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Snooker Betting: Roll Murphy and Ebdon into a multiple for second round success

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Paul Krishnamurty goes through the Crucible second round odds

PETER EBDON V MARK KING

Crucible specialist Peter Ebdon usually arrives here having shown limited form throughout the rest of the season, only to peak at Sheffield over these marathon matches. And on the basis of his first round victory over Jamie Cope, this could be the case once again in 2008. That match was arguably the highest quality of any in the first round, with both players producing some cracking snooker in an enthralling final session. As we have become used to over the years, when it came to the crunch deciding frame Ebdon held his nerve better.

When considering the respective tournament records of Ebdon and King, [1.62] about the 2002 champion looks a rock-solid bet. Not only has Ebdon won a world title, he's twice been runner-up, and twice reached the semis. In stark contrast, over a career of similar length King has never progressed beyond the last-16, and this year is the first time he's reached the second round since 2002.

I take nothing away from King's efficient performance to pull off the biggest shock of the tournament to date in eliminating Mark Selby. Even if Selby wasn't at his best, King capitalised well and converted most of his chances. But there's little in any of his form over recent years to suggest he'll repeat it now over three sessions.

In terms of single bets restricted to this match, I'm looking at a batch of correct scores. Ebdon rarely thrashes people, though I still expect a comfortable enough victory. My suggestion is to back 13-7, 13-8 and 13-9 at the combined odds of around [4.0].

As I'll also explain below, I rate Shaun Murphy as a banker at [1.36], so I'm going for a double along with Ebdon. At current odds on Betfair multiples, the double pays around [2.2].

Selections:

Double on Betfair Multiples - Ebdon @ 1.62, Murphy @ 1.36
Ebdon to win 13-7 @ 15.0
Ebdon to win 13-8 @ 12.0
Ebdon to win 13-9 @ 10.0

* * *

SHAUN MURPHY V ALI CARTER

On all recent form, this one looks a match for the money-buyers. I'm always wary of betting short odds-on, preferring to sit out and wait for a drift, but I rarely see better [1.36] chances than Murphy. The provisional world No.1 owes that ranking to a relentless capacity to win matches he's expected to, and its hard to make any evidence-based case for Carter.

Murphy remains my selection to win the tournament. The local favourite has the class, the consistency and the form in this event over the longer matches. As the games now become three-session affairs, focus and professionalism really come to the fore. Nobody can afford to go missing for one session, and if there's one player in the world I'd never expect to go awol mid-match it would have to be Murphy.

And whereas he continued his excellent form in a first-round thrashing of Dave Harold, Carter's knife-edge win over Barry Hawkins was one of the lowest quality matches of the first round. 'The Captain' is no mug and should therefore be able to avoid humiliation, but I expect Murphy to progress without too much fuss and recommend a trio of correct scores on him to win 13-6, 13-7 and 13-8 at odds that equate to around [4.0] combined.

Selections:

Murphy to win 13-6 @ 15.0
Murphy to win 13-7 @ 12.0
Murphy to win 13-8 @ 9.0