Masters snooker: Stevens and Robertson can shade wins
Published:Both matches on the third day of action at the Masters look highly tough to call and punters may be best to get involved in total frame betting rather than attempting to pick a match winner.
John Higgins kicks off the afternoon session against Matthew Stevens, while the evening pits Neil Robertson against Mark Allen.
Matthew Stevens to beat John Higgins @ 13/8
Results have not been particularly forthcoming at the Masters to Higgins throughout his career and there is no reason to suggest why this will change against Stevens.
On ten occasions Higgins has been dumped out in the opening round of the event and four of these failures have come in the last five years.
Meanwhile, he has only made it beyond the quarter finals of two snooker tournaments since May.
The good news for Higgins is that he does own a dominant record over Stevens, winning eight of their ten showdowns and all of the last four.
Over nine frames in the best-of-11 clash may prove the best bet on offer though and can be backed at 1/1 in the snooker odds.
Neil Robertson to beat Mark Allen @ 8/13
This is possibly the toughest match to call in the whole of the first round at Alexandra Palace.
Allan typically gives a good account of himself in the televised tournaments and reached the final of the recent UK Championship to show the quality of his current form.
On the other hand Robertson has been one of the form players of the snooker season and may just have the edge in winning his last two matches with Allen.
The winning margin in all of their last four meetings has been no more than two frames, so again over nine frames in the match stands out in the snooker betting at 1/1.
