2010 SNOOKER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL BETTING TIPS

After another night of epic green baize action we are down to four men and one table at The Crucible with only one former champion in the mix. Neil Robertson faces Ali Carter and Graeme Dott takes on Mark Selby to battle it out for a spot in Saturday’s final.

There is a very strong argument to say that Robertson will be in the best mental condition for the semi-finals. He didn’t really need to get out of second gear in his quarter-final match against Steve Davis and almost went through to the last four with a session to spare. Selby on the other hand had a gruelling encounter with Ronnie O’Sullivan, coming back from 9-5 down to win 13-11, and the other two players are still in the World Championship courtesy of final frame deciders. On that basis Robertson at odds of 4.4 (7/2) has to be the best bet value to go on and be crowned World Champion.
As for the semi-final matches themselves, well we get underway with Robertson against Carter on Thursday afternoon.  Carter never really hit full flow against Shaun Murphy in his quarter-final and in the end got over the line with some dogged break building, he was also notably very slow to start the match. I expect his late finish against Murphy will have taken quite a bit out of him and it could take him a while to get going again in the early part of this match. Robertson can punish him early on, as he did to Davis by racing into a 9-1 lead, and we should back the Aussie in the first session winner market at 1.7 on Betfair.
Selby and Dott will be the spectacle of Thursday’s evening session and although Selby was impressive in beating O’Sullivan, Dott was equally so in beating the young Mark Allen. This one has all the hallmarks of a classic and could be a long and gruelling match as both players like to give every shot its due care and attention. Unfortunately the bookmakers aren’t offering betting on what time this match will finish but you can be sure that it will be nip and tuck all the way. The best bets here are to back Dott on the +3.5 handicap at odds of 5/6 and over 29.5 frames at 10/11 – both with Paddy Power.
Snooker is renowned for being a game of mental toughness and psychological endurance and never more so than in the World Championship. Now, in these best of 33 frames matches, the players must call on all their emotional reserves as well as their obvious skill and guile around the table.