It’s nearly that time of the year when the marathon of marathon events takes place, yes, the Snooker World Championship. The 2023 Snooker World Championship starts this Saturday. And in the opening match, Ronnie O’Sullivan will kick off his title defense in what will be his first attempt to win a record eighth world title. Here we look at the Rockets’ chances of achieving this with our latest snooker 2023 World Championship betting picks.
- What; 2023 World Snooker Championship
- Where; Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England
- When; Saturday, April 15th, 2023 - Monday, May 1st, 2023
The Snooker World Championship is the most coveted prize in snooker. This year the winner pockets a cool half a million pounds (approximately $621,000), with the total prize pool amounting to just under £2.4 million GB pounds. The defending champion is Ronnie O’Sullivan. Rocket Ronnie defeated Judd Trump 18-13 in last year’s final to win his seventh World Championship.
A win for O’Sullivan would confirm his position as the greatest ever
In what is regarded as the modern era, both Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan have seven world championship crowns. Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan is widely regarded as the best player to have ever picked up a cue.
Ronnie O'Sullivan thinks he might be the greatest - but not the greatest all-round - player in the history of snooker.
Do you agree?
— Eurosport (@eurosport) November 23, 2021
But whilst the Rocket sits on seven world title wins alongside Stephen Hendry, there will always be room for a debate about who was the best. If Ronnie wins a record eighth, that debate can be put to bed once and for all.
Betting to win the 2023 Snooker World Championship
The top sportsbook for snooker betting thinks Ronnie O’Sullivan will win an eighth title. They have installed him as their +400 betting favorite. 2023 Masters winner Judd Trump is next at +450, with 2010 world champion, Neil Robertson next at +650.
Outside of the top three in the betting is Mark Selby at +800, with Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy closely behind at +1000.
Selby is a four times world champion, with his last title coming in 2021. He had been in the snookering doldrums for around 18 months, after his 18-15 win over Shaun Murphy just under two years ago. But has lately shown signs he is again returning to his best.
Mark Allen is yet to make it to the final of the World Championship. But he won the 2022 UK Championship last November, one of snooker’s three coveted Triple Crown events.
While Shaun Murphy is a one time winner, and three times runner-up at the Crucible. A few weeks back he was as long as +1800 to win this year’s title. But a major upturn in Murphy’s recent form has seen his odds to win a second world title slashed to just +1000.
More betting on the 2023 World Snooker Championship can be found on our below odds table. These odds are taken from the best online betting sites, which you can read about in more detail on our online sportsbook reviews page.
| 2023 World Snooker Championship Winner Betting |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | +400 | +400 | +400 |
| Judd Trump | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| Neil Robertson | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| Mark Selby | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Mark Allen | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Shaun Murphy | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Mark Williams | +1800 | +1800 | +1800 |
| Kyren Wilson | +1800 | +1800 | +1800 |
| John Higgins | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Jack Lisowski | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Ding Junhui | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Ali Carter | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Stuart Bingham | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Barry Hawkins | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Luca Brecel | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Hossein Vafaei | +5000 | +5000 | +5000 |
Picks to win the 2023 World Championship
With Ronnie O’Sullivan at odds of +400 to win an eighth world title, it is more difficult to hedge our bets. If we’re to go for O'Sullivan to win, then it is possible to probably throw one outsider in for a bit of added value. But it could only be the one.
The Rocket is now 47 years of age. He is still probably the top player on the circuit, but he is running out of chances to win a record modern day era eighth world title. Will this pressure get to him? Possibly! After all, he is rarely out of the sports betting news. So, at the very least, it probably won’t help.
— Ronnie O'Sullivan (@ronnieo147) March 9, 2023
But the fact remains, if Ronnie turns up and is on his game, he will probably walk away with an eighth title. Only possibly Judd Trump can live with him at the moment. But that was also the case last year in the final here, and O’Sullivan still won that match 18-13.
Quite simply, we have to make Ronnie O’Sullivan our pick to win an eighth World Championship at +400.
Looking for value with our second pick
Second favorite Judd Trump is now 33-years-old. Despite his age, Trump still has the feel of a player with potential. But the bottom line has to be that for whatever reasons, Trump has underachieved so far in his career. The same has to be said about Australia’s Neil Robertson. A player with immense break-building skills, but still only one World Championship win to his name.
This is why we’re looking elsewhere for a second pick. At odds of +450 for Trump, and +650 on Robertson, they just don’t represent great value.
But then we get to Mark Selby. The 39-year-old is a four times World Champion. He knows how to win titles, and he is gradually coming back to his best.
Whether Selby’s game has improved enough to be a genuine contender this year, remains to be seen. But the facts are he has four titles, the last of which was won in 2021. He also has beaten O'Sullivan in a World Championship final, and at +800, Mark Selby simply just looks a far better value pick than the others do.
