When it comes to betting on snooker some bookmakers are much better than others. What makes a good snooker betting site?
Not only do we outline the characteristics that make a great site, but we also reveal the top 7 snooker bookies in the UK. What’s more, you’ll get some great advice on finding the best snooker odds and learn how popular snooker markets work.
In this section we will explain how some of the most popular snooker bets and markets work. You can see the risk involved with each market in the table below and we also go into detail on how each market works and how best to approach them if you want to make a profit. Once you have read this segment and find the market you like best, you can find out more on choosing the right bookie in our section on how to pick the best UK snooker betting sites.
Betting Market | Risk Level | Recommended For |
Each Way Betting | 2/5 | Beginners |
Outright Betting | 3/5 | Casual/Advanced |
Frame Betting | 4/5 | Advanced/Expert |
Handicap Betting | 2/5 | Advanced |
Each way snooker betting is available for selected outright markets. In snooker, you will most likely place an each way bet on the outright tournament winner market. With most snooker bookies you’ll get a return on your each way wager if the player you back reaches the final. Your stake is split evenly between the win and place markets and in snooker, a place means 1/2 odds for reaching the final. So, if you had £10 on Mark Williams each way at 12/1 to win the UK Masters and he lost in the final, you’d pocket a profit of £50 (£10 x 1/2 odds @ 6/1 – stake).
There are varying levels of risk associated with the various outright markets we discuss below. For example, picking the outright tournament winner is obviously going to be much more difficult than picking a player to win his quarter of the draw. To learn more about some of the most popular outright snooker betting markets, keep on reading…
This is the riskiest of all the outright snooker betting markets as it is win or bust. You back the player you think is going to win the tournament outright and you won’t collect unless he lifts the trophy. Unless you are supremely confident about your selection, we think you are better off going each way when betting on the tournament winner. Or alternatively, you could just place a bet on one of the markets we discuss below…
This is a less risky bet than a straight win bet on the outright winner. In this snooker betting market you don’t need the player you bet on to actually win the final, you just need them to reach it. For example, if you fancy a player that is in red hot form but that maybe hasn’t got the best record of winning in finals then this is an ideal market. Odds won’t quite be as big as for outright winner bets, but you’ll have a much better chance of landing a return.
The winning quarter market is much the same as the outright winner market except it is settled on the result of each quarter. So, if you bet on a player in this market they only need to reach the semi-finals for you to win your bet. Again, lower risk means lower odds but the likelihood of landing a winner is far higher in this snooker betting market.
A break in snooker is the amount of points accrued during one visit to the table. The maximum break that can be achieved (without a free ball) is 147 (15 reds with 15 blacks and all the colours). For the biggest snooker tournaments you can bet on the player you think will score the highest break. You should always study recent results and stats to see which players are scoring heavily before you have a bet on this market.
Thanks to live snooker betting you can now bet on the result of each individual frame. You can also have a pre-match bet on the winner of the first frame. Usually, the frame betting odds reflect the overall match odds and these can change during the duration of a contest if one player is playing much better than their opponent. This is a market best left to those with experience of watching lots of snooker. The more you watch, the better you’ll be able to tell whether a player has brought their A-Game or not.
Handicap betting on snooker is a great way to find better value odds if you are betting on a match between two players with very different ability levels. Say, for example, in the first round of the World Championship Ronnie O’Sullivan is up against an unknown qualifier. Ronnie’s odds to win the match would be ridiculously short, but if you wanted better odds you could back him minus a number of frames in the handicap market. So, if you had a bet on Ronnie -6 frames, he’d need to win by 7 or more (10-3, 10-2 or 10-1) for you to collect. The opposite applies when backing an underdog.
So what is it that makes a quality online snooker bookie? Well for us, there are a number of top features that help certain snooker bookies to stand out from the crowd. Obviously, the quality of available snooker betting odds is huge and there are a number of other characteristics we like to see too. Check them out below…
Now that you know what features to look out for, here you will discover how to pick the best UK snooker betting sites. Obviously, your personal punting preferences will determine which bookie is best suited to your needs, but below we take a more general look at how to ensure you make the best possible choice when signing up with bookie to bet on snooker.
Shrewd snooker punters know that live snooker betting presents them with an opportunity to beat the bookies regularly. As we briefly mentioned in our top snooker betting site features section, live betting punters have a distinct advantage over those who bet pre-match. The pre-match markets are priced up on recent form and world rankings, but those can go out the window if a player turns up in poor form.
Take Ronnie O’Sullivan for example, one of the best players in the world. He is a temperamental player and sometimes it is very obvious when he is not in the mood (yawning, rushing shots etc.). In this scenario, live snooker betting punters will quickly realise it is well worth backing his opponent, no matter how lowly ranked they may be.
Other players display tell-tale signs too when they are not in top form and this is why in-play betting on snooker can be a very profitable pursuit. We enjoyed using the Betfair live suite for snooker but they don’t have live snooker streaming available. In the next section we look at some of the bookies that do.
Of the bookies that make our Top 7 list, quite a few have live snooker streaming available. William Hill, bet365 and Paddy Power all have live streaming of certain snooker tournaments available once you have either a positive account balance OR have placed a bet in the previous 24 hours. Betfred are the official sponsors of the World Championship but as far as we could see, they didn’t have any live snooker streaming available.
Unfortunately, those bookies only have streaming of minor events and for the biggest tournaments like the World Snooker Championship you’ll have to watch the matches on terrestrial and satellite television. Eurosport and the BBC will show every single match at the World Championship so if you want to bet in-play you can do so on your phone or laptop while you watch the action on TV.
Year: | Winner: | Runner Up: |
2019 | Judd Trump | John Higgins |
2018 | Mark Williams | John Higgins |
2017 | Mark Selby | John Higgins |
2016 | Mark Selby | Ding Junhui |
2015 | Stuart Bingham | Shaun Murphy |
2014 | Mark Selby | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
2013 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | Barry Hawkins |
2012 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | Ali Carter |
2011 | John Higgins | Judd Trump |
2010 | Neil Robertson | Graeme Dott |
We will let you in on a few top snooker betting tips today that will hopefully enhance your chances of placing winning snooker wagers consistently. Approaching some markets in a certain way can greatly increase your prospects of picking winners, especially if you stay disciplined. You can check out our top tips for betting on snooker in the list below:
In this section we take a closer look at our top 7 snooker betting sites. We examine what they have to offer snooker punters and what makes them a good choice. You can find out a lot more general information by reading our in-depth reviews but if you want to know what sets them apart for betting on snooker, you can find out below…
If you are a snooker betting newbie or a more seasoned bettor, bet365 has everything a snooker punter needs. Bet365 have lots of outright and pre-match snooker markets, snooker betting in-play and live snooker streaming of certain matches and tournaments. You won’t find many flash snooker promotions or offers but if you are serious about betting on snooker, bet365 is a very good option.
Betfair initially made its mark as a betting exchange but their sportsbook has everything a snooker punter needs. You can bet win and each way on all the biggest tournaments like the Masters and the World Championship and live snooker betting is available too. Unfortunately, live snooker streaming is unavailable at Betfair but apart from that, Betfair is well worth a second look for anyone interested in betting on snooker.
Another one of the top snooker bookmakers in the UK, 888sport have a number of interesting features that will interest snooker punters. In-play snooker betting is quick and easy with 888sport and they have an impressive selection of live betting markets that can be accessed on mobile via the slick and well-designed 888sport apps.
NetBet may not be as well known as some of the other snooker betting sites on our list but they are more than worthy of their place. Netbet had outright Snooker World Championship betting odds available for nearly 100 players. So, no matter who you fancy you’ll be able to back them at NetBet and best of all, their snooker betting odds are generally very competitive too.
At William Hill snooker betting is made easy and they have everything a snooker punter needs. You can track the William Hill live snooker scoreboard to see how a match is progressing or even better, you can access live snooker streaming for certain events. With very fair snooker odds and occasional snooker promotions too, William Hill is a top destination for betting on snooker.
A household name in the UK, Paddy Power has lots to offer snooker punters. Live snooker streaming is available for lots of tournaments so you can bet on and watch snooker on your desktop and mobile device. You might even get boosted Paddy Power snooker betting odds (Power Prices) for the biggest events like the Masters and World Championship.
As we mentioned in our live snooker streaming section, Betfred are the main sponsors of the World Snooker Championship. As you would expect, Betfred are tough to beat when it comes to the depth of markets, range of promotions and quality of Snooker World Championship betting odds. For betting on snooker’s biggest event, Betfred is well worth checking out.