Snooker World Championship 2008 Betting
February 29, 2008
SNOOKER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING
THE SNOOKER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The World Snooker Championship, currently held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, is the pinnacle of snooker’s calendar and the premier snooker event in terms of prestige, prize money and world ranking points. The sixteen top-ranked players in the world qualify automatically for the final stages. Players ranked outside the top sixteen must pre-qualify for the finals.
History
The first World Snooker Championship was held in 1927. Matches were held at various venues, with Joe Davis beating Tom Dennis 20-11 in the final in Birmingham. His prize money was £6.10s. The highest break of the tournament was 60 by Albert Cope.
In 1977, the World Championships moved to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, coinciding with the advent of extensive television coverage. The Crucible’s most successful players have been Steve Davis, a six times winner in the 80s. Davis was also involved in the most famous Crucible final, losing 18-17 on the final black, against Dennis Taylor in 1985. Stephen Hendry won an unprecedented (in the modern game) seven titles in the 90s. Davis and Hendry are the only two players to have successfully defended a Crucible World Championship, Davis winning three times in succession and Hendry five. Jimmy White has reached six finals and lost them all. No first-time Crucible champion has retained his title the following year. John Spencer, Terry Griffiths, Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor and Graeme Dott all exited in the first round.
Maximum Breaks
The first 147 in the championship was achieved by Cliff Thorburn (off a fluked red) in 1983. Ronnie O’ Sullivan’s maximum in 1997 took only 5 minutes and 20 seconds, the fastest ever recorded. He repeated the feat in 2003, against Marco Fu, but subsequently lost the match! Jimmy White (1992), Stephen Hendry (1995) and Mark Williams (2005) are other players to have made a 147 at the World Championships.
Recent Winners
2000 Mark Williams bt Matthew Stevens 18 - 16
2001 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt John Higgins 18 - 14
2002 Peter Ebdon bt Stephen Hendry 18 - 17
2003 Mark Williams bt Ken Doherty 18 - 16
2004 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt Graeme Dott 18 - 8
2005 Shaun Murphy bt Matthew Stevens 18 - 16
2006 Graeme Dott bt Peter Ebdon 18-14
2007 John Higgins bt Mark Selby 18-13
Ding Junhui recently became the first Chinese player to qualify for the final stages of the World Championship by beating Mark Davis 10-6 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Ding has won three world-ranking titles but was required to qualify as he is not among the top sixteen players.
The 2008 World Snooker Championship is scheduled for 19th April to 5th May.
BETTING ON THE WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Outright Betting
Currently, only outright prices are available for the 2008 renewal. As of 10th February best online prices are:
3/1 R. O’Sullivan (Blue Square), 9/1 Ding Junhui (totesport), S. Maguire (Bet365), 10/1 M. Selby (Boylesports), J. Higgins (Paddy Power), 12/1 S. Murphy (Stan James), 20/1 N. Robertson (Boylesports), 25/1 P. Ebdon (Stan James), 28/1 K. Doherty (Bet365), 33/1 S. Hendry (totesport), M. Fu (totesport), J. Cope (Boylesports), 40/1 M. Stevens (totesport), M. Williams (totesport), G. Dott (Paddy Power), R. Day (totesport), 66/1 M. Allen (Paddy Power), A. Carter (Paddy Power), J. Trump (Boylesports), 100/1 S. Lee (Stan James), B. Hawkins (Boylesports), 150/1 D. Dale (Boylesports), I. McCulloch (Bet365), A. Hamilton (Boylesports), S. Bingham (Paddy Power), R. Walden (Blue Square), 200/1 BAR. Each-way terms are ½ the odds 1, 2 and ante-post rules apply. N.B. Some of the above are still involved in qualifying.
To Win their Quarter of the Draw
Once the draw is known for the final stages at the Crucible, online bookmakers often offer prices on a particular player to “win his quarter,” i.e. to reach the semi-finals.
Name the Finalists
At the last sixteen or last eight stage of the finals, prices are likely to be available on correctly predicting the two players to contest the final.
147 Break during the World Championship
Online betting is usually presented on a “Yes/No” basis, as to whether a maximum break will be achieved by any player during the final stages.
Individual Match Betting
As soon as the full draw for Sheffield is known, online prices will be offered on individual matches.
“Handicap” Betting
If one of the competitors is a very short-priced favourite for a particular match, online bookmakers will try to stimulate betting interest by offering “handicap” betting on the match. The less-fancied player receives a certain number of frames start, the winner being the player who wins more frames, taking the handicap into account.
Correct Score Betting
As with several other sports, prices are offered on the final score in a particular match, e.g. O’Sullivan to win 10-5, Maguire to win 10-7, etc.
Since the majority of the tournament is covered on live television, individual match bets, handicap and correct score betting is also available “in-running,” i.e. whilst the match is in play
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