The Players Championship 2019

[Fader]

Hopefully more quality here than the Indian Open. Starts tomorrow evening, so I will have some time tomorrow to look properly at this. Draw is below : 

M.Allen Vs S.Maguire
D.Gilbert Vs S.Bingham
R.O'Sullivan Vs B.Hawkins
M.Selby Vs J.Higgins
N.Robertson Vs J.Perry
M.Williams Vs A.Carter
K.Wilson Vs J.Lisowski
J.Trump Vs J.Robertson

[Fader]

Outright Preview :

We're in Preston for the second time in this tournaments history. For the last couple of years it's been in Wales but Ronnie will look to retain the title alittle closer to home. Looking through this field, only Allen, Trump & Hawkins have won this title previously so it could well be a new name on the trophy.

This looks very much like a Ronnie Vs Trump final based on form and history but no value in that whatsoever. A few of these players are quite low on morale, confidence and form. Also, some have been played alot of snooker whilst others are rested.

In the top half I'm going to give Bingham another go. he is hitting the ball really well and I think he will be well up for this event. I'm not too sure how much he was motivated in the Indian Open but nevertheless he still didn't play badly. He faces Gilbert in the 1st round who he has a good record against and then a potentially out-of-form Mark Allen in the next. Obviously, he would have to beat the likes of Ronnie and Judd etc still but he is a good price to do so. I'm also taking a small punt on Maguire. He got unlucky facing Judd last year and pushed him 6-4. The worry is the h2h with Allen (has the beating of him) but if he gets past that, who knows. The price is too big.

In the bottom half, Neil Robertson looks the form horse to go up against Trump, however 8/1 seems abit skinny for a player who would have to beat Trump and Ronnie. I will instead plump for 2 big priced outsiders. Firstly, Kyren Wilson, who is quite overprived for his level. He would face Lisowski and then Trump but has a good record against Trump in fairness. Second, Ali Carter had a bit of good form recently getting to the final of the Grand Prix and at 40s he is worth a little nibble each-way.

2pts K.Wilson to win the Players 16/1 boylesports
2pts S.Bingham to win the Players 20/1 betfred
1pt E/W A.Carter to win the Players 40/1 Coral
1pt S.Maguire to win the Players 50/1 betfred

[Fader]

Day 1 Preview :

R.O'Sullivan Vs B.Hawkins
M.Allen Vs S.Maguire

Difficult matches to call really, on Day 1. Ofcourse if Ronnie is up for it he wins. Barry has every chance if not though, but at 5/2, I'm not sure that's worth it. Ronnie has been basically moaning he has to get ranking points and you rarely see him lose a first round match, too.

I will have a bet on Maguire to beat Allen though. Maguire doesn't have the best record against Mark, however I just have a feeling Maguire will be up for this one and Allen's recent form has been somewhat average.

4pts S.Maguire to beat M.Allen 13/8 bet365
 

[Fader]

Well, Maguire didn't turn up atall until the last couple of frames. On to today. We have 4 matches today. 2 at 1pm and 2 at 7pm. In the afternoon we have Neil Robertson against Joe Perry and Mark Williams Vs Ali Carter and then this evening, Trump Vs Jimmy Robertson and Kyren Wilson Vs Jack Lisowski.

Neil Robertson is back to form right now and I can't see anything but a win for him against Joe Perry. The value isn't there but Robbo with a 1.5 handicap is around about evens and I will take that. I like Ali Carter to beat Williams today but odds wise it just doesn't interest me enough so I'm going to just go with Williams to be the highest break scorer. He has been in good form at the practise table apparenty (tweeted a 146 x 3 in a day) and Ali isn't a prolific scorer as Williams really.

I see no value in the Trump match atall where I would be looking at a handicap as Jimmy is bang out of form. I will also sit out the final match and hope on Kyren getting through. One other little interest is a sky bet boost bet which is centuries for all the favourite which i will throw a point at.

4pts N.Robertson (-1.5 frames) to beat J.Perry 3/4 coral
3pts M.Williams (Highest break) Vs A.Carter 4/6 bet365
1pt Trump/Robertson/Wilson/Williams all to score a century 11/2 skybet

[Fader]

Both winners there and every chance of the 4 centuries coming in too. All depends on Kyrens form as would imagine Judd would get a century. One more for tonight

Lisowski has a good record against Kyren Wilson. He has won 3 of the last 4 between them both. The last 3 matches between these two have also gone to a deciding frame, so I will betting on the frame total on this one. I do fancy Wilson here, but Kyren hasn't had too great of form in the last couple of tournaments and Lisowski on his day can score heavy. 

2.5pts Over 8.5 frames (K.Wilson Vs J.Lisowski) 23/20 coral

[Fader]

Well the outrights are not really performing but atleast the match markets are coming in.

We finish Round 1 this afternoon with Bingham facing David Gilbert and Higgins against Selby and then tonight we start the Quartrer-Finals with Judd Trump taking on Lisowski.

Stuart Bingham has an incredible head-2-head against Gilbert. 10 matches they have played and 10 wins for Gilbert. Last time they played was in the UK last year and Bingham won 6-2. That match was 3 months ago and if anything, Gilbert was playing better then. he seems to have let his form slip alittle in recent weeks. I'm going to take Bingham on a 1.5 handicap. That would have been covered in every match minus two between these two and that was a "first to 4/5"

Mark Selby takes on John Higgins also in the afternoon session and I fancy Selby to come through, however my bet will be for Selby to take the biggest break. Higgins still doesn't look to be hitting the balls like before. He has hit 7 centuries in his 17 matches this year and that was against mostly vastly inferiour players. Selby has played 13 (excluding champions league) and has hit 15 centuries.

I will take a look at tonight's match this afternoon.

5pts S.Bingham (-1.5 frames) to beat D.Gilbert 4/5 coral
5.5pts M.Selby (Highest break) Vs J.Higgins 8/11 paddypower

[Fader]

Nice, I thought Bingham was going to throw it away. One ball away from 4-1 and next time I look it's 4-3 to Gilbert, but both winners. Bingham through 6-4 to face Mark Allen tomorrow. Higgins still looks dodgy but nevertheless beats Selby. As expected though, Selby was the biggest break man. 5 in a row on the tips.

Tonight I'm really not sure what to expect from Judd. I would take Trump on handicap, but it bothers me the close friendship. Makes me think the "ruthlessness" will not be there for Trump. If I was pushed, I would take Trump on a handicap, but I'm sitting out tonight's match and will be back for tomorrows other 3 Quarter-final ties.

[ElPrincipito007]

N. Robertson @1,73 at Marathonbet

He has a very good H2H against Williams. Also his form is better. 1 plus 1 makes 2

[Fader]

Agreed on Robertson. 6 of the last 7 won including a 6-3 win at the Masters a couple of months ago. I do think Williams will put up more of a fight today though. He is scoring much better now and by his own admission hasn't been practising much prior to this month. He is going to be looking at Sheffield prep here (like the rest) and I think it has the potential to be a close match. With that in mind, I am going to take the centuries bet. Williams got 2 in the last round when beating Carter and Robertson also got 2 against Perry. Robertson also got 2 in his prior match, at the China Open quallies so I would be suprise to see less than 2 overall centuries.

In the other match, this also looks like it has the potential to be close. Allen won the last tie last year 6-5 but that was when Allen was playing alot better. He just doesn't look like he can be bothered to me and his natural talent is still going to win him matches against players who bomb like Maguire but Bingham should have enough about him to win here and is the value call.

5.5pts Over 1.5 Centuries (N.Robertson Vs M.Williams) 8/11 bet365
5pts S.Bingham to beat M.Allen 6/5 bet365

[four-leaf]

Neil can score with confidence nowadays. He's not looking like the guy who played to mutch video games anymore. He's got a decent chance to win the tournament and Judd is an opponent he is very familiar with so he wont take anything for granted here. Judd beat Neil in this tournament last year 6-1 but now I think it could be the thunder from down under who scores the big win because the aussie has found a new gear this season. Judd may have beaten Neil last two times but this looks like a time for revenge for Neil so I think it could be worth being on the upset. 

4.5pts N.Robertson to beat J.Trump 2.35 Unibet

[Fader]

Ah Bingham come on mate. 3-1 up and you lose 6-4.

Last of the Quarter-finals today/tonight. First we have Ronnie againt Higgins. Normally I would be looking at Ronnie on a handicap here, but I think Higgins may actually be some value today. He actually has quite a good recent h2h against Ronnie winning 2 of the last 3 including a 5-0 whitewash. Ronnie in my opinion just wants a couple of centuries in this tournament so that he can hit the big milestone later down the line in Sheffield.

In the second match, I agree with four-leaf that Robertson looks abit of value. He beat Williams easier than 6-4 really. Williams hit a big fluke otherwise that match was 6-3. Trump looked awesome against Jimmy Robertson but Jimmy has probably some of the worst form on tour right now. Lisowski handed the win to Trump. So he hasn't been properly tested. He will get that here. The first couple of frames are key.

4pts J.Higgins to beat R.O'Sullivan 9/4 paddypower
4pts N.Robertson to beat J.Trump 11/8 bet365

[four-leaf]

The thunder from down under 

[Fader]

7 minutes ago, four-leaf said:

The thunder from down under 

He's looking rather good isn't he. This tournament is perfect for him to test his form Pre-Sheffield. Even if he loses to Ronnie in the final, it will be good to see his current form against Ronnie. Already coming in to 11s and 12s the Worlds. If he wins this event, I imagine it will be down to 8 to 10s max.

[four-leaf]

3 minutes ago, Fader said:

He's looking rather good isn't he. This tournament is perfect for him to test his form Pre-Sheffield. Even if he loses to Ronnie in the final, it will be good to see his current form against Ronnie. Already coming in to 11s and 12s the Worlds. If he wins this event, I imagine it will be down to 8 to 10s max.

I can imagine Ronnie will be up for a world of hurt against Neil in this final.

[Fader]

He is on 997 centuries now. There is no way he will do the 1,000 in Preston. It will be an interesting final because he will get 1 or 2 against Allen you would imagine.

[four-leaf]

I don't think Mark Allen will beat The rocket so I'm all for a final between Neil and Ronnie.

[Fader]

Neither of these two are playing particularly well in my opinion. Allen has been helped by Maguire not performing atall and Bingham capitulating once he went 3-0 up. Ronnie should really have been beat by Higgins. The 1st frame was ridiculous where Higgins potted the final red loosely and potted the pink too, which handed Ronnie the frame. So really Higgins should have been 2-0 up and even the frame at 5-4 was shocking where Higgins lost his mind and just put the ball over the pocket.

all in all, i think it's worth going for Allen as the "highest break" market. I honesltly believe that Ronnie would want to not get his 1000 centuries in Preston. I also think his long game is pretty poor at the moment, so unless Allen really hands it on a plate then I think the price is too big both on Allen and Allen the highest break

4pts M.Allen to have the highest break 6/4 betfred

[notanotherdonkey]

Well done Ronnie on the tournament win and 1,000 centuries,was unplayable in the final and throughout the tournament.On his day there is not a better player.

[Fader]

1 hour ago, notanotherdonkey said:

Well done Ronnie on the tournament win and 1,000 centuries,was unplayable in the final and throughout the tournament.On his day there is not a better player.

no doubt about that. Let's just hope his day isn't as frequent from a betting perspective for Sheffield