Recently snooker has expanded to be a far more global sport, hosting many more tournaments around the world. Only a handful of those tournaments are available to watch on mainstream TV but, fortunately, a great many more can be watched 100% legally online.
Online bookmakers offer regular live streams of snooker tournaments via their websites and mobile apps. Below is a list of what’s currently showing at different bookmakers.
How To Watch: open account with bookmaker streaming event and fund that account or have placed a bet in the last 24 hours. Geo restrictions do sometimes apply.
Geo restrictions apply. Bet & watch or watch if you have a funded account.
Watch:
- First open bookmaker account with bookie showing stream.
- Make at least the minimum deposit so your account is funded.
- Or have bet within last 24 hours.
- Select ‘Live Streaming’.
- Pick your match from the menu.
- Broadband, 3G or 4G connection is best.
What Live Snooker is Shown?
It wasn’t all that long ago that the entire pro snooker tour was made up of fewer than ten total ranking tournaments, almost all of which were based in England. In recent years, however, the sport has been radically modernised and expanded to now feature a huge number of events from all around the world.
A good number of those different events are served live streams offered by online bookmakers, and the following list provides examples of the kinds of tournaments which are typically streamed live somewhere.
Here what type of events are shown:
- Riga Masters
- China Championship
- Paul Hunter Classic
- Indian Open
- World Open
- European Masters
- English Open
- International Championship
- Shanghai Masters
- Champion of Champions
- Northern Ireland Open
- UK Championship
- Scottish Open
- Masters
- German Masters
- Snooker Shoot-Out
- World Grand Prix
- Welsh Open
- Gibraltar Open
- Players Championship
- China Open
- World Snooker Championship
As you can see from that list, therefore, the vast majority of the pro snooker tour’s main events are catered for by live streams available through one betting site or another. What should be noted, though, is that due to broadcasting rights, TV deals and other geographical restrictions, not all live streams are available to residents of every country around the world.
What In-Play Markets are Available?
If you do head to an online bookmaker to watch some live snooker action, you’ll probably also be interested in placing an in-play bet or two. Whilst there aren’t as many in-play betting options for snooker as for some other sports, there are often a decent number of markets on offer, which often include the following:
Match Winner – As is the case for matches and contests in every sport, the match winner market is the most commonly available in-play betting option for snooker. Beginning with the players at their pre-match odds, the available prices will change regularly and more generous odds can become available for fancied players if they fall behind earlier.
Handicap – Similar to the match winner market except that you are betting on a player to beat a pre-determined handicap spread, in-play handicap wagers are also popular with snooker punters. As an example, in a best of 11 frames contests, a strongly favoured player such as Ronnie O’Sullivan may be given a handicap of -3.5. That means he would have to win by four frames or more in order to beat the spread.
Total Frames – A straightforward over/under style of betting market, a total frames bet is one which predicts whether more or less than a certain number of frames will be played in a match. For our hypothetical best of eleven contests, for example, the over/under figure is likely to be set somewhere around 8.5.
Correct Score – The fourth and final in-play betting market which is typically available for most live streamed snooker matches is the correct score market. The market is pretty much as simple as its name suggests but can present some very interesting betting opportunities if a knowledgeable punter catches a bet at just the right time.
