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A tried and trusted formula for making money on snooker involves studying the draw and trying to predict how it will pan out over the tournament. Picking out one player from each quarter leaves open the possibility of a dream semi-final line-up, although more realistically, just getting one or two of the semi-finalists should create an opportunity to 'green up' before the tournament ends. [u]Quarter One: 2u Stephen Maguire @ 18.5[/u] No player has defended this title since Stephen Hendry in his pomp during the early 1990s and after a terrible season by his standards, there is little to suggest John Higgins is about to buck the trend. The draw hasn't done him any favours either, presenting one of the most dangerous first-round opponents in Liang Wenbo, yet the Wizard of Wishaw remains...

All the talk in snooker at the moment is for faster formats, fewer frames and quicker matches but the UK Championship, with its two session contests, will provide a significant test. It is for this reason that, since its first staging in 1977, it has produced so few shock winners, and the 2010 event seems likely to end in victory for one of the usual suspects. Last season I tipped Ding Junhui, who duly did the business. This season I'm tempted by [b]Shaun Murphy[/b], the champion two years ago and always a dangerman, even though his lack of consistency sometimes lets him down. This was evident in the Premier League last weekend. Having played superbly to beat Marco Fu in the semi-finals, his game went to pieces in the final and he was hammered by Ronnie O'Sullivan. Murphy, though,...

An old colleague of mine used to wonder at snooker's propensity for propagating the long-time survival of the disturbed, [b]erratic genius[/b]. I reasoned that its non-combative nature was perhaps the genetic source. After all, it's hardly in the spirit of this noble art to throw a punch, smash a ball past a rival, tackle them headlong, or even ride them off the road. Instead, when your opponent is attacking you (or "break-building", as I believe is the popular term) you just have to sit back in your seat and take it quietly. And in the absence of any cathartic way to fight back or rage, many exponents of the game - above all, the supremely talented ones - can be left with some unresolved issues. The progenitor of the species was [b]Alex Higgins[/b], snooker's original bad boy. His...