Snooker is a billiards game that is played by hitting balls of different colours into pockets lining the sides and corners of the table. There is one cue ball (white), which must be used to hit the others. There are fifteen red balls, worth one point each, and six balls with one each coloured yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black. Yellow is worth two points, green worth three, brown is worth four, blue is worth five, pink is worth six, and black is worth seven. A frame is won by scoring more points than the opposing player. Snooker betting generally falls into one of two styles of bets: match bets and outright bets. Each of these styles of betting follows the same general principles, but there are important differences between them.
The match style of snooker betting is relatively simple. Bookmakers examine the players in a match and create odds based on their respective skill levels, as well as their previous records and so on. These odds are then posted, and gamblers place bets based on who they think will win. Bookmakers will almost always choose a favourite and an underdog when posting odds. The favourite will have his or her odds listed as a negative value, while the underdog’s odds will be a positive value. They will, typically, look something like this:
Favourite (Player A): -300
Underdog (Player B): 250
These odds represent a fair disparity between skill levels, although differences such as -550 and 600 are not entirely uncommon. In the previous example, you would have to bet three hundred dollars on Player A in order to win one hundred, representing a 1:3 payout. Betting one hundred dollars on player B, on the other hand, would net you two hundred and fifty dollars, representing a 2.5:1 payout. Knowing how to gauge these odds against a player’s skill level is crucial if you want to win at snooker betting. Obviously, choosing the underdog will typically result in a loss, but also has much higher payouts on a win.
The other type of snooker betting, which is much riskier yet can also provide huge payouts, is called outright betting. In outright snooker betting, gamblers must place a bet well in advance of an actual event by choosing a player they think will win the event altogether. This style of betting is somewhat akin to horse racing, in which bets are placed in advance on who they think will be the winner. The reason this type of betting is much riskier is that, instead of choosing between two participants, you are typically choosing between at least six to ten, often more. The odds posted for outright snooker betting often look similar to those in horse racing.
