Betway UK Championship betting preview, free tip & TV details

Free snooker picks, tips and predictions for the first major of the season in York.

When to bet

Starts 2.30pm Tuesday (live on BBC & Eurosport from Saturday)

Best bet

Judd Trump to win title
2pts 11-4 general

Tournament preview

A week off is a long time in snooker these days and the players should return to competitive action refreshed for the Betway UK Championship, the second biggest ranking tournament of the season.

There's often an urge to try to pinch some outright value on a talented outsider. But the plain truth with top-level snooker these days is that the best players have seldom been so dominant.

That looked the case going into the Northern Ireland Open this month and, lo and behold, the Belfast crowd were rewarded with a wonderful final between Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan, the top two players in the game.

And while tournament organisers attempt to bring more randomness to many events by reducing the length of matches to the best of seven frames, it surely follows that if the top brass can manage that abbreviated format then they can handle the early best-of-11 requirements in York.

The place to look for those with the best title credentials is probably not too far down the oddsmakers' outright lists.

Trump, O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson are the three clear market leaders, then it's Mark Selby, John Higgins, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy before another break to Barry Hawkins, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson and Stuart Bingham.

The big three are obviously major runners and Robertson's victory over O'Sullivan and Trump in the Champion of Champions last month means he is right to merit such respect.

In the next group down, Murphy is enjoying a superb season but may find one or two too hot, while Higgins has not made the final of this competition since 2010.

Selby could prove a big runner, though, as could Allen, while in the lowest of the high echelons there's a definite chance that Wilson could win his first major at the Barbican Centre.

As for the best bets, punters can consider backing Selby to win the third quarter of the draw, one which also features seeds Williams, David Gilbert and Stephen Maguire, but 13-8 makes little appeal given that the Leicester ace may face stern tests from Ricky Walden, Gilbert and Williams.

Considering O'Sullivan, who is bidding to win his third UK crown on the spin, Robertson, Higgins, Murphy and Wilson all contest the top half of the draw along with in-form Bingham and improving Jack Lisowski, punters are pointed to the bottom half.

And so given his brilliant record this year – he has added titles in Daqing, Yushan and Belfast to his Crucible crown in May – it's difficult to oppose the claims of the all-conquering Trump, who will also feel that he's due to add to his solitary UK Championship triumph of 2011.

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