Year: 2017

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July20July 20, 2017

Van Gerwen Victorious in Vegas

He came, he saw, he conquered – as expected, Michael van Gerwen took down his second World Series of Darts title inside a week after beating Daryl Gurney 8-6 in the final of the inaugural US Darts Masters in Las Vegas.

It was another imperious display for Mighty Mike, putting on a show in Sin City, dropping only the one leg as he dismissed Chris White, Dave Richardson and Gerwyn Price before moving onto Gurney.

Northern Irishman Gurney, making his first appearance in a World Series event, had overcome two out of the world’s top three in both Peter Wright and Gary Anderson to make it to the final. Once there, he fared little better than the others paired with MVG, immediately going 2 legs to zero down, the first of which was closed out by the Dutchman with a 124 checkout. Gurney rallied though, just as he had against world number two Gary Anderson in the semis, and took five of the next six legs to move into the lead.

By the tenth leg, however, MVG was back in charge courtesy of a 112 finish and a 13-darter, after which the Dutch star won four straight legs on the bounce to put him 7-5 ahead, before a closing and definitive leg was taken by van Gerwen by way of a 98 average and 12-darter finish to treat the Nevada crowd and help himself to back-to-back World Series triumphs.

2017 Darts World Matchplay Betting Tips

This Saturday at the Winter Gardens Blackpool, the biggest darting event of the summer gets underway as the 2017 Darts World Matchplay takes place from July 22-30, live on the Sky Sports Action HD. This year the tournament boats a new record £500,000 prize money, £115,000 of which will be awarded to the champion, with a £10,000 bonus on offer for a nine-dart finish.

As for the match action, it’s another ex-champion, James Wade, along with top stars Gary Anderson and Peter Wright, who will go in the tournament’s first session on Saturday. In all, 32 players will be competing with the first-round split across the opening three days with a double session on Sunday. It’s the second of these sessions that legendary 15-time Matchplay champion Phil Taylor gets his final ever Blackpool challenge underway before retirement, when he takes on UK Open finalist Gerwyn Price.

The same session also sees Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld launch their campaigns before Monday night when Michael van Gerwen, the 4/6 favourite with Bet365, begins his quest for a third successive World Matchplay win, and, as ever, it’s hard to disagree with the rampant Dutch giant.

The second round is split across Tuesday and Wednesday with the ever-thinning field progressing to the quarter-finals which are then split across Thursday and Friday, with the semi-finals on Saturday before Sunday’s final.

Scottish star Gary Anderson has seen his Betway odds cut to 5/1 following a kind draw, with Wright the third favourite at 6/1 with Bet365. Taylor on the other hand can be picked up for 22/1, also at Bet365, as he seeks a golden goodbye in Blackpool. Be warned though, that neither Taylor, who could face Raymond van Barneveld in round two, or MVG who will likely meet Kyle Anderson or Simon Whitlock on Wednesday, have been given the easiest of routes to the final.

Traditionally, there have been early eliminations for seeded players in round one here so be on the lookout for potential upsets again this year. Can Steve Beaton rewind back the clock and overcome Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis? It’s worth 9/4 with Skybet. Also, do any one of Sunday night’s fixtures have the potential to cause causalities to the big names? That said, Skybet are offering 5/2 on either Peter Wright or Gary Anderson facing off against MVG in next Sunday’s final in separate forecast bets that are worth looking at. Likewise, you can get 33/1 on either of the Scottish pair meeting up with Phil Taylor.

Now 24 years old, the Matchplay has still only ever been won by seven different players in its lifetime. Larry Butler, Colin Lloyd, Peter Evison and James Wade have one title each, while Rod Harrington has another two. The other seventeen tournaments have been split 15-2 between Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen. If you fancy this record to be broken then pay attention to Skybet’s ‘new winner’ special worth 5/4 should anyone but those two win the tournament.

It’s also worthy of mention that the same sportsbook is offering nationality bets on the winner, 5/4 Dutch, 6/4 Scottish, 3/1 English and 16/1 other.

First Round

Saturday July 22 (7pm)

Michael Smith v Steve West
James Wade v Darren Webster
Gary Anderson v Christian Kist
Peter Wright v James Wilson

Sunday July 23

Afternoon Session (1pm)

Jelle Klaasen v Justin Pipe
Robert Thornton v Cristo Reyes
Benito van de Pas v Daryl Gurney
Mensur Suljovic v John Henderson

Evening Session (7.30pm)

Dave Chisnall v Mervyn King
Phil Taylor v Gerwyn Price
Raymond van Barneveld v Joe Cullen
Kim Huybrechts v Alan Norris

Monday July 24 (7pm)

Simon Whitlock v Kyle Anderson
Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton
Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting
Ian White v Rob Cross

Second Round

Tuesday July 25 (7pm)

Suljovic/Henderson v Klaasen/Pipe
Wade/Webster v Smith/West
Anderson/Kist v Van de Pas/Gurney
Wright/Wilson v Thornton/Reyes

Wednesday July 26 (7pm)

Chisnall/King v Huybrechts/Norris
Lewis/Beaton v White/Cross
Taylor/Price v Van Barneveld/Cullen
Van Gerwen/Bunting v Whitlock/Anderson

Thursday July 27 (7pm)

2x Quarter-Finals

Friday July 28 (7pm)

2x Quarter-Finals

Saturday July 29 (7pm)

Semi-Finals

Sunday July 30 (7pm)

Final

July12July 12, 2017

Darters Fly Into Las Vegas For US Masters

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

It’s an exciting week in the world of Darts as worlds collide when Britain’s weirdly popular pub game turned pro, Darts, meets the glitz and glamour of Vegas for inaugural hosting of the US Darts Masters and before that the North American Championship. Darts and Vegas have met before of course, back in the days of the now defunct Desert classic but this stopped in 2009 having run for seven successful years as the sport found new fans over the Atlantic. But now Darts is back and bigger than ever.

For the next five days, at the Tropicana casino resort in Las Vegas, the best darters in the world will descend on Sin City for a festival that culminates in the U.S. Masters event next weekend. That is with the exception of Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor who caught a sickness in Shanghai last week and has since withdrawn his participation in Nevada. Taylor’s place in the US Masters has been taken by seven-time PDC Premier Event champion James Wade. Taylor began to feel unwell as he was narrowly beaten in the quarter finals by Michael van Gerwen where the Dutchman clawed his back into the game after finding himself 5-0 down to the 16-time World Champion Taylor.

Naturally, MVG went on to win the whole event in China, just as he did last year, this time whitewashing a stunned Dave Chisnall in the final of his second World Series event of 2017. Having taken out James Wade in the semi-finals, Mighty Mike moved on to his next prey, Chizzy, who was unable to answer back from the relentless stream of successful checkouts from van Gerwen. In fact, Chisnall, who was making his seventh appearance in a televised final, was restricted to one lone shot at the bull in the entire match as his rival, the world number one, confirmed victory with a 102.77 average.

Now, the eight PDC merit players (without Taylor) meet up with eight qualifiers to play out the U.S Darts Masters at the Tropicana Las Vegas on July 14-15. Before then, on the 13^th of July, there will be the North American Championship. Here, eight players from Canada and the US will play off over one day for a domestic title, with the winner earning a place in December’s World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace, lovingly known to us Brits as the Ally Pally.

US Darts Masters Betting Tips

Betway’s offer of 13/10 for the field against Michael van Gerwen is as good a place to start as any, given the imperious form shown by the big Dutchman who is 8/13 in all three of our sportsbooks. It is hard to look beyond MVG who will want to make a new set of fans in the US as well as adding yet another title to his swollen collection.

With Phil Taylor, a five-time winner of the Desert Classic, having pulled out due to an illness picked up in Shanghai, and Raymond van Barneveld, also a Desert Classic winner, still bedding in a totally new set of darts, the field either tightens or opens up depending on your view point.

While Barney is a best price of 20/1, only two of the world’s top three sit between him and the other Dutchman, MVG’s hot odds-on favourite. Gary Anderson, who has been playing well enough all year with little to show for it, is available at 9/2 with Betway, while Peter “Snakebite” Wright, who I fancy to make the final as well as winning a new army of fans, is 9/2 at Skybet, Bet365 and Betway. There is no Adrian Lewis or Dave Chisnall here meaning James Wade, a replacement for Taylor and a decent outside shot if ever there was, the next up in the betting at 28/1 with Bet365 before Gerwyn Price who is a 33/1 shout at Skybet.

July4July 12, 2017

Snakebite Bites Back: Peter Wright Wins Ninth PDC Title Of 2017

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Peter Wright bounced back into form last weekend to claim his ninth PDC title of 2017 at the expense of Mervyn King in the European Darts Open final in Leverkusen, Germany.

Wright kills the King to overtake Mighty Mike

King, the first unseeded player to reach a European Tour final for almost 18 months, didn’t have long to enjoy his moment of glory as the flamboyant Scotsman secured a 6-2 victory over his English counterpart.

Miraculously, the win means Snakebite edges ahead of Michael van Gerwen in terms of the amount of individual events won this season.

That being said, MVG’s winning streak stretches back into last year’s televised glamour events and he also tasted victory alongside Raymond van Barneveld to win the World Cup of Darts trophy for his country.

This time though the Dutchman exited in Sunday’s afternoon session following defat to Rob Cross, also from England, in a superb match which saw both players average over 102.

The Wright path to victory

For reigning UK Open champion Wright, the path to Sunday’s final saw him meet Robbie Green who he brushed aside 6-1; Stephen Bunting who was seen off 6-3; then Dave ‘Chizzy’ Chisnall who was crushed 6-1 in the quarter-finals.

Finally, he came up against Mensur Suljovic who was soundly beaten 6-3, allowing Wright to sail into the final where Mervyn King was waiting courtesy of his own 6-4 semi-final victory over the emerging Michael Smith.

Wright vs King: as it happened

It was a final where Wright averaged over 103 and vastly improved his doubles ratio, landing six of his nine attempts.

Snakebite took out 136 to break his rival in the first leg with a 12-darter before repeating the feat in the third with a 13-darter to send himself 2-1 up.

King managed to pull one back with a 13-darter but Wright took three legs straight before finishing the match off in style with a 101 checkout to clinch his fourth European Tour crown of the campaign and the top prize of £25,000.

Darts betting tips for the Shanghai Masters

This week picks up the PDC World Series of Darts in its Shanghai Masters leg, taking a momentary break from the European Tour.

Things get underway this Thursday at the unsociable time of 06:00 for UK viewers, who can watch proceedings live or through extensive highlights on ITV 4.

Michael van Gerwen heads the favourites

Anyone looking to drop money on Michael van Gerwen can do so at a best price of 4/6 as agreed upon by both SkyBet and Bet365.

The two sportsbooks do differ on second favourite however, Bet365 favouring Peter Wright (4/1) over his Scotland team mate Gary Anderson (5/1), one half point better in value than you’ll find “The Flying Scotsman” at SkyBet, where the opposite applies for Snakebite fans.

Mighty Mike versus the field

At Betway, they have taken the sensible step of backing Michael van Gerwen against the rest of the field, which is basically removing the Dutchman from the betting.

The field can be picked for 11/10, which given the quality of those attending, is definitely worth a look. Remember, the world numbers two, three, five, six, eight and nine all go here. This Betway special does not affect Mike’s price of 8/11.

Other likely lads

The trip to China also brings Phil Taylor back to the oche, much to the delight of the darts masses. “The Power” is available at 14/1 with Betway, where Barney fans will also be intrigued by the 25/1 offered on their man.

Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall can be backed at 25/1, way shorter than James Wade who finds himself 40/1 in the betting with Welshman Gerwyn Price bringing up the rest of the unfancied field, also at 40/1.