Go for premium Bond value at 50-1

Sports Betting

The World Snooker Championship is no longer the high-turnover betting event it was in the mid-1980s, partly thanks to Stephen Hendry's apparent invincibility, but also because of the BBC's highlight-based coverage. Punters used to hour after hour of live action on Sky take offence when Teletext knows a result three hours before they do.

But there is still serious money around, and most of it rides on Hendry - Ladbrokes took a pounds 2,000 bet at 4-6 late last week). It is a mark of Hendry's continued domination of snooker in the Nineties that while a new generation has replaced old foes likes Steve Davis and Jimmy White, he has never been a shorter price at the start of the World Championship.

Yet this fact may also have something to do with a draw which would all but guarantee Hendry a place in the last four if he had his cue arm tied behind his back. Ken Doherty has returned to form recently, but when a match is best-of-25 and upwards, Hendry is in a different league.

In the other half, by contrast, John Higgins, the 13-2 second-favourite, will probably need to beat Alan McManus and Ronnie O'Sullivan just to reach the semis, where Peter Ebdon may well be waiting. Ebdon, with the fading stars Steve Davis and Jimmy White in his quarter, is over-priced and worth a small interest at 14-1 with Ladbrokes, but on a simple point of value, the best bet must be Nigel Bond at 50-1 with Hills and Coral. He is in Hendry's half of the draw, but he beat both the champion and John Higgins when winning last week's British Open, and was a Crucible finalist last year.

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP (Sheffield, starts Saturday): Best prices: 8-11 S Hendry (T), 13-2 J Higgins (T), 8-1 R O'Sullivan (C), 14-1 P Ebdon (L), J Parrott (H,T), 20-1 S Davis (H,L), 25-1 K Doherty (H), A McManus (H), 40-1 J White (L),50-1 N Bond (C,H), J Wattana (C,L), 66-1 D Harold (L,T), 80-1 D Morgan (H,T), 150-1 bar. (C: Coral, H: Hills, L: Ladbrokes, T: Tote).