Carter can retain unbeaten Dott record at Crucible
Published:Ali Carter has won all three of his career meetings and it is 4/5 in the snooker betting that he extends his 100 per cent when the duo clash in the second round of the World Championships.
On paper the clash appears the toughest of the round two encounters to predict, with both players having the necessary talent to go all of the way at the Crucible.
However, slight preference is for Carter, who has already won the Shanghai Masters this season and is still waiting for a first Crucible crown.
Carter eased past Dave Harold in a relatively low-scoring opening round match and a failure to mount up the big breaks are more likely to be punished by 2006 world champion Dott.
After struggling ahead of arriving in Sheffield, Dott was at his dogged best against Mark King in the first round and could just edge it if the game remains tight.
Dott is 1/1 in the Snooker World Championship odds to beat Carter.
The other second round match to begin on Friday sees Mark Allen meet Barry Hawkins for the first time and pits together two players who required final-frame deciders to reach round two.
Allen labelled his 10-9 victory over Matthew Stevens as the biggest of his career after battling back from 9-6 down and is 4/11 to follow up with another victory over Hawkins to move into the quarter finals.
Hawkins finally made it past the first round at the Crucible at the sixth attempt when seeing off Stephen Maguire and is 9/4 to beat Allen.
Hawkins certainly possesses the ability to make a game of it and therefore the best bet may be on Allen to prevail by either three or four frames, which can be backed at 4/1.
A £30 stake on Carter beating Dott 13-12 would return £270. New customers can sign up here for a free £30 bet.
