China Open

Unfortunately, even after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the China Open has been cancelled from the world snooker tour in 2022. The event was supposed to take place from the 14th - 22nd March 2022. However, it’s possible this prestigious tournament will once again return to our television screens and live streaming sites later this year or in 2023.

This guide will still cover the history of the China Open, key betting markets to consider, and top information about the players. Our snooker betting guide shares all!

The Best China Open Snooker Betting Sites

Despite the news that the China Open is cancelled in 2022, we still have recommendations for our top betting sites for you to consider when the event is next announced.

We’ve outlined our four picks below, based on various factors such as the available welcome offer, the odds, and access to in-play wagering.

Best China Open Snooker Betting Site – BoyleSports

Let’s start with BoyleSports, which is Ireland’s single biggest sportsbook and one that has an incredibly impressive presence online.

A true market leader and innovator, BoyleSports offers access to both highly competitive odds and extensive live streams, alongside a large selection of China Open betting markets and an outstanding level of customer support.

When you register for an account at BoyleSports, you can make an initial deposit of €10 and receive a free bet worth €20. This can be used across a broad range of China Open markets, so long as you choose selections with minimum odds of 2.0.

• www.begambleaware.org

Best China Open Snooker Free Bet Offer – Bet 365

If you’re all about achieving the best value of money, then your first port-of-call should arguably be Bet365.

This takes the form of a 100% deposit match up to the value of €50. This allows you to make a deposit between €5 and €50, with the operator matching this in full. You can then place one or multiple bets on the China Open, although such wagers must carry odds of 1.20 or greater.

These bets must be used on outcomes with prices of 1.20 or above, while accounts that sit idle for 90 days or more will see any remaining bonus funds removed.

• www.begambleaware.org

Best China Open Snooker In-Play Betting Site – Betway

If you’re one of the snooker fans who like to target in-play markets at tournaments such as the China Open, you may want to check out what Betway has to offer.

Certainly, Betway offers access to a diverse and fast-growing selection of micro bets and in-play markets, from betting on the winner of the next frame in a particular match to determining the identity of the next century maker.

At Betway, you can also access a free bet worth up to €30, based on the precise value of your initial deposit amount (between €5 and €30). This bet must be deployed on outcomes with odds of 1.75 or greater, so you’ll need to keep this in mind before wagering.

• www.begambleaware.org

Best China Open Snooker Betting Site for Odds – Ladbrokes

Last on our list (but by no means least) is Ladbrokes, which is another global behemoth with a huge presence.

It’s also undoubtedly the best site for odds, whether you consider the speed with which the operator published its ante-post prices to the use of enhanced and guaranteed odds promotions that are aimed at specific events (such as the China Open).

The Ladbrokes welcome offer is worth €20 overall, comprising four complimentary €5 wagers that can be deployed across various China Open betting markets. You’ll just have to target selections with minimum odds of 1.50 or run the risk of invalidating the T&Cs of the bonus.

• www.begambleaware.org

China Open Snooker Betting Odds for 2022

As a result of the cancellation of the 2022 China Open, our listed sportsbooks have, of course, not published their outright prices for this iteration of the tournament. We will be sure to update this guide with odds in case the event is postponed till a later date in the year.

China Open Snooker Betting Markets

If you’re going to really make your mark when betting on the China Open, you’ll first need to identify the best betting markets. We’ve selected three of the best and most popular China Open betting markets below to consider for when the event is back while asking why they’re so well-liked among punters.

Acca Betting

In the last China Open in 2019, this straight knockout format began with an initial round of 64. This created some initial mismatches, including Neil Robertson’s clash with Welshman Kishan Hirani.

While backing Robertson to win would have offered little value by itself, the nature of the draw did afford punters the opportunity to combine such wagers in a single acca bet. This way, they could back relatively short-priced favourites while benefitting from extended prices, striking the ideal balance between potential returns and your probability of winning. Of course, this type of betting is less effective as the tournament progresses, but it’s definitely viable in the opening round or two.

Match Betting

Match betting is always a popular option for snooker fans, thanks to the largely knockout nature of the sport and the elimination of the draw as a viable outcome.

This turns match betting into simplistic, even money wagering that delivers a 50% chance of success (from a statistical perspective), while knowledge of the sport and the form of competing players can increase your prospects of winning even further.

Handicap Betting

During the formative stages of the China Open, the aforementioned mismatches between seeded players and lowly-ranked qualifiers also offer an opportunity in the form of handicap wagering.

With handicap betting, the objective is to identify short-price favourites that have a clear advantage over their opponent, before applying a virtual ‘handicap’ that’s expressed to a decimal place. For example, you could have backed Robertson to beat Hirani at a handicap of –2.5 in 2019, meaning that the former would have to win by three clear frames for the wager to come in.

In this case, Robertson won 6-2, so handicap punters would have increased their returns without compromising their chances of success!

China Open Snooker Betting Tips

While having knowledge of the main betting markets is one thing, it’s quite another to leverage these and achieve a return on your bankroll. Fortunately, our expert team here at BetinIreland has you covered, and they’ve complied a few insightful betting tips to help you get the most bang for your buck!

Don’t Overdo Your Acca Bets

As we’ve already said, acca or combination betting is best utilised during the formative stages of the event, but there’s another thing to keep in mind with this type of bet.

After all, you’ll need all individual selections to come in if the acca is to be successful, so it’s worth minimising this number to help optimise your chances of success.

Be an Informed Match Bettor

In the case of match betting, knowledge really is power and a key distinguishing feature between successful and frustrated punters! Make no mistake; successful match betting relies on your understanding of the sport and existing rivalry between existing players, including their contrasting styles, head-to-head records, and past performance at specific tournaments. Form is another key consideration, and one that may also inform your choice of outright wagers at the beginning of the event.

Manage Your Handicap Well

While the slightly longer nature of the early China Open rounds lends itself to handicap betting, you’ll need to ensure that the extent of your handicap is tailored to suit the potential length of the match in question. For example, a handicap of –2.5 seems reasonable in a best-of-11 frame match, while you can look to extend this incrementally as the tournament progresses and the games become longer. However, you should also note that matches tend to become closer and more keenly contested as the knockout stages progress, making handicap betting a less effective market. So, it’s important to manage your handicap betting activity well, both in terms of stake deployment and your match selection.

China Open Snooker Format

If the next edition of the China Open will mirror the format last utilised in 2019, we’ll see an initial qualifying phase, which is open in its nature and will include the world’s top-ranked players. Competitors must win two qualifying matches to book their place in Beijing, with 64 players expected to line up in the first round of the main draw.

The tournament would then follow a simple knockout format, which features subsequent rounds of 32 and 16 before proceeding to the quarter-finals. Then follows the semi-finals and the showpiece final, which is played over two session and contested as a best-of-21 frames encounter.

As we’ve already said, the matches from the round of 64 to the quarter-final are contested as best-of-11 frame encounters, while the semi-finals are settled once one of the competitors reaches 10 frames.

At this point, it’s important to note that the China Open is one of the most financially rewarding events on the world snooker tour. In fact, there’s a total prize fund of £1,000,000 usually in play, including a hefty winner’s cheque for £225,000.

The runner-up can earn £90,000 (which is higher than the top prize at the Gibraltar Open), while losing semi and quarterfinalists can bank £45,000 and £27,000 respectively.

Defeats in the last 16, 32 and 64 will ensure that losing players walk away with £18,000, £11,000, and £5,000 respectively, while the player who completes the highest televised break will earn £7,000 in total. There’s an additional prize for players who make a 147 break which currently stands at £20,000.

The 2022 Tournament Schedule

We will continue to update this page as further information becomes available in case the event is rescheduled at a later date this year. Despite the initial event being cancelled, we hope this guide still allows you to make more informed match and outright bets going forward.

China Open Snooker Top Players

We’ve listed the top players at this prestigious ranking event, based on past-performance and their overall record at the tournament.

Mark Selby

Fittingly, we’ll start with world number one Mark Selby, with the four-time world champions arguably the single most consistent player on the tour. Selby also has the distinction of being the most decorated and successful player in China Open history, reaching five finals and winning three of these in total (the last of which came in 2018). Selby has also won 20 ranking titles to date, placing him eighth on the all-time list and sixth among currently active players. Make no mistake; he’ll definitely start as one of the favourites if he qualifies for the next tournament (he failed to achieve this objective in 2019).

Mark Williams

Next up is Welsh veteran Mark Williams, has an identical finals’ record to Selby and has three China Open titles to his name. Williams is also a former world number one who has won three world titles (the most recent one against the odds in 2018), while his 24 ranking wins earmark him as one of the best snooker players of all-time. The only caveat here is that Williams hasn’t actually won the China Open since 2010, although he was defeated by Selby in the 2017 final by the narrow margin of 10 frames to eight.

Neil Robertson

Aussie Neil Robertson is arguably the world’s in-form player at the moment, having swept all before him at the invitational Masters and claimed an impressive 22nd ranking title. He also has form at the China Open, reaching three finals and winning two of these in total (in 2013 and 2019). While he lost to home favourite Ding Junhui in-between these triumphs in 2014, the prolific break-builder regularly performs well at the China Open and will be among the favourites for the next tournament if he manages to confirm his place. Robertson is also the de facto defending champion having won the last iteration in 2019.

The Previous Winners

The history of the China Open can be traced back to 1997, when Steve Davis beat Jimmy White in what started out life as an invitational and non-ranking event. It subsequently became a ranking tournament in 1999, running every year since apart from 2001, 2003, 2004 and the last three years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan.

Below, we’ve provided an overview of the finals dating back to 2012, addressing the winners, the runner-up, and the result of the final.

Your FAQs Answered

Our comprehensive China betting guide is nearly at an end and all that’s left is to answer some of your most frequently-asked questions.

So, what questions do the team at BetinIreland field the most, and can the answers provide you with any insight as a punter? Let’s find out!