2025 World Snooker Championship Winner Predictions: Snooker Betting Tips & Best Odds

The World Snooker Championships gets underway on Saturday, but seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan is still yet to decide whether he will play at the Crucible in Sheffield.

World number two Kyren Wilson is bidding to become the first maiden winner to retain his title, the 33-year-old having beaten Jak Jones 18‍–‍14 in last year’s final.

However, despite winning four titles this year, including the Players Championship in March, betting sites make Wilson the third favourite in the outright market at 15/2.

Top of the betting is 2019 winner Judd Trump at 4/1 with Mark Selby next at 11/2. O’Sullivan is 7/1 on some betting apps, which seems short given his disrupted season and the fact he’s been paired with old rival Ali Carter in round one.

O'Sullivan, who last won at the Crucible in 2022, has said he will give himself "as much time as possible" before deciding whether he will compete for a record eighth world title.

The 49-year-old has been an ever-present in the tournament since turning professional in 1992 but has not played on the World Snooker Tour since January, after opting to prioritise his health and wellbeing.

Even without competing recently, he would still come in to the reckoning for a lot of punters who remember him retaining his title in 2013, despite only having played one competitive match beforehand.

To keep our options open, we have paired together the top two in the betting on William Hill with an either or wager on Trump and Selby.

Trump has performed well this season, picking up three titles, including the UK Championship, and was unfortunate to have lost to Wilson in the Players Championship final.

Trump is seeded second while Selby, who has won the tournament four times, has been seeded fourth and is arguably in the easier half of the draw, particularly if O’Sullivan doesn’t play.

Selby made the Tour Championship final ahead of this event and while his Crucible form has been a little erratic with a first and second round exit in the last four years, those results are split by his fourth title in 2021 and a run to the final in 2023.

World Snooker Championship 2025 prediction 1: Trump or Selby to win - 13/8 William Hill

It’s been a long time since John Higgins has had success at the Crucible, but he is still a four-time World Champion, winning in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

He goes into this one seeded three, which will help him in the draw and he’s also heading to Sheffield off the back of a win at the Tour Championships where he beat Selby 10-8 in the final in Manchester.

What made it even more impressive was the fact he came back from 8-5 down to win five frames in a row.

He also won the World Open title for first title in four years, in March, beating Joe O'Connor in the final in China.

He’s available at 14/1 on some gambling sites and looks a good each-way option given he’s the man in form right now.

World Snooker Championship 2025 prediction 2: John Higgins to win - 14/1 E/W BetVictor

Fresh from giving punters their money back on losing Masters bets after Rory McIlroy’s victory, William Hill are running out another money-back offer for the World Snooker Championship.

Should Judd Trump claim his second world title in Sheffield, Hills will refund all losing outright bets on the World Snooker Championships in free bets, up to a maximum refund of £50.

All bettors have to do to be eliible for a free bet refund is place a bet on the World Snooker Champioship tournament winner market on William Hill before 6pm BST on Saturday.

Only the first bet placed will count towards the offer and any cashed out bets will be not be eligible.

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