By Dan Warren BBC Sport at The Crucible

McCulloch on the charge

The middle Sunday of the World Championship is widely regarded as the quiet day of the tournament - but not for the bookmakers.

The best brains in Ladbrokes were called into action early on as Alan McManus began to crumble against Ian McCulloch.

The Scot was a 50/1 shot for the title at the start of play - but after McCulloch rattled off seven frames in a row, the bookies shunted him out to 500/1.

That's five times less likely than the Fast Food Rockers bagging the 2004 Christmas number one in the UK - and they've split up.

Still, McManus saw his odds halve later in the evening - without the Scot playing a shot - thanks to some uber-boffin making a quantum calculation based on the fact that Stephen Hendry might lose to Barry Pinches. Gambling, eh? It's a scientific business.

There is one punter out there who definitely will not be upset at the way Sunday afternoon's play unfolded.

A mystery punter somehow knew it was time to back McCulloch - or had a total lack of faith in Alan McManus - and splashed out �4,000 on the Englishman to win the match.

He stands to double his money if McCulloch (currently 7-1 up) holds his nerve - and will presumably be able to afford a box of chocolates as a thank you if it pays off.

At the risk of revealing that I'm utterly obsessed with gambling, here's another story about an ambitious - and obviously loaded - punter.

All we know about this mystery gambler is that he, or indeed she, is from the Manchester area - and like the person who had a flutter on McCulloch - evidently has access to a time machine which allows them to see into the future.

After all, how else someone would know to stake a total of �3,000 on Matthew Stevens, when the Welshman was 6-10 down to Paul Hunter?

Stevens' impressive fightback against Hunter means that a cool �44,000 is up for grabs for this lucky lad, or indeed lady, if the Welshman lifts the crown this year.

So, if you're in the Manchester area and you see someone with their fingers tightly crossed, it may not be because some cheeky young scamps have been playing games with superglue.

The Crucible is the only venue where snooker's old sartorial rules still apply, and players must still wear bow-ties.

But Graeme Dott's nearly cost him a frame in his second-round match against John Higgins.

Having raced into a 4-1 lead against the out-of-sorts 1998 champion, Dott leaned over a shot when well placed in the sixth frame and was called for a foul as his tie touched a ball.

But despite his good fortune, Higgins' wretched form continued as he spurned the chance to clinch the frame, allowing his fellow Scot to go 5-1 up.