The fourth ranking event of the snooker season gets underway on Wednesday as the world's top stars head to Berlin for the 2012 German Masters.

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A star-studded field will battle it out for €280,000 in prize money over five days of action in the German capital.

Every player will feel they are in with a chance of glory and the close high standard of play over the past few ranking majors is reflected in the pre-tournament odds.

The bookmakers make Mark Selby and Judd Trump joint 7/1 favourites, with a number of players also heading the list.

Selby will be looking to go one step further than last year, after finishing runner-up to Mark Williams in a close final.

He has demonstrated a clinical edge when at the table during recent evens and should progress through the first round against either Liu Song or Soner Sari.

UK Champion Trump is always dangerous over longer formats and despite an ealry exit at the recent Shootout, remains the game's hottest young talent.

Newly crowned Masters champion Neil Robertson plays Marcus Campbell in his opener; he followed up his Ally Pally success by winning through his Championship League group, however withdrew from the Shootout last weekend due to illness.

The Australian left-hander is expected to be well enough to compete in the fourth ranking event of the season this week and is likely to be a title contender at 8/1 with Bet365.

Crowd favourite and three-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will be looking to end his long run without a major title this week.

The Rocket will be out to bounce back from second round exits in his last two televised event and is in desperate need of a good run in a ranking event in order to remain in snooker's elite top 16.

Despite a slump in form, he remains a formidable opponent and is likely to be well-backed at 8/1.

World champion John Higgins thrives in major televised events but can be vulnerable under short formats. He is among a number of stars priced at 8/1 with Bet365.

Masters runner-up Shaun Murphy and UK finalist Mark Allen are both in good form and may contain each-way value at 12/1 and 16/1 respectively.

Recent Shootout champion Barry Hawkins will travel to Germany full of confidence. He has been dismissed as a 100/1 outsider but could prove a threat should he repeat the form that took him to the title in Blackpool at the weekend.

The tournament runs from February 1-5 at the Tempodrom in Berlin, with all matches up to and including the Quarter-Finals being played over the best of nine frames, the Semi-Finals best of 11 and final best of 17.

Betting Tip:

A £10 accumulator for John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott to win their first round matches pays £36 with William Hill

German Masters outright odds courtesy of Bet365
Each-way available 1-2 1/2

Mark Selby 7/1
Judd Trump 7/1
Neil Robertson 8/1
Ronnie O'Sullivan 8/1
John Higgins 8/1
Mark Williams 8/1
Ding Junhui 9/1
Shaun Murphy 12/1
Mark Allen 16/1
Stephen Maguire 20/1
Ricky Walden 33/1
Matthew Stevens 33/1
Ali Carter 33/1
Stuart Bingham 33/1
Graeme Dott 33/1
Martin Gould 33/1
Stephen Lee 50/1
Ryan Day 66/1
Mark Davis 66/1
Andrew Higginson 66/1
Joe Perry 80/1
Peter Ebdon 80/1
Tom Ford 80/1
Ken Doherty 100/1
Barry Hawkins 100/1
Marcus Campbell 125/1
Adrian Gunnell 150/1
Mike Dunn 150/1
James Wattana 150/1
Liu Song 250/1
Paul Davison 250/1
Yu Delu 250/1
Chris Norbury 300/1
Patrick Einsle 300/1
Krzysztof Wrobel 300/1
Craig Steadman 300/1
Peter Bullen 300/1
Soner Sari 500/1
Phillip Arnold 500/1