2024 Masters Snooker Tips
We always enjoy the Masters and the chance to see the world’s top sixteen players competing at Alexandra Palace. There are some high quality games scheduled including Ronnie O’Sullivan meeting Ding Junhui which is a repeat of last year’s UK Championship final. In the other half of the draw, defending champion Judd Trump clashes with Kyren Wilson.
Trump could end up meeting Mark Williams in the quarter finals and it was this pair who clashed in last year’s final. There’s also world champion Luca Brecel going up against Jack Lisowski in what should be a fast-paced encounter, although the bookies anticipate the most likely final will be contested between Trump and O’Sullivan.
Mark Selby has been respected by the bookies and he made his way to the quarter final stage of the UK Championship before losing to Judd Trump, with Neil Robertson having been successful in this tournament two years ago and the Australian has two titles to his name, although he’s not in the strongest form.
Luca Brecel is the number two seed and the Belgian demonstrated his prowess when winning at the Crucible last April, although he doesn’t have a tournament victory to his name this term. Aside from reaching the Shanghai Masters final, there hasn’t been a huge amount of form and perhaps Mark Williams is a better each-way alternative.
2023 Masters Betting Tips
Strangely, Robertson exited the Masters at the first round stage in the previous two renewals and it could be worth considering world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan who kicks off the tournament when clashing with Luca Brecel.
If you compare the snooker betting sites, you are able to get betting odds of 4/1 about the Rocket, with O’Sullivan winning at the Crucible last April and he has recorded triumphs in the Hong Kong Masters and Champion Of Champions this season.
Judd Trump also enjoys Masters snooker, with the Bristolian relishing the big match atmosphere that come with this crowd. The 33-year-old is now a seasoned match player who has an incredible 23 ranking titles and he also has a world championship title under his belt.
Trump has had a winless 2022/23 campaign so far, with Judd reaching the Champion Of Champions final although he did make the semi-final stage of the 2022 Masters and is a strong favourite to overcome Ryan Day and make some decent progress in this tournament.
Mark Selby is practically double the price of the three favourites to win the snooker Masters, with the Englishman having won the English Open this season and this is a tournament that he has won on three separate occasions.
Mark Allen catches the eye at 12/1 and it finally appears that the Northern Irishman is fulfilling his potential, with the Pistol having successes in the Northern Ireland Open and UK Championship, with Allen bidding to end four consecutive Masters tournaments where he has bowed out at the first round stage.
2022 Snooker Masters Betting Tips
We can probably draw a line through the 2021 Masters event considering it took place in Milton Keynes when COVID-19 was rife. Indeed, many players were reluctant to participate and we actually saw Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski withdraw from the tournament which meant it wasn’t really a battle of the best players.Now the tournament is back at Alexandra Palace and the leading players will be looking to start the New Year with a bang, with a snooker legend bidding to win an eighth title in a competition that he really enjoys.
O’Sullivan Has Plenty of Snooker Masters Victories
In the past eight times that Ronnie O’Sullivan has participated in the Snooker Masters, he has reached the quarter final stage. On three occasions, he has been victorious and the Rocket made one other final, so the Londoner has clearly got the best pedigree out of any player in the tournament.
O’Sullivan reached the semi-final stage of the English Open before a narrow defeat against John Higgins at the beginning of November and he will be among the betting favourites to claim a ninth title.
Trump Bidding to Build on Champion of Champions Victory
Judd Trump is likely to enjoy the chance to play in front of a fairly raucous crowd at Ally Pally, with the world number one having recently secured a Champion of Champions win. The Bristolian is a tough one to figure out in the Masters despite the fact that he has secured a victory in 2019.
Trump missed the previous renewal due to COVID and there have been first round exits on four of the seven previous occasions that he’s lined up in this tournament. It’s often been the case that Judd has been caught cold and perhaps this isn’t the competition where we should consider backing him.
Higgins Knocking on the Door This Snooker Season
One interesting contender could be John Higgins who is enjoying a fine season despite not being in the winners’ enclosure. The Scot has already reached three finals this term, including the Northern Ireland Open and the English Open, while he was also runner-up to Judd Trump in the Champion of Champions event.
We know that Higgins will be a steely competitor at Alexandra Palace and he was victorious in this event in 2017, while this is an event where he usually reaches the last eight stage of the competition.
Robertson and Selby Also Bidding For Masters Glory
Selby is duelling it out with Trump when it comes to the number one world ranking spot, with the 38-year-old having struggled quite badly in recent Masters tournaments. In the previous seven renewals, the Jester from Leicester has not made it any further than the quarter final stage of the competition. However, he has previously won this competition on three occasions.
Neil Robertson is another high-ranked player in the tournament although the Thunder from Down Under has only won the Masters on one occasion. However, a 9-8 final win over Higgins in the English Open means that he’s worthy of consideration.
The 2016 Masters takes place between the 10th and 17th January at Alexandra Palace in London. The first really big snooker event of the year and part of the “triple crown”, the Masters is always a thrilling event, packed with snooker of the highest calibre. We take a look at the latest edition of this magnificent event and give you the best live odds, as well as our tips and predictions for the outright winner betting.
Let’s take a look at those odds first of all. Ronnie O’Sullivan heads the betting at odds of 4/1 with Sportingbet, whilst Neil Robertson is not too far behind at 5/1 with Coral. Next up in the outright winner market is Judd Trump, priced at 6/1 with Unibet, whilst Mark Selby is priced at odds of 8/1 with Coral. Defending champion Shaun Murphy is priced at 9/1 with Sportingbet and is sure to fancy his chances. The rest of the field are out at double-digit odds but the likes of John Higgins (12/1 with Bet365), Ding Junhui (16/1 with Unibet) and Mark Allen (25/1 with Unibet) cannot be wholly discounted, whilst even further down the field there are players with serious ability who could be capable of causing a shock.
In this modern day and age the depth of quality in the game of snooker is astounding. We saw that at the UK Championship in December, when Liang Wenbo made the final and relative unknown David Grace got as far as the semis. The expanded world tour has given a huge number of players the chance to play against top opponents on a regular basis and earn enough money to play snooker full time. These two factors have created a highly competitive tour which is great fun to watch, but can make predicting the winner just a little trickier for us bettors!
Thankfully, however, in this respect the Masters is a little kinder to those who like a bet on snooker. This tournament is only open to the top 16 players in the world so the shocks we have seen on the multi-table format of other events just won’t happen at “Ally Pally”.
The Masters has always been a hugely prestigious event, ever since its inception in 1975 and this year’s tournament was given a boost by the news that Ronnie O’Sullivan would play. The Rocket was instantly, and amazingly to some, installed as the favourite in the outright winner market. Despite not having played any competitive snooker since the World Championship in April, the unadulterated class of Ronnie means the bookies predict he is the one to watch.
He’s won the game’s biggest non-ranking event five times, including as a 19-year-old back in 1995 and most recently in 2014. He’s also come back from a long break to beat the best before, most notably when defending his crown at the 2013 Worlds after playing just one competitive match all season.
However, we feel he’s just too short in the betting and with age catching up on him we look to the second favourite for our betting tip. Neil Robertson played the best snooker at the UK Championship and deservedly won. Odds of 5/1 are very good value for him to avenge his defeat in last year’s Masters final. He excels in the biggest events, has made the final here three times in the last four years and has an excellent temperament so grab the 5/1 whilst you can.