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May23May 23, 2017

Michael van Gerwen Wins Darts Premier League For Third Time

World number one Michael van Gerwen was crowned the winner of the Darts Premier League for the third time in five years.

Darts Premier League finals

The conclusion of an epic evening at The O2 Arena saw the brilliant Dutchman gifted a get out of jail free card by a generous Peter Wright.

Final: Michael van Gerwen vs Peter Wright

Mighty Mike fought back from a 3-0 deficit and then a 7-2 deficit to steal an 11-10 victory over Wright, who once again dropped much-needed double shots – in this case a horribly frustrating six (six!) championship darts.

Heartbreak for Snakebite fans came in the 20th leg when Wright failed to land a double 16 before incredibly missing two more shots, then another three on his next visit.

Van Gerwen, who has now made the final of every Darts Premier League, is not the man you want to let back into a game. The Dutchman duly capitalised, taking full advantage and landing a double 10 before closing with a 12-darter to claim the £250,000 first prize.

Semi-final: Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson

Earlier on Thursday, we also watched the semi-finals play out. The first match of the day allowed MVG to despatch the twice World Champion Gary Anderson 10-7 courtesy of a pivotal MVG break of throw late on in the match.

Anderson had taken the opener, and the game remained a tight, tense match until van Gerwen’s decisive snatch in the sixteenth leg.

Semi-final: Phil Taylor vs Peter Wright

Elsewhere, the Darts Premier League said goodbye to crowd favourite (and the greatest darts player of all time) Phil “The Power” Taylor as he gave way to Peter Wright.

Both The Power and the crowd had been hoping the six-time winner could claim a seventh before retirement but Wright wasn’t reading from the script and eliminated Taylor in a 10-9 victory.

Wright had romped into a 4-0 lead before Taylor showed his true class to bring the game level, preceding a break of throw that sent The Power into an amazing 9-8 lead and within touching distance of a final spot. Sadly, though, it wasn’t to be as Taylor missed a match-winning dart to allow Wright to take the final place.

Darts betting tips for Dubai Masters

Both MVG and Wright will turn out again this Wednesday in the Dubai Masters where the former is an outright winner’s price of 4/6 across the board – but for which Wright is an intriguing best price of 5/1 with SkyBet.

Phil Taylor will also be making an appearance in the Middle East this week. Bet365 are offering 14/1 on an outright win for The Power.

Dave Chisnall, who will make his World Cup debut for England next week, is an overall price of 22/1 in the same sportsbook, while James Wade can be selected for an outsider’s price of 33/1.

Anderson, for those interested, can be picked up for a Dubai tournament win for 11/2 at Betway where you will also find Raymond van Barneveld at 25/1.

Dubai Masters schedule

Wednesday’s Dubai Masters order of play is as follows:

Peter Wright takes on Dave Chsinall before MVG meets RVB in an all-Dutch clash.

This preceds a match between Anderson and Taylor before James Wade meets Gerwyn Price, 80/1 at Betway, to close the night’s opening round.

More PDC tournaments in 2017

Betway World Cup of Darts – Frankfurt, June 1-4
World Matchplay – Blackpool, July 22-30
Champions League of Darts – Cardiff, September 16-17
World Grand Prix – Dublin, October 1-7
European Championship – Belgium October 26-29
World Series of Darts Finals – Glasgow, Nov 4-5
Grand Slam of Darts – Wolverhampton, Nov 11-19
PDC World Championship 2018 – Alexandra Palace

May16May 16, 2017

Phil Taylor Reaches Darts Premier League London Finals

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

After more than three months of top darts action, we have whittled the field down to the final four for this year’s Betway Darts Premier League.

We now know the not-so-surprising names of the players who will step out at London’s O2 Arena this Thursday and compete for the 2017 Darts Premier League title.

Darts Premier League: the last step to the final

Of course, world number one “Mighty” Michael van Gerwen heads to London having topped the table following a victory over world number two Gary Anderson, himself a qualifier, albeit in fourth place.

Anderson’s countryman Peter Wright, one place lower in the world rankings, heads into the semis as League runner-up, while the old master and six-time champion Phil “The Power” Taylor makes up the numbers as the third-place qualifier.

Phil Taylor vs Adrian Lewis

In his retirement year, Taylor made sure of a London spot, his twelfth in thirteen years, following his dismissal of fellow Englishman and Stoke local, Adrian Lewis 7-5.

It might have been different, with “The Power” finding himself 5-3 down to “Jackpot” early on. However, the old veteran was relaxed enough to claim four legs on the spin and bring the game back under his own control to condemn his rival to bottom spot.

Dave Chisnall vs James Wade

In truth, there was no pressure left on Taylor by the time he stepped up to the oche after fifth-placed Dave Chisnall failed to get the victory he needed against James Wade in the night’s opener, claiming only a disappointing tie instead.

Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson

The battle between the world’s top two saw Michael van Gerwen defeat Gary Anderson, playing in front of a home crowd, 7-4. While Mike had assured qualification prior to a dart being chucked this week, he did require victory in order to bag league leader’s bonus of £25,000 for the fifth successive year.

It was a victory that was never really in doubt as the Dutchman averaged 103.56 and hit four 180s on his way to a thrilling 124 checkout on the bullseye, after which he played in cruise mode, damage very much done.

Peter Wright vs Raymond van Barneveld

The night’s biggest winning margin was chalked up Peter “Snakebite” Wright who put a tiring Raymond van Barneveld to bed 7-1. Averaging 97.27, Wright showed a deadliness that can sometimes go missing from his game as Barney consigned himself to another one of those weeks.

Darts Premier League Final Betting Tips

Now that we have reached the end of the tourney, it’s hard to look away from Mighty Mike, collector of almost every PDC trophy last year.

Even when he’s off form you need guts to bet against the imperious Dutch master. That said, sport is nothing without surprises and Peter Wright has posted some impressive recent results against the champion, not least a whitewash in the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen two weeks ago.

The semis line up in order of qualifier seedings, meaning MVG meets Gary “The Flying Scotsman” Anderson before Peter Wright and Phil Taylor square off in the second match of the night.

A double on MVG and Wright to win at Bet365 returns almost evens and as such is very enticing.

The latest outright betting sees a best price of 1/2 on MVG which you can claim at Betway, who are also currently posting the best price on Peter Wright too at a reasonable 9/2.

Over at SkyBet, Gary Anderson finds his best value at 11/2, while for the romantics, Taylor is 11s across the board.

Betway are offering 15/8 on the tourney winner being a Scotsman which, with half of the competitors throwing under the Scottish flag, is tempting.

I like the look of the following request-a-bet from SkyBet: Michael van Gerwen & Peter Wright both to win, hit the highest checkouts and score the most 180s in their semi-finals all for 10/1.

May11May 11, 2017

Phil Taylor Stuns Mighty Mike As Anderson Makes Final

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Sites

In winning on Thursday, Gary “The Flying Scotsman” Anderson joins Peter “Snakebite” Wright and Michael van Gerwen in a guaranteed place at the Betway Darts Premier League finals.

Darts Premier League: The Penultimate Week

Anderson became the third name to secure a spot in next week’s Darts Premier League finals at The O2 in London, with Phil “The Power” Taylor likely to secure the fourth spot after shocking his long-time rival last week.

Gary Anderson vs James Wade

Anderson ran out the 7-3 winner in his match with James Wade last week, hitting an average of 94.32. It was well below his best but still seemingly enough to end Wade’s campaign.

Michael van Gerwen vs Phil Taylor

Mighty Mike suffered a rare defeat at the hands of his great rival and the previous world number one Phil Taylor. Rewinding the clock back, “The Power” treated the Sheffield crowd to an average higher than 100 as he made Mighty Mike rue a wealth of missed doubles.

Taylor, now two points clear of fifth-placed Dave Chisnall, looks the favourite to occupy the fourth and final playoff place in London next week.

Dave Chisnall vs Raymond van Barneveld

Chisnall looked down and out a month ago but a fine run of form has remarkably pushed him into contention, even if it seems that things have been left a little too late.

His hand was further strengthened by a brilliant 7-5 win against Raymond van Barneveld, who is now officially out of the running and joins the rest of the eliminated. Chizzy landed a 109.36 average, by far the highest of the night’s performers and certainly more than Barney’s respectable 100.65.

Adrian Jackpot Lewis vs Peter Wright

Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis was another also-ran; his remote chances were ended easily by Peter Wright in a 7-2 win that puts the Scotsman within one point of MVG at the summit. He’s well in with a shout of winning the £25,000 league leaders’ bonus.

Darts Premier League pre-final betting tips

The big interest for this week’s final round before the playoffs lies in the qualification battle between Phil Taylor and Dave Chisnall.

Dave Chisnall vs James Wade

The latter of the two competing for London spot is the first out in Aberdeen this week in a match against James Wade for whom the game is nothing but a dead rubber. With that in mind, it would be wise to bet on Chizzy.

Phil Taylor vs Adrian Lewis

That match precedes Taylor’s all-Stoke battle with Adrian Lewis where again only one has it all to play for. Again, it’s worth backing Taylor who, in his retirement year, holds a place at the O2 Arena in his hands – although both Lewis and Wade can upset the odds here. A double on both at Bet365 is worth 11.6 to the pound.

Peter Wright vs Raymond van Barneveld

Peter Wright can take the top spot with a win against Barney in the following match but qualification is already ensured. Assuming this is an exhibition match, try these treble specials, both from SkyBet:

Wright to win the match, hit the outright highest checkout and score more 180s at 7/2, or Barney to do the same at 11/1.

Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson

Finally, the top two players in the world go head-to-head – but both are already looking ahead to next week, with MVG’s motivation stemming from his desire to win and take down the £25,000 league leaders’ bonus.

Given the quality on show in the night’s closer, it would come as no surprise if this was the match that saw the most 180s. Bet365 certainly think so and are laying 4/5 for that to happen.

Darts accumulator tip for Premier League

Following the money in a week of damp squibs, one line on Chizzy, Taylor, Wright and MVG pays out at 9.11 with Betway.

Chizzy incidentally is a 200/1 shot to be the outright tournament winner, also with Betway.

Just thought I’d mention it…