Siding with the outsiders in Grand Prix

The Grand Prix snooker gets underway at Glasgow tomorrow lunchtime with just the two matches before it gets into full swing a day later with half a dozen games taking place, the first day cut short as I explained yesterday due to an adjoining building's Queen tribute concert which has created an unfortunate clash.
The draw hasnt worked out particularly kindly for those looking for a outside dabble with many of the more likely outsiders coming against some of the better seeds and also some rather unfancied pairings meeting at the same time.
Would still prefer to be on the side of the better priced players in this event which has a unique FA Cup style draw once this round (which has been seeded) is out of the way, this means someone like Ronnie could meet Maguire or Selby with immediate effect so perhaps wise to steer clear of those at the head of the betting. With this format, anyone could end up with either a very difficult or very cushy passage.
Indeed, the last time this format was used I believe Canadian Bob Chaperon won the event for his only ranking title which encourages the idea of picking some long priced contenders.
Don't think I can manage anything as extravagant as a 125/1 pick this time around however.
Going through them, Shaun Murphy did win the Paul Hunter German Open a few weeks ago but has done little else, however he does have the class to find his feet at some stage this term and took the early 16/1 for starters, he starts with Adrian Gunnell in round one.
Mark Allen and Neil Robertson are both priced 33/1 and up against Michael Holt and Steve Davis respectively they ought to have a good chance of progressing to the open draw, both have the raw talent to take advantage of any weaker opposition they might encounter along the way even though Robbo has been disappointing for the last year and a bit since he won those two ranking titles. The Aussie did lead Ricky Walden 4-1 last week though before succumbing in a decider so at least went close to putting out the eventual winner.
Barry Hawkins has been pretty solid this year and at 66/1 I'll give him a chance here, he has a more difficult starter with Joe Perry, who is another sort I wouldnt argue against backing, but can see this being a tight match and with the Hawk a fair bit bigger in the outright betting I'll side with him.
Those are the main four but have also thrown a few quid at Judd Trump at 50/1, mainly because he is likely to get a bye due to Graeme Dott's broken arm; Dott is apparently looking at the possibility of playing but doubtful he would be able to do himself justice in any case even if he does turn up. Trump is almost certainly not ready to win a tourney like this yet, but with a draw of this nature its probably worth taking a chance he could have it all his own way if the balls come out favourably.
Will be keeping the powder dry on the opening day with John Higgins a short favourite to beat Anthony Hamilton and Perry taking on Hawkins in the above mentioned match which looks priced fairly accurately.
Last night's Premier League produced two 6-0 whitewashes with Rocket Ronnie trouncing Ding and Mark Selby having all too much for the Nugget; Ding's defeat continues a worrying decline in form for him and he could be in real danger of dropping out of the top 16 come the end of the season, which no one would have predicted a couple of years ago when he was just breaking in.
Some of these heavy defeats to Ronnie over the last couple of years seem to have really destroyed his confidence and his tactical game shows little sign of improvement in this time either.
In the World Cup of Pool, I backed Italy today at 5/4 and they did the business with an 8-0 win over Thailand, my outright picks Germany also made it through 8-6 against Poland, though I did have a saver on the opposition in the match betting at decent odds just in case.
Just one more bet today in that event, have taken Russia at 5/2 to pull off what would be a massive shock against Philippines though again going more on the price than any great expectations.
Had a mixed day yesterday with Russia and Japan winning but Spain losing a 7-2 lead to succumb 8-7 to Croatia, outsiders Switzerland losing by the same score to China and Belgium losing the last three frames to lose 8-6 to Austria, who are performing very well with the only female in the competition Jasmine Ouschan amongst their ranks.
Still as I said at the start its the first time I've priced up an event like this so any money won will be a bonus and in a pretty decent position at the moment overall.
Thats all for now anyway,
See you soon on the Betdaq forum perhaps,
All the best Rick