Which events?

As far as the snooker betting offer is concerned, major bookmakers usually concentrate on all of the current eight ranking events. Most bettors are attracted to the Snooker World Championship and secondly to the Grand Prix. Recently, a completely new concept of a modern snooker tournament has emerged. The Premier League snooker offers plenty of action and 6-frame matches with shot clock that can also end in a tie. All these events are covered by any of our recommended bookmakers. Currently, snooker broadcast is offered by the BBC, Sky and Eurosport as well as by some Asia-based TV stations. There are also some websites offering broadcast via the Internet.

Ins and Outs of Snooker Betting

Snooker betting itself can be a difficult task. Apart from thorough form analysis a serious bettor should focus on getting to know the players. Evaluating the players most recent performances on the basis of statistics is often insufficient. One should consider detailed sources of information, whether these are newspaper articles on snooker, or still better TV broadcast from a snooker tournament. When reading a quality article, preferably by a sports expert, you can rely on the journalist's insights and draw appropriate conclusions. When you are watching a snooker match you can both observe lots things on your own and learn some important facts from the commentator.

Pay attention not so much to the fact whether a player wins or not, but rather evaluate the overall style and manner of playing. One victory (or defeat) is always different from another victory. For instance, a player can win a match by the skin of his teeth, after a long, mentally exhausting battle. It indicates bad form. On another occasion, he comes out victorious having delivered a splendid performance. In this case the player is very likely to continue his winning streak. Analyze such and similar aspects of the match to judge what will be the player's form in the next match or tournament.

Remember that each player is different. There are players who are very confident and have a steady hand when it comes to the early stages of the tournament, but tend to lose their nerve when they reach quarter-finals. Others may have problem finding concentration when playing against weaker opponents. All the data concerned with this sort of analysis can be found in the players' head-to-head records.

Generally speaking, older players frequently have problems with concentration and consistency. Although not a very old player, Ronnie O' Sullivan, for instance, tends to lose concentration in longer-frame matches, and this may be the reason why such a remarkable competitior got only one World Championship title in the past six years (only in 2008).

Example

Below, is the Snooker World Rankings 2009/2010 with the full results of the 2008/2009 season. Each players' position is based not only on the 2008 /2009 season, but also on 2007/2008 season. The table is also a good example of a simple Snooker Form of the Top 16. Observe that apart from John Higgins (position 4) there is no single player who managed to win a ranking tournament twice. In fact, any of the top 16 appears to be capable of winning the whole tournament as those who managed to do that are currently ranked nr 1, nr 4, nr 7, nr 9, nr 13 and 14!

Table explanation: W – winner, RU – runner-up, SF – semi-finalist, QF – quarter-finalist, R16 – lost in round of 16, R32 – lost in round of 32, R64 – lost in round of 64, 1R – lost in first round, WR – lost in wildcard round, Q – lost in pre-qualifying, WD – withdrew.