Definition of snooker betting

snooker betting opportunities

🏆Popular snooker tournament betting markets
✨Popular snooker match betting markets
💰In-Play betting on snooker matches
📊Popular snooker tournaments for betting

Snooker betting is when customers place a bet on one or more of the markets available in either a snooker tournament or an individual snooker match that is part of a tournament. Typically, betting on snooker can be pre-match on a wide choice of markets, and some bookmakers will also offer in-play betting (often with live streaming) on some snooker tournaments and matches.

Top bookmakers sites will offer regular snooker betting on a wide range of tournaments worldwide throughout the season. The season runs from June to May yearly, culminating in the World Snooker Championship. Let’s explore snooker betting in a bit more detail, firstly by giving you a list of some of the most popular snooker betting markets for tournament betting, and then a look at some of the popular match betting markets (including In-Play betting).

Popular snooker tournament betting markets

By far the most popular bet on snooker tournaments is to win the outright market. This market is a bet on which of the players competing in the tournament will win it.You can make this an each-way bet with many bookmakers, meaning that you will win a payout if your chosen player reaches the final but does not win.

Generally speaking, most bookmakers don’t offer a massive choice of tournament bets on snooker. The outright winner market is often the only tournament bet available, especially on the non-Major or World Championship events. However, there are far more markets to consider when it comes to match betting on snooker.

Popular snooker match betting markets

The most significant choice of options for snooker betting comes in the individual match betting markets. Add to that the fact that many snooker tournaments will have 32 or even 64 first-round matches (not to mention extensive qualifying competitions before the main tournament starts), and it is easy to see why match betting in snooker is where most of the action is.

Some of the most popular match betting markets, particularly for matches taking place in the most prestigious higher ranked tournaments include:

To win match
Match Handicap / Alternative Match Handicap
Total Frames 2-Way and 3-Way
Asian Handicap
Alternative Match Total
Correct Score
Asian Total
Match Centuries
Match Centuries 2-Way
Player Match Centuries
Player Match Centuries 2-Way
Either player to win three successive frames
Highest Break in Match
Match to go to a deciding frame
Total Frames Odd/Even
Score after first four frames
Race to a stated number of frames

Additionally, you can often find a number of bets available for the first frame of a given snooker match and these include:

Winner of the first frame
Handicap 2-way to win the first frame
First frame total points 2-way
1st Frame - A break of 50+
1st Frame - A break of 100+
1st Frame - Winning margin
1st Frame - Highest Break
1st Frame - Highest Break total
1st Frame - Player Breaks
1st Frame - Total Points Odd/Even
1st Frame - Player Points Odd/Even

However, punters may also want to bet on the action after the first frame has taken place and many bookmakers now facilitate this through their Live or In-Play betting services.It is also advisable to look for any betting boosts or other promotions available for the top snooker tournaments each season. Given the popularity of these events with betting enthusiasts, many bookmakers will readily offer enhanced or boosted odds on selected markets at these events.

In-Play betting on snooker matches

Like many sports events, customers with many bookmakers can now bet on snooker matches while they are in progress through the Live betting or In-Play betting service. In Play snooker betting features a wide selection of additional betting markets that respond as the action unfolds in the match, frame-by-frame and even shot-by-shot.

Some of the popular In Play betting markets available for snooker include:

Player to land the highest break in the current frame.
Player to win the current frame.
Next player to pot a legal red or other colour ball.
Will the next shot be a foul
Who will be the first player to reach X points?
Which colour will be the first to be legally potted in the game?
Who will win the next frame?

What customers tend to find with snooker betting is that the more prestigious the event, and the higher the ranking of the players competing in the event, then the more markets there are likely to be for them to pick from, especially in the Match betting and In-Play betting markets.

Popular snooker tournaments for betting

With that in mind, to really enjoy snooker betting to its maximum potential, it is important to know which are the top tournaments each year and when they will be played. The most prestigious events are the three Triple Crown tournaments. The UK Championship, The Masters and the World Snooker Championship. However the WPBSA announced that from 2024, the Saudi Arabia Masters would become the fourth ‘major’ of the snooker season.

Other prestigious events on the calendar include the English, British, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh Opens, the Xian Grand Prix and the Wuhan Open. Fortunately, the snooker season runs all-year round, so there isn’t really a quiet period of the season. This ensures that you can usually find some form of snooker betting available with most quality bookmakers.

However, the key tournaments of the year to look out for include:

Yearly snooker schedule

June to July - Championship League
July - Shanghai Masters
August - Xian Grand Prix
September - Saudi Arabia Masters, English Open, British Open
October - Wuhan Open, Northern Ireland Open
November - International Championship, Champion of Champions
November to December - UK Championship
December - Shoot Out, Scottish Open
January - The Masters
January to February - German Masters
February - Welsh Open
March - World Open, Players Championship
March to April - Tour Championship
April to May - World Snooker Championship

*Triple Crown events are shown in Italics.

Entry into ranking events is available via a players ranking being high enough (usually the top 16 or top 32), or they can come through qualifying. Some tournaments are invitational events only (such as the Champion of Champions and Masters).The Qualifying Tour (Q-Tour) also runs events throughout the season for the next generation of snooker professionals to compete in for a place on the main tour. If you would like now to try a place a bet, you can visit our guide page explaning how to bet on snooker steps by steps.