World Snooker Championship betting tips
- David Gilbert to beat Kyren Wilson – 2/1 10Bet
- Jak Jones to beat Stuart Bingham – 6/4 Betfred
- Jak Jones to win the World Championship - 6/1 with BoyleSports
The 2024 World Snooker Championship will go down as the year of the underdog.
Defending champion Luca Brecel fell in the first round. Seasoned pros John Higgins and Mark Williams exited early. Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan – the two favourites with snooker betting sites to win the competition – crashed out in the quarters.
The semi-finals get underway on Thursday with not a single player from inside the world’s top 10 remaining. Kyren Wilson is the highest ranked player at 12. He takes on 31st-ranked David Gilbert, who toppled Brecel in round one.
On the other side of the draw, Welsh sensation Jak Jones is enjoying another stellar campaign at the Crucible. Having never qualified for the Worlds until 2023, he has now gone one better than last year’s quarter-final place.
Jones, ranked 44th, faces 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham in the other semi-final. Bingham has slid down the rankings in recent years but reaching the semis is not a rare event for the Essex native.
Betting on snooker could prove a little tricky over the weekend. Online bookmakers keep getting surprised by the number of upsets.
Will more follow in the semi-finals? Here are three snooker bets to consider.
David Gilbert vs Kyren Wilson prediction
(Thursday 2 May, 1pm, BBC Two & Eurosport)
Gilbert is arguably the success story of these Championships. A one-time semi-finalist, he is back in the last-four and looks in great form. No player has made as many century breaks (6) as Gilbert so far and he continues to dump higher-ranked opponents out of the Worlds.
Wilson, meanwhile, looks to be on cruise control as the highest-ranked remaining player in Sheffield and has his sights set on a second Crucible final. He’s never truly been in danger of losing in any of his three matches so far and is the bookies’ favourite at 11/8 to win the crown.
But will Wilson get past Gilbert? 10Bet price him at 2/5 to win but Gilbert’s odds of 2/1 look very interesting.
Wilson holds a narrow 6-5 record over Gilbert and has beaten his fellow Englishman in their last two encounters. But Gilbert has the historic edge over long-form matches and beat Wilson 13-8 at the 2019 World Championship quarter-final stage.
Given his price and his form, a Gilbert win is worth consideration.
2024 World Snooker Championship semi-final prediction 1: David Gilbert to beat Kyren Wilson – 2/1 10Bet
Jak Jones vs Stuart Bingham
(Thursday 2 May, 7pm, BBC Two & Eurosport)
Jones is another underdog story at this year's championships. The bookies would have priced Jones at around 5/1 to beat Bingham had this pair met in the opening round. Yet Jones’ form and dead eye at the table means he is in at 6/4 with Betfred to win this semi-final.
That price is a testament to how Jones has carried himself in Sheffield. He had to dig deep to get to the first round and has defeated Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui and Trump with relative ease to make it this far.
Bingham delivered the goods in beating O’Sullivan at the start of the week 13-10 – a result that overhauled the snooker odds on betting apps.
He is the 1/2 favourite here but punters are seemingly not throwing themselves at the 2015 champion.
There’s a growing feeling Bingham may have peaked against Ronnie and will simply become another Jones scalp by Saturday evening.
The Welshman beat Bingham 4-0 in their only previous contest back at the 2022 Gibraltar Open. Given Jones’ form right now, he’s a worthwhile shot to win over 33 frames here.
And at 6/1 to win the whole thing, Jones looks the best value bet entering the semi-finals to win the whole thing. His form at the Crucible has been sensational and there's nothing to stop him going all the way if he can maintain his current level of performance.
2024 World Snooker Championship semi-final prediction 2: Jak Jones to beat Stuart Bingham – 6/4 Betfred
2024 World Snooker Championship tip: Jones to win the World Championship - 6/1 with BoyleSports
2024 World Snooker Championship free bets
By signing up for gambling sites you can unlock free bets for wagering on the 2024 World Snooker Championship semi-finals and more.
Bet365 are offering new customers up to £30 in free bets when signing up using the bet365 bonus code INDY2024. All you need to do is create an account and deposit between £5 and £10 before making a bet of the same amount on any sport on the sportsbook.
Your qualifying wager will be matched up to three times in free bets by bet365 once it has settled.
Read all the terms and conditions of bet365's welcome offer before signing up. With all bets, gamble responsibly.
Updated by
Last Updated: 2nd May 2024, 10:18 AM