The 2022 Cazoo Snooker Masters gets underway on Sunday, 9 January. Staged at the recently vacated Alexandra Palace – used for the William Hill World Darts Championship – the competition is the second leg of snooker’s Triple Crown and is open to the leading 16 players in the world.
Judd Trump is the bookmaker’s favourite. The 2019 Masters and World Champion is top-priced 10/3 with Betfair Sportsbook. Those with good memories will recall he was an even shorter price to win this competition in 2020 but was forced to withdraw at the eleventh-hour suffering from Covid-19.
And therein lay the problem for snooker betting this year, with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 proving highly transmissible, can any player really be backed with confidence? Those darts punters that supported Michael van Gerwen in the PDC World Darts Championship can tell you all about ‘betting with caution’. The former champion and long-standing world number one was sent into quarantine after playing and winning just one match.
2022 Masters Snooker Betting Odds
- 10/3 Judd Trump – Betfair Sportsbook
- 11/2 Ronnie O’Sullivan – William Hill
- 11/2 Neil Robertson
- 6/1 Mark Selby
- 8/1 John Higgins
- 14/1 Kyren Wilson
- 20/1 Mark Allen – William Hill
- 40/1 Stuart Bingham – bet365*
Recent Form and Confidence Factors
Without a crystal ball, it is impossible to make any snooker predictions about players being forced to withdraw from this elite 16-man competition. We have to presume all participants will be well shielded and will not contract the illness.
It is difficult enough to predict the winner of the tournament. Trump has the talent, but he has not progressed beyond the quarter-final stages of any of the seven ranking competitions he has played this season.
John Higgins has been remarkably consistent this season and he has made the final of four competitions. However, is he now suffering from a lack of confidence in deciders?
The same question can be asked of Jack Lisowski. The 30-year-old is world-ranked 17 but has never won a major tournament. Interestingly, Lisowski meets Ronnie O’Sullivan in the opening round, and it’s the Rocket who is our outright fancy.
Ronnie Has the Right Ingredients
There is little skill involved in tipping up a 38-time ranking tournament winner, but what is a big shock is his price. At best odds of 11/2 with William Hill O’Sullivan is simply irresistible.
The ‘Rocket’ may have been suffering from his insecurities in finals. After all, he had been beaten in all five that he had contested since being crowned 2020 World Champion. That changed when the six-time world champion claimed the World Grand Prix three weeks ago. It may have not been a classic O’Sullivan mauling, but a 10-8 verdict over Neil Robertson might just act as a catalyst for further success in the coming months.
As a 13-time finalist in the Masters and a seven-time winner, something clearly clicks with O’Sullivan at the Masters. That record adds to a recipe that makes him the best bet at the prices.
The Big Priced Players
No player has truly distinguished themselves this season – as Trump did in 2019/20 and 2020/21 – and no cue-man has won more than one tournament (ranking or otherwise). So, a big-priced winner is not out of the question.
Yan Bingtao won this competition last year as a 50/1 shot. Zhao Xintong was a 250/1 ante-post shock winner of the UK Championship just a month ago. Therefore, throwing some small bets (or ideally free bets) at some of bigger-priced players is no lost cause.
“Yan Bingtao has a bad season”. Well, for an established top 16 player, recent results are far from good, but last year, apart from his #Masters triumph, he played only two QFs. Time has to be given, he is still VERY young and far from reaching his full potential. #snooker
— Máté Varga (@kezdolokes) January 4, 2022
Masters Bets at Bigger Odds
Mark Allen can be brilliant at his best and that ability saw him take the 2018 Masters title. If his head is in order this week, he could easily make a mockery of William Hill’s 20/1.
Similarly, Stuart Bingham deserves some support at a huge 40/1 with bet365*. Not only has the Essex-based player got eight maximum breaks on his CV, but he is also a former World Champion that won the Masters just 24 months ago.
The form is in the book and if either can rediscover it, either can make their mark on the BBC televised competition starting from Sunday, 9 January 2022.
Dark Horse Masters Bets
- Mark Allen at 20/1 William Hill
- Stuart Bingham at 40/1 bet365*
* Snooker Masters odds 2022 correct at the time of writing. All betting odds subject to changes.
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