21 Snooker / Betfair Education / 18 March 2008 / Leave a comment

To place a bet on the Outright Winner market, the draw is a vital piece of information that should be analysed thoroughly.

Regardless of whether you fancy one of the outsiders or the favourites you need to plot the route your chosen player will potentially have to travel. If you like Ronnie O'Sullivan to secure his third world title, you may wish to avoid 'tactical' players that Ronnie notoriously struggles to play against, so if his path is likely to involve the likes of Fergal O'Brien or Peter Ebdon it may influence your decision markedly. The same thought would apply if you were looking to back one of the lesser-known players if their path involves players on the rise through the rankings like Ding Junhui or Judd Trump, and you shouldn't be put off backing an outsider as the last two winners of the world title have been little fancied at the start of the tournament. Total dominance of the sport that we witnessed in the 80s and 90s by Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry has not been replicated in the 21st century despite Ronnie's undisputed advantage talent-wise over his opponents; in fact nine different players have made up the last six world finals with only Ronnie, Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon appearing in more than one final in the last six years.