (14th Seed) 80/1 * Graeme Dott (15th Seed) 100/1 * Marco Fu (16th Seed) 125/1 * All Seeds To Win 150/1 ========== I'm putting £20 on Anthony Hamilton to beat David Gray at 5/6 with Ladbrokes. It's kinda dangerous to just go on recent form but although Hamilton lost recently to Alan McManus in the China Open first round, David Gray has been awful being whitewashed a coupla times (I don't think he's won any of his last six matches, has he?). ....he may be settled now and have his head screwed on to tackle Hamilton but on a whim, I don't think so. Kind of surprised to see Gray's odds moving in from Paul's odds above. Someone must live Dave's chances on beating Hamilton. A battle between two out-of-form players and it could be a right scrap. Hope I'm on the right side. :hope

[Pobby]

Re: Embassy world snooker Livescoring link. http://livescoring.worldsnooker.com/newframelist.asp?table=&random=10601

[stereoman]

Re: Embassy world snooker Ah, fook it. Even though it's a best of 19, first to ten and I've only seen one anfd a half frames, one senses that Dave's got the measure of Tony. Stephen's getting the better of Ronnie but I read in today's Sun that O'Sullivan's only recovering from a chest infection (!?). I dunno whether to do my dough in and lump on Maguire regardless! :rollin

[winbet]

Re: Embassy world snooker Sorry no real analysis but have gone for 2pts stevens @ 16/1 form not too hot, but usually puts on a good show here. 2pts Hendry @ 6/1 been in decent nck this season and there may still be another world championship win in him yet. I doubt he could beat O'sullivan, but I would make him favourite against anyone else.. I may lump on ronnie if he beats maguire well and his odds are above 6/4. Michael Holt has been practicing regualarly at my local snooker club in the last couple of weeks. I had a brief chat with him while there and mentioned the Paul Hunter issue. He told me his focus would be entirely on the game and he will be just thinking of Paul Hunter as the excellent snooker player he is. He realises the crowd will be overwhelming on Hunter's side, but should be able to blank that out and just concentrates on his own game and shots.