Dean Etheridge
The 2023 World Snooker Championship gets under way in Sheffield this weekend. Ronnie O’Sullivan is the favorite, and he is also the talk of the town as he attempts to win an eighth World Championship. But with all the focus on Rocket Ronnie, are we forgetting there is a pretty good player looking for his fifth World Championship when the action gets under way this weekend? Yes, Mark Selby is not a player to be underestimated, and with the Jester from Leicester looking more like his old self recently, might he be the man to prevent Ronnie from winning a possible career defining title? Let’s investigate further in our Snooker World Championship betting picks.
- What; 2023 World Snooker Championship
- Where; Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England
- When; Saturday, April 15th, 2023 – Monday, May 1st, 2023
All the attention is on Ronnie
After Judd Trump won the the Masters Championship earlier this year, he was immediately installed as the joint favorite – along with Ronnie O’Sullivan – to win the 2023 World Championship. The two men were priced up at +450, with Trump – at the time – regarded as the only player who could stop Ronnie winning his record eighth title.
Since then, Trump has gone a touch quiet again, and now Ronnie is the outright favorite on his own at +400.
Can’t wait to get going!! https://t.co/AjRv3gHsk3
— Ronnie O'Sullivan (@ronnieo147) April 13, 2023
But it’s easy to get carried away with betting on Ronnie O’Sullivan. If he wins this, he goes out on his own with eight modern era World Championship wins. A win this year would see O’Sullivan go one win clear of Stephen Hendry. And there then could be little argument as to who was the better player.
But could all this hype result in Ronnie being priced up shorter than he should be? With a dangerous Judd Trump on the circuit, along with a resurgent Shaun Murphy, and an ominous looking Mark Selby, does Ronnie justify being the +400 betting favorite?
Betting to win the 2023 World Championship
The bookmakers certainly feel he justifies his odds. As we’ve mentioned already, Ronnie O’Sullivan is the +400 betting favorite to win the 2023 Snooker World Championship. His closest rival in the betting is Judd Trump at +450, with Neil Roberston next at +650, and Mark Selby just behind the Aussie on +800.
After the top four players comes Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy, both at +1000. Then there is a huge gap in the odds before we come to Mark Williams at +1800. With the exception of Mark Allen, all of those guys have won at least one World Championship. And having a track record of getting to Crucible finals is vitally important in this competition!
More betting can be found here in our World Championship odds table. All the sportsbooks used here have been vetted and checked over by our betting experts. For more information about them, please visit our top rated US sportsbooks reviews page. While if mobile betting is your thing, then you will be pleased to know we have a page dedicated to the best sports betting apps for you to cast your eye over.
| 2023 Snooker World Championship 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 |
2023 Snooker World Championship Betting Picks
Despite all the reservations we’ve listed above, we still have to pick Ronnie O’Sullivan to win, don’t we? It’s just one of those betting picks. If we don’t make it, we just know he’ll romp to an eighth world title.
We do feel that a bet on Ronnie might not be the best value though. So don’t go in hard on this one. There are plenty of reasons why O’Sullivan might not win a record eighth title. None more so than the obvious pressure he is going to be under.
But the bottom line is, O’Sullivan is a great player, in our view the greatest ever. And if he is on song, someone has to put in one hell of a performance to stop him winning the 2023 World Championship.
Selby looks value for a fifth World Championship
As we’ve made clear in this article, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Mark Selby could be about to win his fifth World Championship. He is already on four, something which seems to be continually overlooked. And he has beaten O’Sullivan in a final to win one of his four titles.
Mark Selby wins the World Championship! 🎱
It's the Jester from Leicester's 4th title, after beating Shaun Murphy at the Crucible 👏 pic.twitter.com/1JMeUmkvYk
— BBC Sport Leicester (@BBCRLSport) May 3, 2021
He is double the odds of Ronnie, and if he is back to his best, Selby can take O’Sullivan down.
We’ve looked at all the other rivals, and Judd Trump is too short to be our sports betting pick, and when you look at Neil Robertson, his solitary win came back in 2010. Mark Allen has not even reached a final at the Crucible, so that only really leaves Shaun Murphy as a viable alternative.
Murphy’s only win here came back in 2005, but he has been back to the final on three occasions since, the most recent being in his 18-15 loss to, you’ve guessed it, Mark Selby in 2021.
As an alternative bet to Ronnie, or if you want to hedge your bets, all roads just seem to lead to Mark Selby. So, at odds of +800, we make the Jester from Leicester, Mark Selby, our second betting pick to win the 2023 World Snooker Championship.
