Snooker: Grand Prix 2009

[kevshat]

The 2nd ranking event of the season begins tomorrow when the Grand Prix begins in Glasgow. Outright odds are here: http://odds-comparison.bestbetting.com/snooker/grand-prix-snooker/winner/ 1st round match odds:

Saturday 3 October 2009	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Higgins, J v Joyce, M (13:00 BST)	1.2	5.7	100.88 %
	Fu, M v Davis, M (13:00 BST)	1.42	3.3	100.73 %
	Selby, M v Doherty, K (19:00 BST)	1.47	3.05	100.81 %
	Perry, J v Campbell, M (19:00 BST)	1.53	2.81	100.95 %
	Sunday 4 October 2009	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Ding, Junhui v Stevens, M (12:30 BST)	1.6	2.62	100.60 %
	Carter, A v Milkins, R (12:30 BST)	1.42	3.4	99.83 %
	Day, R v Cope, J (19:00 BST)	1.85	2.16	100.35 %
	Robertson, N v Greene, G (19:00 BST)	1.44	3.5	98.02 %
	Monday 5 October 2009	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Hendry, S v Selt, M (13:30 BST)	1.51	3	99.56 %
	Ebdon, P v Wenbo, L (13:30 BST)	2.7	1.55	101.55 %
	Murphy, S v Pinches, B (19:00 BST)	1.25	4.33	103.08 %
	Allen, M v McCulloch, I (19:00 BST)	1.44	3.3	99.75 %
	Tuesday 6 October 2009	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	O'Sullivan, R v Burnett, J (13:30 BST)	1.19	6	100.70 %
	Williams, M v Bingham, S (13:30 BST)	1.89	2.25	97.35 %
	King, M v Walden, R (19:00 BST)	3	1.5	100.00 %
	Maguire, S v Bond, N (19:00 BST)	1.36	3.8	99.85 %

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Ok, it's time to get betting on this. I'll start with a couple of outrights. Focusing bigtime on the top half of the draw as these are the 8 seeds in the bottom half: Hendry, Allen, Ding, Selby, Williams, O'Sullivan, Higgins and Maguire. So that half is going to produce some excellent matches, especially with live floaters in Stevens, Bingham, Doherty and McCulloch in there. However I can't pick a winner out of that lot. The fact the last 16 in that half could be Hendry vs Allen, Ding vs Selby, Williams vs O'Sullivan and Higgins vs Maguire makes that half a betting minefield. So I'm going with 2 from the top half of the draw. Both to 2 places. 2pts ew S.Murphy to win Grand Prix 9/1 Boylesports 9/1 is a bit shorter than I'd normally like to take on Shaun Murphy but he's probably the 3rd best player in the world at present behind O'Sullivan and Higgins and his much easier half of the draw leads me to take him even at 9/1. Murphy has already shown good form this season in reaching the semi finals in Shanghai and he's started the Premier League in not too shabby fashion as well. On his day, Murphy can be unplayable. He's an incredibly solid all round player now and with his personal problems of last year looking behind him then the world championship runner up can go one further than that in this event. 1pt ew R.Day to win Grand Prix 28/1 Boylesports Ryan Day is another player who on his day is very solid. He's more of a potter than Murphy but that's fine. He was runner up in this event last season so he has some good recent form in the event which could be key. Like Murphy, he has a fairly nice draw with the other 3 seeds in his quarter being Neil Robertson, Joe Perry and Peter Ebdon. In fact the best player in this bit of the draw could be Day's 1st round opponent Jamie Cope. That will be a tough game but if the Welshman can come through that, I expect him to progress quite far in the event.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 I'm going with my 1st match bet this afternoon. 3pts M.Stevens to beat D.Junhui 13/8 Sportingbet I like Matthew Stevens in this match. He's started the season really well and scoring very heavily and when he's in that form he can be tough to handle. Sometimes playing qualifiers helps players. We saw Doherty benefit from winning a few games last night and Stevens could well be the same. He qualified for Shanghai and went there and beat Mark Allen 5-1 with a couple of centuries to boot and he's qualified here too. Ding Junhui has struggled the last couple of seasons. It's to be expected I guess with someone still so young yet with so much expectation on his back. To be fair to the young China player, he played well at the Shanghai Masters before O'Sullivan took him out but he was at home there if you like. Even if Ding plays well today, Stevens isn't without a chance when he plays well. He's still a top 16 player when he's at his best so this 13/8 is a big price considering so I'm on the Welshman this afternoon.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 How Day didn't win that I'll never know and Stevens losing from being 4-2 up made for a bad day. Made a faux pas with the draw. Of course it's an FA Cup type draw after this round. Still happy to be with Murphy though. One for this afternoon. 4pts S.Hendry (-1.5 frames) to beat M.Selt 10/11 Stan James Matthew Selt has done wonderfully well to be here, having won 4 matches in qualifying and beating the likes of Jimmy White, Stuart Pettman and Fergal O'Brien in the process. However now he steps up in class. Not only does he step up in class but he is also appearing on TV for the 1st time. Stephen Hendry has seen it all before and I still think he's got a tournament in him. He's played these young guys so much in the past he'll know the key is getting out early and dominating from the start. I fully expect Hendry, who isn't playing that bad to win this and win it fairly well. I'd go 5-1 or 5-2 if I had to guess but we've got Hendry 5-3 on our side as well so Hendry -1.5 is the call this afternoon.

[LockStockLad]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 I was also on Ryan Day, Cope didnt seem to turn up and still won somehow......If he plays like that again he will find it tough to progress so i may be looking to oppose him in the next round, especially if he holds favouritsim with the bookies. In a race to 5, at this level and standard, I find it very tough to part with my money on anything shorter than 1/2. Mark Allen, undoubtedly one of the young guns of the game and exciting prospects (more than a prospect after his run at the worlds) goes off 1.44 favourite tonight. McCulloch is a wily old charactor and more than capable of an upset here, 9/4 is simply too high in a race to 5, especially against a bouncy confidence player like Allen who when in any kind of rhythm is very very dangerous. He may not get the chance to find his top game in a race to 5 here so I have to side MCULLOCH here at 9/4. LSL

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Unlucky with that LSL. When he got back to 3-3 I fancied McCulloch but the young lad pulled it out well. I think both favourites will win tonight but I think there's a bit of value in the correct score market in the Walden match. 1pt R.Walden to beat M.King 5-1 7/1 Sportingbet 1pt R.Walden to beat M.King 5-2 5/1 Sportingbet Ricky Walden comes into this match with some matches under his belt after making the quarter finals in Shanghai and then qualifying successfully for this tournament. Mark King has only played one match this season, in Shanghai, ironically against Walden where he lost 5-1. Walden played well in that event moving easily into the quarter finals where Liang Wenbo beat him despite Walden hitting 2 centuries. I like Walden in this match though. Not because of their Shanghai meeting but the tables look to be playing very nicely and that will suit the much heavier scoring Ricky Walden here. Mark King doesn't win too many matches in 1 visit which could be his downfall here so I'll take Walden to win this a shade easily and back him to do so 5-1 or 5-2.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 No joy tonight. Was watching the darts but from what I saw after the interval, Walden was crap. The correct scores had every chance at half time. Caught King on a rare good night :sad. 2nd round draw was made this afternoon. It's thrown up a couple of crackers in O'Sullivan vs Higgins and Williams vs Hendry.

Wednesday 7 October 2009	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Cope, J v Allen, M (14:00 BST)	2.12	1.9	99.80 %
	O'Sullivan, R v Higgins, J (14:00 BST)	1.66	2.5	100.00 %
	Perry, J v Pinches, B (19:00 BST)	1.5	2.94	100.68 %
	Robertson, N v Doherty, K (19:00 BST)	1.62	2.46	102.38 %
	Thursday 8 October 2009	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Williams, M v Hendry, S (13:00 BST)	1.8	2.2	101.01 %
	Ebdon, P v Davis, M (13:00 BST)	1.5	3	100.00 %
	Milkins, R v King, M (19:00 BST)	2.2	1.72	103.35 %
	Maguire, S v Ding, Junhui (19:00 BST)	1.83	2.1	102.16 %

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 R.O'Sullivan v J.Higgins - J.Higgins to win Frame 1 @ 6/5 SJ I think there is a little bit of value in John taking the opening frame this afternoon, Ronnie missed a couple of balls and out of posistion a few times against Burnett, a player of John's calibre will take advantage of those early mistakes. Of course Ronnie could get a glorious chance and sweep all the balls away but the first frame is a key one seeing as this is only a race to five frames, at the price I like the Scotsmen to land the first blow. I'd price them up @ 10/11 the pair.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 M.Allen v J.Cope - M.Allen @ 9/10 Boylesports Mark Allen showed what potential he had last season reaching the World Championship semi-final and opened up here with a decent win over McCulloch, I didn't like the price that day which is why I stayed away but I think a fair price to beat Cope here, Cope will be no rollover but I'll take the young gun from N.Ireland to progress.

[Ricochet]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 1pt - John Higgins - Outright @ 7.0 (StanJames, Totesport, Boylesports) I think he will be the one to watch on his home tables. Overcame rookie Mark Joyce without any real hiccups with the tie ending 5-1. Obviously there is the small task of beating 'Rocket' today, but if he can produce there shouldn't be much else preventing him from going all the way!

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 I'm opposing Spooner in what looks like a straight 50/50 match. 3pts J.Cope to beat M.Allen 11/10 Ladbrokes Jamie Cope was lucky to get through in the opening round after Ryan Day gifted him at least 3 frames but credit to the Stoke potter, when the chances came he took them very nicely. Mark Allen prevailed in a scrappy match against Ian McCulloch where he wasn't at his best and this game could suit him this afternoon as both like to attack and have the balls in the open. However Cope can be brilliant as well as poor and if he's brilliant he's a very tough nut to crack. He's got previous having made the final in this tournament in 2006 before losing to Neil Robertson and at odds against he's the call in this one.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Both Cope and Allen were awful this afternoon. Very poor quality match. May well be looking to take Allen on again if he's favourite in the QF's. One for this evening. Nice call with Allen though Spooner :ok. 3pts K.Doherty to beat N.Robertson 11/8 Boylesports Ken Doherty is playing some nice snooker at the minute and sending out Mark Selby in the 1st round is a very noticeable scalp. Neil Robertson beat Gerard Greene in round one but he never really convinced and he's looked up and down in the Premier League thus far too. Ken's crafty all round game could just be too much for the Aussie here who is generally a potting machine. If Doherty can make it tactical I think it will benefit him greatly. Ken popped in a century against Selby so he's scoring ok too and with the benefit of a few matches behind him already this season I'll take him to extend his 3-2 H2H over Robertson this evening.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Indeed, sounded as if it was very poor quality Kev. See who he gets next match. :ok

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 M.Williams v S.Hendry - S.Hendry @ 2.36 Betfair (£1538 to back) Williams is back on form at the moment and now back in the top 16 but I think Hendry is a bit of value at the price, there is not a great deal between the players at the moment. Both players eased through the first round and this is sure to be a tight battle, taking off 5% you're still getting around 13/10 and in what I would call a 50/50 match up, I'll side with Hendry.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 I'll take one this evening also. M.King v R.Milkins - R.Milkins @ 6/5 Totesport Milkins took a big scalp in the opening round when seeing on Ali Carter, he beat him convincely winning 5-1. Mark King was a tad lucky to get through the first round againt Rickey Walden, needing 31 points with only four colours left he managed to get the snookers and see off the colours, Walden would of been disappointed to go home and King can count himself a fortunate man, I don't think he'll get away with the same mistakes tonight and Milkins may punish him here.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Really looking forward to this Williams vs Hendry match. Should be a great game. No major bet for me in it other than a small 0.25pt buy of Williams' 50 ups at 58 with Sporting Index. His 50 ups made up at 65 in his match with Bingham with a top break of just 74. That shows that there's potential for this to be a lot more. He'll want to hammer every nail in against his best mate. Even a single 108 break sees us level so a couple of 70's or 80's in there too and bingo.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Barely believable how bad the Hendry/Williams match was. 2 for me tonight. 4pts M.King to beat R.Milkins 8/11 Boylesports On the face of it, Robert Milkins picked up a good win in the opening round beating Ali Carter 5-1 but when you look at the scores, he did so with a highest break of just 56. He only hit one other half century in the match. I never saw that match but I suspect the result was impacted by Carter's mrs recently having a kid and the sleepless nights and lack of practice that would've brought about. I thought Mark King played well in beating Ricky Walden. Sure he wasn't vintage or anything like that but he was much improved on recent performances and sometimes when you escape from needing 3 snookers to stay in you relax and play free. Robert Milkins hasn't got much of a safety game, he's all or nothing in many respects. Mark King specialises in scrappy matches and he'll see this as a chance to go far in this event with most of the big names out, especially if he gets a good draw before the match begins. Whatever the draw, I expect King to win this and probably win it a shade comfortably too. 3pts D.Junhui to beat S.Maguire 11/10 Boylesports I opposed Ding in the 1st round but from 4-2 down he played quite well. Stephen Maguire came through from 3-1 down to Nigel Bond but it was a scrappy game and he never really got going. There could be shades of the injury that forced him out of the Shanghai Masters involved still. He hasn't coped well with pressure matches for the last season or so and to be fair while Ding hasn't either, he'll be under less pressure than Maguire given this is in the Scot's back yard. When he gets going Ding can be unstoppable. Maguire can play well too but he's still got the match fixing thing lingering in his mind so at odds against I'll take Ding in this one.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Sounded terrible Kev, if Allan plays Williams in the quaters I think ill avoid!!

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009

Sounded terrible Kev' date=' if Allan plays Williams in the quaters I think ill avoid!![/quote'] Was crap. At half time the highest break was 28 :eek. Allen's got Higgins in the next round. Williams has King/Milkins.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Crazy! I might of stood a chance of leading at the interval :lol Ah right, cheers.

[-@m]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Mark Williams v Robert Milkins Robert Milkins @ 7/4 i see a bit of value in millkins for this one , he has won both of his last game 5-1 and i watched the williams v hendry game and it was poor from both players. also robert milkins +1.5 frames is @ evens , which i think is also a great bet so milkins @ 7/4 and 1.5 frames @ EVENS , all with paddy power any views would be nice :)

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 I'd go the other way if I was betting. Can't find any value on the game but I'd expect Williams to have too much class and win 5-1/5-2. I'll bet on the other game. 3pts P.Ebdon to beat D.Junhui 13/8 Stan James Peter Ebdon is often hard to beat when he gets his teeth into a tournament. His problem tends to be getting into a tournament after all the travelling he has to do. Ding Junhui is finally getting some form back and he's more than capable of winning this but Ebdon is playing well and scoring well which is more important. Ebdon's all round match game is very tough to crack and although Ding beat Maguire easily last night, he was given so many chances it was untrue. Ebbo won't give him that many chances so I'll take the Englishman to win this at a nice price.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Thought I had that when Ebdon went 2-0 up. Not to be though. Going 100% turnaround tonight :lol. 4pts D.Junhui (-1.5 frames) to beat M.Williams 19/20 Boylesports Ding Junhui has come through 3 pretty tough matches on paper and done it well. How Mark Williams is here can only be a testiment to his battling qualities because for the most part he's been awful in this event. However unless he dramatically improves here, and there's nothing to say he won't of course, he'll get beaten easily in this semi final. Ding's showing some really good early season form this year and although I fancied Ebdon to beat him last night that was more down to Ebdon's style and play than Ding's form. Ding is in good form. He's scoring well and playing some good safety and I think he'll come through this for the loss of no more than 4 frames. 6-3 would be my favoured scoreline but as we've got 6-4 on our side I'll take Ding on the handicap.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 That handicap was never in danger. Really good stuff from Ding. I'm taking him in the final as well. 4pts D.Junhui to beat N.Robertson 10/11 Stan James Ding Junhui is playing some wonderful snooker at the minute. What's really impressed me is how good his safety has been this week. It'll need to stay that way today against Neil Robertson who can pot them from the front row if given half a chance. Robertson by all accounts was superb yesterday and anytime you beat John Higgins you'll have to be. He said it's the best he's ever played on TV which is a big statement but as I said Ding's playing well too. One brown he potted last night was stunningly incredible. This could be a smashing final and when it's all over, I think Ding will be lifting the trophy aloft.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Not to be that one. I've been guilty of underestimating Neil Robertson recently. His performance against Hendry in the Premier League was awful and that's stuck in my mind but credit to him he's been fantastic this week. Completely solid today. Another top quality week of snooker in the whole. Looking forward to the UK now. Feel a bit sorry for Ding though. Didn't play well today, and then there he is still learning the English language and they stick a scouser in front of him to ask him some questions :eyes :lol.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: Grand Prix 2009 Unlucky in the final kev, Crucial frame where Ding got the snooker required but then turned down a pot on the brown, I think it was 4-4 or 5-4, I fancied whoever won that to go on and win, Ding had plenty of chances just couldn't get a break going.