Snooker: Players Championship (3rd April)

Gamebookers Odds:
03 Apr 04 11:00 CET
1.61 Swail J. v Bingham S. 2.25

03 Apr 04 15:00 CET
1.55 Carter A. v Pettman S. 2.37
2.37 Davies A. v Robertson N. 1.55
1.41 King M. v Michie J. 2.80

03 Apr 04 20:00 CET
1.73 Day R. v Drago T. 2.05
1.73 Holt M. v Henry D. 2.05
1.61 Murphy S. v Harold D. 2.25

04 Apr 04 11:00 CET
1.45 Dale D. v Wilkinson G. 2.65
1.83 Pinches B. v Milkins R. 1.91

04 Apr 04 15:00 CET
1.23 Fu M. v Mackenzie S. 3.85
1.73 McCulloch I. v Bond N. 2.05
1.70 Small C. v Greene G. 2.10

04 Apr 04 20:00 CET
1.40 Hamilton A. v Burnett J. 2.85
1.65 Junhui D. v Selby M. 2.17
1.76 Parrott J. v Davis M. 2.00

Players marked in bold are the matches I'm thinkinking of betting on.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Paul Ross]

I wouldn't back Mark King @ 1.40 to beat my mum quite frankly, an abosolutely shocking price!

Carter and Pettman are friends and know each other well, I believe Pettman beat him earlier this season, but Carter is the better player.

Pinches is flying. A Journeyman in reality, but something has sparked him this season and he deserves to be favourite in this match.

Fu will win a tournament, just a matter of time, but 1.23 is not doing much for me here.

Arguably, Bond is playing better than McCulloch and certainly cannot be dismissed lightly. Personally I make Bond a slight fav here.

Thanks for the info Paul Ross2, unfortunately I've already placed my bet. The only match I was very confident about was Marco Fu, so I just put a few others into a small stake accumilator.

Pinches B. v Milkins R. @ 1.83
McCulloch I. v Bond N. @ 1.73
Fu M. v Mackenzie S. @ 1.23
Carter A. v Pettman S. @ 1.55
King M. v Michie J. @ 1.41
(1x5-fold + 5x4-folds)

"I wouldn't back Mark King @ 1.40 to beat my mum quite frankly, an abosolutely shocking price!"
I thought he played quite well in the Irish Masters and is improving all the time.
I took him at 66/1 ew at sporting odds,just a while ago he is beating michie 5-2 and they still have outright prices up!!!!!
This is a good tournament for outsiders as the big boys are looking towards the world championship and ronnie,williams and hendry have gone downhill lately.

[Paul Ross]

King is playing ok, but he and Michie are the same type of player and I personally took the value which was Michie @ 3.00, but lost.

You are quite right that this tourny produces shocks because the WC is next and the big boys aren't fully focused.

This is the tourny I backed Selby in last year @ 251.00 e/w aand he narrowly lost 9-7 in the final. I have backed 6 players outright in this one as I don't want another Maguire situation.

Not one of the players is below 66/1 btw, one of which is Carter, I can mention him now because he has played a match.

Roll on august when I can put all my bets on PL again.

[Paul Ross]

I'll put what I consider to be the correct prices on the rest of the first round matches, just my opinion of course.

Bookies Prices

03 Apr 04 20:00 CET
1.73 Day R. v Drago T. 2.05
1.73 Holt M. v Henry D. 2.05
1.61 Murphy S. v Harold D. 2.25

04 Apr 04 11:00 CET
1.45 Dale D. v Wilkinson G. 2.65
1.83 Pinches B. v Milkins R. 1.91

04 Apr 04 15:00 CET
1.23 Fu M. v Mackenzie S. 3.85
1.73 McCulloch I. v Bond N. 2.05
1.70 Small C. v Greene G. 2.10

04 Apr 04 20:00 CET
1.40 Hamilton A. v Burnett J. 2.85
1.65 Junhui D. v Selby M. 2.17
1.76 Parrott J. v Davis M. 2.00


My Prices

03 Apr 04 20:00 CET
2.05 Day R. v Drago T. 1.73
1.60 Holt M. v Henry D. 2.25
1.61 Murphy S. v Harold D. 2.25

04 Apr 04 11:00 CET
1.60 Dale D. v Wilkinson G. 2.25
1.73 Pinches B. v Milkins R. 2.05

04 Apr 04 15:00 CET
1.33 Fu M. v Mackenzie S. 3.30
2.05 McCulloch I. v Bond N. 1.73
1.83 Small C. v Greene G. 1.83

04 Apr 04 20:00 CET
1.50 Hamilton A. v Burnett J. 2.50
2.17 Junhui D. v Selby M. 1.65
2.00 Parrott J. v Davis M. 1.76

UPDATE
Pinches B. v Milkins R. 5-1
McCulloch I. v Bond N. 5-4
Fu M. v Mackenzie S. 5-1
Carter A. v Pettman S. 5-1
King M. v Michie J. 5-2

(1x5-fold + 5x4-folds)
Odds ???

Drinking money!

[Paul Ross]

Well done Plucey.

I'm 0/2 so far. Although, Fu, Carter, Murphy are through on my outrights, with Holt out and Selby on the rocks. We'll see how they go.

Cheers Paul Ross2
It wasn't the most "informed" bet I've ever placed in my life .
I used to always watch and play snooker back in Ireland, but you can't get it on domestic TV over here in Norway . If I could just get access to watch a few of these new players in action I'd be able to offer more constructive info on my bets.
So, your opinions on these new players are much appreciated .

[Tulenos]

plucey - some of the matches are covered by Eurosport yet again. This time they seem to cover evening sessions for a change.

[Paul Ross]

SkySports are covering this tourny too.

I don't have Eurosport or Sky sports at home, and I don't think the pubs play snooker on the big screens .
Maybe soon I'll invest in getting a sports package at home, then I'll feel a lot more confident about advising others about where their snooker cash should go.
As it stands now, my bets have a good chance of winning, but people would be better of ignoring them .
However, I've always had a good eye for snooker talent, so hopefully after re-educating myself with the current breed of players I'll be able to offer the forum more constructive bets and reasoning:b .

[Paul Ross]

I'm offering bankers post

Had a quick scan of the second round matches and i must admit the stand bet must be Mathew Stevens to beat Mark King. Mark King is a very poor player and he isnt even in the same league as Stevens so Stevens to win @1.53 with bet365

[Paul Ross]

plucey73 post

I agree about Stevens, but I'm not 100% confident about him, so I think I'll bet as follows (small stakes):

5pt double:
M.Williams - R.Lawlor @ 1.17
R.O'Sullivan - R.Day @ 1.22
Odds of 1.43

1pt treble:
M.Williams - R.Lawlor @ 1.17
R.O'Sullivan - R.Day @ 1.22
M.Fu - G.Dott @ 1.59
Odds of 2.27

1pt 4-fold:
M.Williams - R.Lawlor @ 1.17
R.O'Sullivan - R.Day @ 1.22
M.Fu - G.Dott @ 1.59
M.Stevens - M.King @ 1.53
Odds of 3.47

If Williams or O'Sullivan lose I'm screwed .

Good luck

[Paul Ross]

2nd Round Matches.

Bookies Prices

1.16 M Williams V R Lawler 4.50

1.57 M Stevens V M King 2.25

1.61 M Fu V G Dott 2.20

1.40 P Ebdon V S Bingham 2.75

1.25 R O Sullivan V R Day 3.75

1.66 S Davis V N Robertson 2.10

1.57 J White V S Murphy 2.25

1.53 K Doherty V A Carter 2.37

1.28 S Lee V J Parrott 3.50

1.22 J Higgins V D Henry 4.00

1.53 D Gray I Mc Culloch 2.37

1.36 Q Hann V J Burnett 3.00

1.83 J Perry V B Pinches 1.83

1.66 A Mc Manus V D Dale 2.10

1.30 S Hendry V G Greene 3.40


My Prices

1.10 M Williams V R Lawler 5.50

1.66 M Stevens V M King 2.10

1.44 M Fu V G Dott 2.62

1.50 P Ebdon V S Bingham 2.50

1.25 R O Sullivan V R Day 3.75

1.44 S Davis V N Robertson 2.62

1.66 J White V S Murphy 2.10

1.73 K Doherty V A Carter 2.00

1.28 S Lee V J Parrott 3.50

1.16 J Higgins V D Henry 4.50

1.53 D Gray I Mc Culloch 2.37

1.44 Q Hann V J Burnett 2.62

2.00 J Perry V B Pinches 1.73

1.83 A Mc Manus V D Dale 1.83

1.44 S Hendry V G Greene 2.62

[Paul Ross]

WorldSnooker.com stopped live scores.

Charging by SMS now. Don't they know Wheelsinmotion do it for free and that the venture will be a huge failure.

Beat Stevens today,and is up to play Williams,I would definetly not like to be backing williams at the moment,only beat Lawlor on the black.
Looks like his mind is on his baby to be and the World championship,I have laid him at betfair.
And King will beat him no doubt!!!

[Paul Ross]

You seem to have a lot of confidence in King, personally I wouldn't trust the Irish form one bit and Stevens hasn't been playing well for a while, King has more to do to convince me.

The thing with King is, he cannot handle high pressure situations because of his technique (he plays with both legs bent), and his all round game just isn't good enough.

He can score heavily when he has put the hard practice in, which he seems to have done recently, but he is a very inconsistent player and will never win a ranking tournament in my opinion.

Also, Williams did only scrape through, but Lawler was out of his tree, breaks of 105, 102, 81 & 65 would have beat most people, but Williams has a habit of winning matches like that.

I remember David Gray had 3 tons and lost 5-3 to Williams last year.

followed your main tip yesterday (Williams and Ronnie) and gratefully banked some dosh today. But bloody hell, it was a bit close at times. Could you please make your tips a big easier on the old ticker from now-on

and Doherty.After all the family strife King had,returning to snooker must be tough,this shows he had character,may not have the technical skill yet but with that kind of determination it is amazing what people can achieve!
I get fed up with ronnie trying to pull the lunatic act,talking gibberish in interviews and saying he will pack it all in,Hendry says playing is a chore,williams cant be bothered,
At least Doherty has the sense to know he has a gift and enjoys using it as he has said.
I would love to see doherty win this year he has a good positive attitude,far more enjoyable to watch than the 3 whiners!!!!