Snooker: World Championships 2010

[Spooner]

The final event of the season gets underway in just under a weeks time at Sheffield sponsored by Betfred who are standout on most prices. Outright odds (best prices): R.O'Sullivan 4/1 Betfred J.Higgins 11/2 Betfred M.Selby 17/2 Betfred Ding 9/1 Stan James N.Robertson 12/1 Betfred S.Murphy 14/1 Boylesports S.Maguire 16/1 365 M.Williams 16/1 Betfred M.Allen 20/1 Betfred 33/1 bar Opening matches:

	Saturday 17 April 2010	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Higgins, J v Hawkins, B (10:00 BST)	1.2	5.55	101.35 %
	Allen, M v Ford, T (10:00 BST)	1.29	4.33	100.60 %
	Perry, J v Holt, M (14:30 BST)	1.69	2.37	101.28 %
	Hendry, S v Anda, Z (14:30 BST)	1.3	4.33	100.00 %
	Selby, M v Doherty, K (19:00 BST)	1.37	3.75	99.66 %
	Sunday 18 April 2010	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Fu, M v Gould, M (10:00 BST)	1.48	3	100.90 %
	Carter, A v Cope, J (14:30 BST)	1.73	2.26	102.05 %
	Monday 19 April 2010	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Williams, M v Campbell, M (10:00 BST)	1.18	5.5	102.93 %
	O'Sullivan, R v Wenbo, L (14:30 BST)	1.25	5.2	99.23 %
	King, M v Davis, S (19:00 BST)	1.53	2.87	100.00 %
	Tuesday 20 April 2010	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Ding, Junhui v Pettman, S (10:00 BST)	1.14	7	102.01 %
	Day, R v Davis, M (10:00 BST)	1.36	3.75	100.00 %
	Robertson, N v O'Brien, F (14:30 BST)	1.2	5	103.33 %
	Ebdon, P v Dott, G (19:00 BST)	1.72	2.25	102.34 %
	Wednesday 21 April 2010	Player 1	Player 2	BPP
	Maguire, S v Lee, S (14:30 BST)	1.34	4.1	99.02 %
	Murphy, S v Greene, G (19:00 BST)	1.24	6	97.31 %

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Posts from other thread......

You can get 14/1 on Murphy at Betfair, quite a difference. ;) Here is the 1st Round draw with the Championship running from 17th April - 3rd May, if anyone knows the bracket for the draw it would be helpful. :ok I love the World Championships and will have more to say closer to the time but as usual, much will depend on which Ronnie turns up to play this year because if he can stay motivated and find the form we all know he's capable of it's difficult to look past him - but if the "I don't care so much" Ronnie turns up he could be sent on his bike in the 1st round because Liang Wenbo has the potential to make it uncomfortable, not the best draw for Ronnie in R1. John Higgins, he just know's how to prepare for the two week's and is most likely to stay consistent throughout because his game is made for the long session's required, never easy to beat. My early pick outside of Ronnie is Mark Selby, more experienced and getting better and better, will be full of confidence still after that epic Masters final back in January and well worth an early punt at 9/1 you can get on Betfair. :hope

Just had a quick glance at the markets on Paddy Power (so dont know if there is a bigger price elsewhere) and Mark Allen looks decent value at 3.25 to win his quarter. His biggest challenger looks to be Maguire, who im not fully convinced by when it comes to winning matches comfortably that he is expected to win. However, Allen has shown over the past year or so that he can mix it with anyone and it wont be long before he wins one of the bigger tournaments.

For me, Ronnie has it all do from his draw. First up in Liang Wenbo then probably followed by in form Mark Williams, if he gets through that, he then has a quater-final against probably Mark Selby so there are reasons to oppose at 4/1. 3pts e/w J.Higgins to win World Championships @ 11/2 Betfred (2, 1/2) We all know how good John is in the longer format, winning this title three times, two out of last three. The draw has been kind to him, with Barry Hawkins up first followed by either Mark King or Steve Davis. It starts getting interesting for John in the quaters bar any major upset in the first two matches, he'll likely face Neil Robertson who I really rate as a player, on his day can beat anyone. To win the World Championships you're going to have to beat players like this and of course Higgins is more than capable. If he reaches the Semi's not sure who he'll meet, I think the 2nd quater is quite a tight one with Ding, Carter, Murphy & Cope. My main reason for taking this bet is it looks a breeze to the Quater-finals, he holds a good record here recently and I'm sure still hungry for more success. 1pt e/w R.Day to win World Championships @ 40/1 Paddy Power (2, 1/2) 2pts R.Day to win 3rd Quater @ 5/1 Betfred I don't particulary rate Ryan Day as one of the best so a bit surprising I'm taking him for the outright, he is however ranked 6th best in the world for what its worth. I think the draw has been fairly kind, first up in Mark Davis who he ought to be getting past, then it starts to get a bit tricky with a likely 2nd round match v Mark Allen who I really rate but Day is double his price. If he can get past Allen, then he'll probably be facing Maguire who I think as times is questionable, Maguire would be strong favourite, but I wouldn't want to be taking him. Of course, we'd be on at 5/1 to beat him for the quater bet, so we'd have the value. If he can get past them Quaters then who knows, we'd be on at nice prices anyway. Basically I think there is a good chance he'll get through rounds one and two, therefore giving us value for the remaining rounds should he keep getting through.

[western skies]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 I've been looking through the draw today and the top half looks fairly straightforward, whereas the bottom half is a total nightmare. Of course, it rarely works out as simply as that, but we can only try.

I really can't see past a John Higgins v Neil Robertson quarter final in Q1. Higgins would need to be seriously off his game not to see off Barry Hawkins and Mark King/Steve Davis, and I can't imagine Robbo's too displeased with Fergal O'Brien and then Marco Fu/Martin Gould, especially given Marco's lack of form this season.

This where the fun starts and I like the look of Neil Robertson to win 1st Quarter at 3.25 on Betfair. I know it's risky to back against Higgins over this distance, but Robbo has really impressed me this season and his record in their head to heads is impressive. They've played 2 final frame deciders this season (Robbo winning 6-5 in the Grand Prix and Higgins winning 9-8 in the UK) and I can see another close one here. To me, this bet equates to getting 3.25 on Robbo to come out on top in a shoot-out with JH and I'm quite happy with those odds.

The 2nd quarter doesn't look quite as straightforward, but it's home to my only outright bet for now - Ding Junhui to win the World Championship at 10.5 on Betfair. Looking at the rest of the quarter, I see Ali Carter as the most likely spanner in the works, although he's landed a tough 1st round opponent in Jamie Cope. Shaun Murphy should never be discounted either, but I really don't like his form this season, and Ding seems to have the measure of him in their recent meetings (he was particularly impressive blowing Smurph away in the UK).

As for Ding himself, he looks to be back to something approaching his very best and his UK victory demonstrates that he doesn't fear the longer matches. My only worry is how well his slightly shaky temperament will hold up if he goes the distance, but I'm a firm believer that he's easily good enough to be a world champion and I want to be on him when he achieves it. He's playing well enough this year for sure.

As for the bottom half, quarter 3 looks like the weakest but I'm damned if I can pick a semi-finalist out of it. I don't fancy Stephen Maguire - he seems to struggle when he faces quality opposition these days, and I can't see Mark Allen repeating his heroics of 12 months ago. Might have to side with Spooner's choice of Ryan Day, although I'm not totally convinced by him either.

Quarter 4 has Ronnie in it. Lord knows which Ronnie will show up, but of course if he applies himself he can win the whole thing - particularly now he seems to have accepted his long game isn't what it was. Mark Williams and Mark Selby look the biggest dangers; especially Selby who has no problems playing Ronnie and seemed to have gotten inside his head a bit after the Masters final.

I'll have another look at the bottom half before Saturday, as I'd really like an outright and maybe another quarter winner, but that's it for now.

Good luck everyone. :hope

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Going to take 3 outrights. Will come back nearer the off with the other specials. 1.5pts ew M.Williams to win World Championship 16/1 Betfred (1/2 1,2) Mark Williams played some superb snooker in China and he's more than got the temperament to go back to back here. He's a 2 time winner of this event so he knows everything he needs to about lasting the distance over the marathon 17 days. Williams looked to be cueing as well as he ever has in that China Open and his scoring was top notch. He's always been a superb potter but when the scoring comes together as well he's tough to beat for anybody. His draw isn't necessarily easy given that he could have O'Sullivan in the 2nd round but I don't think that would phase him. Selby and Hendry are also in his quarter but if Williams carries on his form from China he won't be worried about anyone. I genuinely think the Welshman is playing well enough to pick up a 3rd world title and had he not been given the draw he has I think he'd be no bigger than 10/1. I'll happily take the 16/1 though. 1pt ew A.Carter to win World Championship 33/1 Betfred (1/2 1,2) Ali Carter's very much a player I like and he knows his way around the Crucible Theatre now. He was runner up here in 2008 and hit a 147 on the way so he'll feel very much at home in this venue. Unlike Williams, Carter's draw is nice enough. He's got Ding and Murphy in his quarter but one of them will have gone before he can meet them in the quarter final. Jamie Cope isn't the easiest 1st round match but we saw in Wales that Carter is still in decent nick this season and although over the course of it he hasn't had his best season, I think he can go well this week. You're not going to get an easy draw here but there's harder to be had so at 33/1 I'll chance the captain to go well in this. 0.5pts T.Ford to win World Championship 200/1 Bet365 (1/2 1,2) Tom Ford is a player I've liked the look of for a long while and he's a lot better than his ranking and his career so far would suggest. When he's on form he's a very heavy scorer who fears nobody and is a dangerous outsider. He reminds me in many ways of Shaun Murphy the year he picked up the title. He's a bit raw, mainly a potter and scorer and hasn't got much safety in his game but Murphy showed that style can win a world title. What he has got is a lovely section of the draw. You could argue in an ideal world he'd have avoided Mark Allen but when the 4 seeds in your quarter is Allen, Day, Ebdon and Maguire you can't complain too much. There's match wins in this player from Leicester. He made 3 centuries in qualifying which shows how he can score when he gets going. He walloped Judd Trump 10-3 in the final round of qualifying and at 200/1 while he's a longshot, Murphy showed it's possible so I'm happy to take my chances on a guy who has got a competitive 147 to his name which further emphasises his ability. He may not win the event but we could get a nice run at a very tasty price.

[marron]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Just the one for me for now. 7pts Mark Allen To Win 3rd Quarter 5/2 William Hill Saw this a week or so ago and thought it was good value. Allen has been provided with, on paper, the easiest quarter of the championship in terms of the players he could meet on the way to a possible semi-final. I really rate the Irishman and dont think it will be long before he wins one of the big tournaments. His long potting can be devastatingly brilliant when he is on top form whilst he can also follow up those good starting shots by weighing in heavily with his break building. This time last year he beat O'Sullivan and then Ryan Day on his way to the semi's where he lost to the eventual winner John Higgins and this time he has avoided the major players who are coming into form at the right time. The biggest danger to this bet could be Stephen Maguire who, although officially the world number 2, i am not too sure about when it comes to winning games as the favourite. Allen beat Maguire in the China open not so long ago so will be confident should they meet. Tom Ford can be a good player on his day but it remains to be seen whether he can be consistent enough against the better players over this longer format so the first round draw could have been a lot worse. The others in the part of the draw, such as Ebdon and Day, can also beat the best when on form but the former has been nowhere near his best over the last couple of years and the latter is a bit of an enigma in my opinion with nobody quite sure which Ryan Day will turn up. I would have put Allen as favourite for this bet if i was making the book, so im quite happy to take the 5/2 available.

[western skies]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 One more outright for me and that's Mark Selby to win the World Championship at 10 on Betfair. Selby's not had the greatest of seasons in the ranking events, but he plays well here. Quarter 4 is a real toughie but he just seems to have the mental toughness needed to close out the tight matches and, as I mentioned before, he doesn't fear Ronnie. He's also got one of the harder 1st round opponents in Ken Doherty and that could be no bad thing - how often do players sail through the early rounds only to come to grief when they face their first real pressure? Hopefully Ken will do just enough to get Selby match-fit and then bow out gracefully. :hope

[JackJarvis]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Absolutely love this tournament. :D Players for me that have to be opposed are Stephen Maguire & Shaun Murphy. Both have looked poor for most of the season so far and I definetly will be looking at the handicaps available on Stephen Lee & Gerard Greene. I actually think Lee is tremendous value at 5/2 to beat Maguire with the only concern being the longer frame matches don't tend to suit Lee as much.

[airliner]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Here's my situation so far. 1.3 pts Mark Williams @ 20/1(placed during the China Open) Thought he was playing well and hoped he would win and thus present a trade opportunity. 0.5 pts Peter Ebdon 85/1 (betdaq) (placed post China Open) I was encouraged by some of the snooker played by Ebdon during the China Open and as a former World Champion he has to be considered at 85/1. He is also in the weakest quarter of the draw so I am hoping that he can secure a place in the quarter finals and I'll then reassess my position. So I now have 2 picks, one in quarter 3 (Ebdon) and one in quarter 4 (Williams). Quarter 1 I am expecting the quarter final to be played out between John Higgins (evens extrabet) and Neil Robertson (5/2 skybet, tote). If all goes well i'd have Higgins at evens to beat Robertson. I'm also going to put a mini saver, of a kind, on Robertson outright. If he beats Higgins then i'd expect his price to crash. Maybe in half depending on whether o' sullivan is still in the tournament at the semis. Bets 4pts Higgins to win 1st Quarter (evens extrabet) 2pts Robertson outright @13/1 (betdaq) Quarter 2 For me this is by far the trickiest quarter to price up. I think Ali Carter (5/1 for quarter, sporting bet and ladbrokes) will come through against Jamie Cope(13/2 ladbrokes, bluesq, coral). Cope is returning to the scene were he bottled a second round 12-10 lead against Higgins and how much will that play on his mind? It's hard to say but he's up against a former world championship finalist who has some solid recent form (quarters UK championships, final Welsh Open, semis China Open). Carter will either have Joe Perry or Michael Holt in the second round. Both of whom you'd expect Carter to beat. Playing Carter in the quarters I think will be Ding Junhui (2/1 betfred, sportingbet). I must admit to knowing nothing about his first round opponent Stuart Pattman. However I expect Ding to beat a qualifier and then to beat whoever wins out of Shaun Murphy v Gerard Greene. Murphy was beaten 5-2 by Nigel bond in the first round of the China Open and 5-4 in the first round of the Welsh Open by Matthew Stevens (who hasn't qualified for the World Championships). I can't be backing Murphy (11/4 tote, coral) to win the quarter, on the back of such weak form. Bets 3 pts @ 2/1 - Ding to win 2nd Quarter 1 pt @ 5/1 - Carter to Win 2nd Quarter 0.75 pts @ 31/1(betfair) Carter outright All bets so far 1.3 pts @ 20/1 - Mark Williams outright 0.5 pts @ 85/1 (betdaq)Peter Ebdon outright 4pts @ evens - Higgins to win 1st Quarter 2pts @13/1 (betdaq) - Robertson outright 3 pts @ 2/1 - Ding to win 2nd Quarter 1 pt @ 5/1 - Carter to Win 2nd Quarter 0.75 pts @ 31/1 (betdaq) Carter outright Total Outlay = 12.3 pts I may add a couple more before saturday.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Really looking forward to this starting. I'm not backing anything outright so will get straight into the first round match bets. J.Higgins to beat B.Hawkins, first 4 frames, 6pts @ 5/6 Paddy Power The champ starts his defence tomorrow and he will be desperate to start well. One thing I love to bet on is Higgins in the opening session of any match, he's usually 'on it' from the off. His record against the qualifers is awesome and, other than Matthew Selt in the very first tournament of the season where the first 4 frames were shared, he's won every other 4 frame shootout against qualifiers. That's 6 out of 6 including 4-0's against Liang, Walden and Judge; his other victims being Joyce, Dott and O'Brien. Barry Hawkins might be a little overawed in the opening match of the tournament and will struggle against the pressure the Scot will put him under. Having not qualified for the first few tournaments, he's made the final stages of the last 3. At the Welsh, he beat Ebdon 5-0 before losing 5-1 to Maguire, whilst he lost 5-3 against the same opponent in the China, having been 3-1 down. That's 2 of his 3 matches that he's been down after 4 frames and I expect that to continue here at a generous looking price. T.Ford to win 1st frame vs M.Allen, 4pts @ 6/4 Stan James This might be a strange bet but I cannot ignore the price on Tom Ford here. He's a really promising young player who generally starts well. In his 3 qualifiers to get here, he's won the opener in all 3, Judd Trump & Anthony Hamilton amongst his victims. In those 3 frames, he's record 4 breaks over 40 including a century and a 97. In contrast, Mark Allen needs a longer format as he starts slowly. In his 14 ranking event matches this season, he's lost the opener on 9 times, including 4 of 6 in his opening match. Add to that the fact Ford won the opening 2 in their clash at the Welsh Open where Allen went on to take the next 5, anything odds against must be worth taking. M.Allen vs T.Ford, over 9.5 50+ breaks, 6pts @ 4/6 Paddy Power The other bookies offering odds on this having the line at a more realistic 11.5, so this looks a low line. These 2 players are very attacking and like to get in amongst the balls so I would fully expect there to be plenty of chances. Mark Allen has begun to string some results together and, in the process, has started to hit the breaks. Of the 29 frames he's won in the last 2 events, he's recorded 20 breaks over 50+ whilst Ford recorded 21 breaks over 50 in his 30 frames won in the qualifiers. Based on that, we will need a scoreline of 10-5 or greater for this to come in and I'm confident it will be closer than that. In addition, it wouldn't be a surprise if that line came in sooner with 2 such players; in their match up at the Welsh, the 5-2 score produced 6 50+ breaks. A reproduction of that will make this line look crazy.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 One more outright for me. 1pt ew N.Robertson to make highest break 14/1 Blue Square (1/4 1,2,3,4) Neil Robertson comes into this event having hit his 1st 147 in competition at the China Open recently. Recent history suggests it's going to take a 147 to win this so it's good to know Robbo's got that in his armoury. He's a heavy scorer at the best of times. Only O'Sullivan and Ding have scored more centuries than him this season and Ding's been in 2 finals and Ronnie is the best player drawing breath so it's no bad thing to be behind them two. I think Robertson's got a decent chance of going well this week. I certainly see him making the quarter finals which will give him plenty of opportunities to put a decent break in and at 14/1 I think Robertson's top value to nail the high break prize.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Actually changed my mind regarding the outrights after seeing Kev's bet on Robertson in the high break market. There looks to be some terrific value out there and I'm taking 2 at big prices here. A.Carter to make highest tournament break, 1pt EW @ 25/1 Paddy Power(1/4 odds 1-4) Ali Carter looks a value price to get in the money here. Although he's not been at his best, I do like him when he's on song and in amongst the reds. He concentrates pretty hard and likes to see frames out to completion unlike some who like to hit the ball hard when the frame is won and out of sight. He has a nice draw and, if he can overcome Jamie Cope in the first round, then quarter final would seem the minimum distance he'll go. That gives him plenty of opportunities to top score here, a place he likes. Interestingly that he's had the top break in 2 of the last 3 seasons, with a maximum in 2008 and a 144 in 2007. He'll be looking to finish the season well and I expect a big break to be in amongst his run deep into the tournament. M.Fu to make highest tournament break, 1pt EW @ 33/1 Bet365 (1/4 odds 1-4) Should progess in Round 1 past Martin Gould before a tough assignment against Robertson in Round 2, but it's one he can overcome. That again will give him plenty of opportunity to hit some big breaks. When on song, he scores very heavily indeed; in fact he hit 3 centuries in his opening round win over Joe Swail last year. Having been out of form all season, he returned to something like his best in the China Open and will have taken a huge amound of confidence from that. In addition, he won the Championship League and was hitting tons for fun. May need a bit of luck to win but 33/1 looks too big for a player with a 144 already on the board this season.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 One more outright. And 3 match bets for Saturday. 0.5pts ew T.Ford to hit highest break 66/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4) Bet365 Said most of what I need to say about Ford in my outright bet. He's hit 11 tons in qualifying this season so he's scoring like a dream. The highest of those was a 143 which until Robertson's 147 last week, was the highest of the season, surprisingly. 3 of those tons were in qualifying for this so he's in decent nick and at 66/1 is well worth an ew tickle for the top break prize. And now the matches. 4pts J.Higgins (-3.5 frames) to beat B.Hawkins 8/11 Blue Square John Higgins begins the defence of his title with a tricky but ultimately winnable match against Barry Hawkins. Hawkins is a tricky opponent who can make matches a bit scrappy but Higgins is playing way too good for him at the minute. Higgins' safety is tying people in knots and the Wizard from Wishaw has scored heavily all season. Hawkins hasn't really offered a great deal in the main events this season and I can't see that changing here. I would expect Higgins to take a lead into lunch and complete the job in the evening session for the loss of no more than 6 frames. 3pts T.Ford Highest Break vs M.Allen 7/4 Skybet As I've alluded to already, Tom Ford is a very heavy scorer and I think he's a big price in this market. Mark Allen's a good player but he sometimes begins matches slowly and by the time he's into his stride he's just interested in winning frames. When the frame is won he tends to do a bit of showboating so doesn't always score as many as he could do. This is Ford's 1st visit to the mecca of snooker and he'll want to stick a show on. He's a heavy scorer and at 7/4 I'll take him to top the breaks between these two. 4pts S.Hendry (-3.5 frames) to beat A.Zhang 11/10 Boylesports I like Hendry in this match. He's always got his game ready for Sheffield and he had a decent run out in China at the start of the month. Anda Zhang has done unbelievable to make it this far in the event but I think his run ends here. We've seen in the past that Chinese players can make an impact on their debut at the Crucible but I just think Hendry, who has suddenly started scoring really well again, will have too much for him. These young Chinese players pot a lot of balls but when they miss tend to leave a few on. That'll be costly against Hendry and I see the Scot winning this 10-6 or better.

[western skies]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010

I actually think Lee is tremendous value at 5/2 to beat Maguire with the only concern being the longer frame matches don't tend to suit Lee as much.

Totally agree with this call mate. You've also got to wonder what state of mind Maguire will be in given the recent developments in the Burnett saga. The big question mark is Lee's stamina, but I still can't be having Maguire at 1.33 ( Betfair ). Just one for me tomorrow - Hendry v Zhang - over 2.5 hundred breaks @ 3 on Betfair. It's a bit of a risk, but I really like this price. Hendry may be a shadow of the player he once was, but he still knocks in century breaks with the best of them (12 this season). I know very little about Zhang, but he comes with a reputation for fearless potting and heavy scoring, and I see that he knocked in 5 centuries and a 99 break in 4 qualifying matches. If he can knock one in here, then I fancy Hendry to do the business to bring this bet in. Can't wait for it to start now. :loon

[RuleBritannia]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Mark Williams 1pt to win outright @ 14/1 Totesport Mark Williams 4pts to win 4th Quarter @ 9/2 Bet365 Probably one of my favourite players of all time, and just so hapens that IMO this year, I have more than just favouritism as a justification for backing him. His form couldnt be much better in the run up to the championships, having only just secured the China Open, and playing awesomely in doing so. Ding Junhui was in scintillating form there, and he outplayed him convincingly in his own backyard in the final, never an easy thing to do. He has become a bit of a crucible favourite down the years, has Mark and I feel the crowd will only oppose him when playing O Sullivan but that shouldnt bother him, besides I dont think he will play Ronnie in round 2 anyway. ;) He looks to me, as if he is every bit as good as the player who has been successful here in the past, and because of Ronnie being in the same section, not only do we get IMO good value in the outrights, but also in the quarter betting.

[RuleBritannia]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Ive looked and looked for other bets, but none at this stage (in outright or quarter market make appeal to me), so will concentrate on match betting throughout the 17 days.

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 7pts J.Perry v M.Holt - Under 1.5 Centuries @ 8/11 Skybet I have no idea who will win the match, Joe Perry has had a very disappointing season and will not be in the Top 16 come the end of the season. Between the two players they have managed to score just one century all season so skybet's 8/11 about 1 century or less looks a good'un to get us underway.

[kkull]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010

7pts J.Perry v M.Holt - Under 1.5 Centuries @ 8/11 Skybet I have no idea who will win the match, Joe Perry has had a very diappointing season and will not be in the Top 16 come the end of the season. Between the two players they have managed to score just one century all season so skybet's 8/11 about 1 century or less looks a good'un to get us underway.

Michael Holt has a big chance here to get to 2nd round! :)

[registereduser]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Sorry for stupid post, does those matches in Sheffield stretched in two days, or they are finished in the night session on the same day? I accidentally put Higgins to beat Hawkins in combo... Does this mean my money will be locked until tomorrow noon at the earliest?

[Spooner]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 :welcome to PL registereduser. BBC Website shows the order of play http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/8620811.stm Higgins will finish tonight, Allen v Ford will finish tomorrow morning although they started at same time as Higgins game, so to answer your question, some games are finished on same day, some are next day, best of 19 matches are two sessions long.

[registereduser]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Cheers Spooner :cheers

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Awful morning for me:sad 2 more for this afternoon.... A.Zhang to beat S.Hendry, race to 3 frames, 3pts @ 7/4 Bet365 I like the fearless nature of these Chinese players and think that if the young lad can knock a few balls in early, he could quite easily rattle up a few early frames. He had a cracking qualifying run beating Craig Steadman, John Parrot, Andrew Higginson and Ricky Walden en route. He has nothing to lose here and if he can bring his potting game, he has a great chance in the early exchanges. There's no way I expect Hendry to lose this but he's not the fastest starter and may feel slightly unnerved facing this unknown quantity. It may take Hendry 4 or 5 frames to settle in this one so I'll take Zhang to take this at almost 2/1. J.Perry (-1.5 frames) to beat M.Holt, 4pts @ Evs Betfred Not the greatest quality match here and certainly not one for the purists. However, Joe Perry is solid enough in these longer matches and I expect he will have too much for Holt. He's not played too well this season and isn't running deep into any competition but is generally solid early doors. The longer format will suit him. Michael Holt is a player I really am not keen on. Far too inconsistent for me and, for an attacking player, misses too many easy balls. Struggled in his qualifer against a poor opponent so at Evs, I'll take Perry to prevail in a poor affair.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Not looking good so far but I'm taking 1 tonight.... J.Higgins (-1.5 frames) to beat B.Hawkins, 4pts @ 9/10 Boylesports I can't believe Higgins will play as badly again, especially as he defends his frame. Similarly I don't believe Hawkins will play as well. Basicaly we need the Scot to win the evening session 6-3 or better to bring this bet in and I'm confident he will do. Remember, he's only 1 behind so won 4 frames but incredibly this high scorer had just 1 50+ break. He's had the afternoon to get his head together and, if he takes the first session 3-1, then I feel this is in the bag. Gawon John!

[Cramer]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010

Sport	Snooker/Pool
Event	John Higgins v Barry Hawkins
Selection	Barry Hawkins
Strength	10/10
Date	17/04/2010
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 3.50 (Back)
Reasoning	Feel this is worth a chance, and should give some entertainment for the evening. Higgins was very poor this morning, he should be better tonight, but it's not a given. Hawkins was reasonable and seemed quite composed. he's a good player and with a lead should come out with some confidence. All bookmakers go much lower on this, mostly around 3.0 or a bit lower, and when getting this type of disparity I like to get involved.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Clawed a bit back on Day 1 but disappointing overall. Currently at -9.4pts but with Perry looking good to bring home 4pts profit tomorrow. The key though is the potential 10pt swing on the Allen/Ford match. Allen's 8-1 up and I need 3 more 50+ breaks to bring this bet in. Therefore, it's imperative Ford comes out strong and wins at least 2 of the first 3 frames to give me a chance:hope 2 weeks to go so plenty of time to get it back:ok

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 2 bets for tomorrow..... M.Fu to hit 2 centuries vs M.Gould, 1.5pts @ 9/2 Ladbrokes M.Fu to hit 3 centuries vs M.Gould, 0.5pts @ 14/1 Ladbrokes Marco Fu loves hitting tons and I think that 2 here is well within his reach. Generally in the longer format matches, he likes to get a few big breaks on the board. In the UK earlier this season, he got beaten up by Peter Lines losing 9-3 but, even though his form was terrible, still managed 1 ton and a 90+ from the 3 frames he won. In the World's last year, he hit 3 centuries in the opening round against Joe Swail and, even during his 2nd round battering of 13-3 vs Shaun Murphy, still managed another one. Is starting to hit top form now and his record in the Championship League further shows his century prowess. In Group 4 which he won, winning 20 frames in the process, he scored an amazing 6 centuries and 4 more over 80. In the Winners Group, he hit a further 4 from the 15 frames he won, and 3 more over 90. Combined, that's 35 frames won, with a total of 17 breaks over 85, 10 of which were 100+. Amazing scoring. If he can reproduce any of the aforementioned form, this bet looks a pretty solid one to me. A.Carter vs J.Cope, exactly 17 frames, 1.5pts @ 4/1 Ladbrokes A.Carter vs J.Cope, over 17 frames, 3.5pts @ 7/4 Ladbrokes Decided to take 2 bets as, although I fancy the over 16.5 line, I think there's every chance of over 17.5 so this increases the profit chance. Despite that, I'm covering the 10-7 scoreline too. Jamie Cope stands 17th provisionally in the world and will be hoping to progress here in a bid to break into the elite, whilst Ali is provisionally at 3 and will want to cement that position here. The draw opens up from here too so both will be desperate for a win. Both of these are solid players and I can see this going the full distance. Cope already has the scalp of Ding this season and was leading Selby 8-4 in the UK before Selby rattled off 5 in a row to win 9-8. Carter meanwhile is beginning to come into his own and generally plays good stuff at the Crucible. I expect this to live up to its billing as one of the matches of Round 1 and think 10-8 or 10-9 either way is highly likely.

[western skies]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Agree with Russ that Carter v Cope could be a very close match. With that in mind, I'm going to take another century break bet - Carter v Cope - over 1.5 hundred breaks @ 1.9 on Betfair. Both are good scorers on their day and if this match turns out to be the cracker that it should be, then they should cover this line easily.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 One for me this afternoon. 4pts A.Carter vs J.Cope - Over 10.5 50+ breaks Evs Paddy Power We've just seen a match between two heavy scorers have 11 50+ breaks in it and end 10-4. I expect this one to go most of the way and wouldn't be at all surprised if we see frames 18 and 19 in this one. Both these guys are heavy scorers. Cope possibly more than Carter but Carter's no mug when it comes to getting in and scoring. I like taking this bet in Jamie Cope matches because he doesn't deal in a great amount of safety, he's very much all or nothing. If he's all he'll score heavily and if he's nothing his opponent will. Once he's in the balls Carter can nail the breaks so assuming we get a 10-7/10-8ish scoreline then I think we'll have more than enough time to get the required 11 50+'s

[marron]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010

Agree with Russ that Carter v Cope could be a very close match. With that in mind' date=' I'm going to take another century break bet - [b']Carter v Cope - over 1.5 hundred breaks @ 1.9 on Betfair. Both are good scorers on their day and if this match turns out to be the cracker that it should be, then they should cover this line easily.

Just seen the same bet at 2.2 on Paddy Power ;)

[marron]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Some quality stuff being played already in the championship and i think we could see a crack match this affternoon between Carter and Cope. Taking one bet for it..... 4pts Ali Carter vs Jamie Cope Over 10.5 50+ Breaks at Evens with Paddy Power I think it will be a close game later and if pushed i would probably go for Carter to win the match but i think its a near 50/50 call so im not prepared to bet on that market. What we do know here is that both of these guys can score consistently well once they are settled and can trade big breaks with the best of them. Cope won his last qulifying game for this 10-5 and in that match he recorded 8 50 breaks. Everyone knows that he can score well, do it quickly and will go for pots where other players may opt to play safe. Carter has really upped his game over the last couple of years and is a real danger in any tournament these days. As i have already said, i dont expect either player to run away with this game but should either get a good lead i would have confidence in both player's mental strength to keep knocking in good scores so think this line is pretty good.

[marron]

Re: Snooker: World Championships 2010 Scrappy game this, no player looking convincing when in with a good chance of clearing up. Cope looks to have completely lost all his confidence, maybe needs to start playing a bit more conservatively, which may sound daft when 4-1 down but he needs to find some rhythm.