Category: Darts Betting Tips

2022 Darts World Matchplay Betting Tips and Predictions

The second biggest major in darts gets underway on Saturday as Peter Wright looks to defend his PDC Darts World Matchplay crown.

Running from Saturday, July 16 until Sunday, July 24 at the iconic Winter Gardens in Blackpool, 32 of the world’s top darters will be looking to take the Phil Taylor Trophy away from Snakebite but who is the most likely?

In order to make the best predictions, the first thing to understand is how the tournament actually works.

The tournament is made up of 32 players who are divided into four groups of four. These are the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merrit who will each take on one of 16 unseeded ProTour Order of Merit qualifiers.

First-round matches are played in a first to 10 legs format, while second-round games are played as first to 11 legs. Following this, the quarter-finals are played as first to 16 legs, with the Semi-Finals first to 17 and the final first to 18.

So, let’s start with the first group and take a look at the latest odds from the Bet365 online sportsbook.

Group One (bet365 darts betting odds)

Seeding In Brackets

• (1) Peter Wright (2/9) v (10/3) Madars Razma
• (16) Krzysztof Ratajski (8/11) v (11/10) Stephen Bunting
• (8) Jonny Clayton (2/7) v (11/4) Rowby-John Rodriguez
• (9) Dimitri Van den Bergh (1/2) v (13/8) Callan Rydz

Defending champion Peter Wright is just about considered to be the favourite to make it through this quarter ahead of Jonny Clayton.

That is largely due to the fact that The Ferret is likely to face the 2019 champion Dimitri Van den Bergh or even World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz in the second round. Whereas Snakebite should face off against Krzysztof Ratajski should he himself overcome Stephen Bunting.

Even if The Bullet makes it past the Polish Eagle, that is still a tough enough game in itself, but one that shouldn’t faze the world number one.

Van den Bergh, however, has recently picked his game back up, taking down two World Series titles in Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

The Dream Maker dominated both events and is a player who’s won the World Matchplay before.

He was also one of the star performers here last year and was unlucky to finish runner up to an even better Peter Wright.

Another deep run is expected.

Clayton should also breeze through his first game but that’s where things get tougher.

Also, The Ferret is still to win a title of any kind this season, which is surprising given how many he won last year and how well he played during the Darts Premier League.

As for Wright, he starts his campaign off against a player that he has beaten six times out of six in Madars Razma.

That should be a forgone conclusion, but the world champion has been incredibly inconsistent of late and even missed out on a place in the Premier League the play offs.

While he should make the last eight, I wouldn’t back him to reach the semis.

Group Two (bet365 darts betting odds)

Seeding In Brackets

• (4) Michael van Gerwen (1/3) v (12/5) Adrian Lewis
• (13) Joe Cullen (11/8) v (4/7) Damon Heta
• (5) James Wade (2/5) v (2/1) Martin Lukeman
• (12) Luke Humphries (8/15) v (6/4) Nathan Aspinall

The next quarter looks a lot like it will be the tournament’s groups of death. 

Six of the players involved have a combined tally of 18 titles between them already this season. Plus, one of the two remaining players without a title is James Wade.

Of the rest, Michael van Gerwen has won the most this year with six, one of which was darts third biggest tournament, the Premier League.

Incredibly, that was his first major trophy since 2019 and he will be hoping that it will help him return to the kind of form that saw him dominate not so long ago.

The main concern is that, since then, he has undergone surgery on his injured throwing arm has only played once when losing to Danny Noppert in the Dutch Darts Masters.

Mighty Mike is up against former two-time world champion Adrian Lewis in a mouth-watering first-round match.

The Green Machine has won 43 of their past 61 matches but Jackpot won his first PDC title in years at the weekend so will be confident he can spring a surprise at the Winter Gardens.

It’s a tough call with so much talent in this group but Luke Humphries is the next call to make it through to the next round.

His confidence should be soaring following a superb first half of the season where he has won five titles.

Then we have Joe Cullen taking on 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters champion Damon Heta.

The Australian won the recent World Cup of Darts alongside Simon Whitlock which, when you think of what impact winning a World Cup had on Jonny Clayton, makes The Heat a threat.

The Wizard even went on to say that his partner will go on to be a future World Champion. 

However, Premier League of Darts runner-up Joe Cullen, who was one dart away from picking up his second televised title of the year a month ago, is also enjoying a brilliant year and could easily come out on top.

The other game of the group is James Wade and Martin Lukeman which, if he plays to best, The Machine should win.

However, this long leg format doesn’t particularly suit his game and although, he usually manages to stick around in a tournament until the latter stages, this time it could be different.

Group Three (bet365 darts betting odds)

Seeding In Brackets

• (2) Gerwyn Price (2/5) v (2/1) Martin Schindler
• (15) Dave Chisnall (1/2) v (13/8) Kim Huybrechts
• (7) José de Sousa (8/11) v (11/10) Gabriel Clemens
• (10) Rob Cross (4/7) v (11/8) Chris Dobey

Because he is having such a disappointing season by his own sky high standards, Gerwyn Price will be relieved to find himself in what is statistically the weakest quarter in the competition.

Back in February when he sent in two nine dart finishes on the same night in Belfast, The Iceman looked like he was getting back to his best.

But since then things haven’t really being going well for him including missing out on the Premier League play offs as well as a nasty hand injury. 

Martin Schindler is a tough opening opponent but one that Price should overcome.

Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall are the biggest threats to The Iceman in this quarter.

Group Four (bet365 darts betting odds)

• (3) Michael Smith v Andrew Gilding
• (14) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ryan Searle
• (6) Gary Anderson v Daryl Gurney
• (11) Danny Noppert v Brendan Dolan

Third seed Michael Smith should make it out of this one with relative ease.

True, there are still some top names in this group, a few of which have won more than he has, but he is a top act when in full flow.

He also heads to Blackpool in good spirits given that he recently won the US Darts Masters and a European Tour crown in the Netherlands.

Bully Boy is still seeking his maiden major trophy after losing in finals of the UK Open and World Championship and even after suffering a disappointing Premier League campaign, he finally landed a night win when it looked like he wouldn’t before picking up another three titles.

Given Blackpool’s proximity to St Helens, this would be a fitting venue for Bully Boy to finally get the monkey of his back and break his duck.

The Winter Gardens was also one of the settings of Smith’s seven major final defeats when he lost 18-13 to Rob Cross back in 2019.

Elsewhere in the group, Daryl Gurney is up against Gary Anderson.

This is another one that is tough to call given that, despite being the seeded player, The Flying Scotsman, has really struggled this season.

Plus, Daryl Gurney has a good record in televised matches against his opponent so I will take on Superchin in this match.

This is Smith’s quarter to lose.

2022 Darts World Matchplay Outright Winner Odds (bet365)

• Michael van Gerwen – 11/2
• Jonny Clayton – 13/2
• Gerwyn Price – 7/1
• Peter Wright – 8/1
• Luke Humphries – 10/1
• Michael Smith -10/1
• Dimitri van Den Bergh – 12/1
• Rob Cross – 18/1
• Danny Noppert – 20/1
• Joe Cullen – 22/1
• Damon Heta – 22/1
• Dirk van Duijenbode – 22/1
• James Wade – 28/1
• Nathan Aspinall – 28/1
• Dave Chisnall 28/1

QUICK GLANCE AT THE

Venue: The Winter Gardens, Blackpool

Dates:  Saturday 16 – Sunday 24 July

Format: First to 11, 16, 17 and 18 legs.

Current Champion: Peter Wright

Where To Watch: Sky Sports Main Event HD & Sky Sports Arena HD

When To Watch: 19:00 UK

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You Wont Believe How Much — Or How Little — PDC Darts Players Earn

While darts is more popular now than it has ever been, it is still not the most monied of world sports. Nor is it the most glamourous with many still considering it to be a dusty old pub game. 

The invention of the PDC, which only broke away because the BDO made poor money, was designed to smarten up and professionalise the game’s image and has been, for the most part, successful in doing that.

And while darters will never earn the same as a Premier League footballer, playing the game professionally can still provide a decent, if not spectacular, income.

But how much exactly do they earn?

Obviously, they are not paid by the week like some sportsmen are so this is very much performance-based and darts events don’t always carry the biggest purse. But, over the course of a career, even a modestly successful darts star should be more than comfortable in retirement.

Career Longevity

One of the good things about darts is that fitness isn’t really an issue meaning that players can play as long as they want. Peter Wright, who quit the game for two decades, won the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship at the age of 51. That’s only five years younger than Phil Taylor was when he retired as the most successful darts player ever. Now, Snakebite is a millionaire.

There aren’t many millionaire darts players out there, but The Power certainly will be one of them. Taylor, who used to make his living making ceramic toilet roll handles, collected £7.1 million over his career at the oche.

And while sponsorship and merchandise will likely take his money in to double figures millions wise, that’s not particularly a lot considering how much he dominated a professional sport for all those years.

Basically, we are not talking about footballers who earn a guaranteed half a million pounds per week, we’re talking about sports people who have made a good living and where only a small select group of elite players have made any real money.

How Much Does A Player Earn?

In reality, to earn anything worthwhile a player should at least be among the best 16 players in the world. Better still, the top 10. Of course, a single tournament win in one of the top PDC events can make for relatively nice pay, but the real money is to be made with sustained success.

However, the PDPA levy every player has to pay from their prize money is 2%. On top of that, players need to pay their managers if they have them and most of the big names will. 

Some players may have to pay for their own travel and accommodation, although the higher profile players will sometimes get that paid for them through a sponsorship deal. These sponsorship deals are arranged by sports management firms so they will take a cut of that too, as well as any prize money.

Beware The Tax Man

Many professional darts players are actually registered as limited companies meaning they pay a hefty amount of tax which they need to declare over the course of the year. When Adrian Lewis won his first world title, lost track of his finances, and having spent his money throughout the year, was hit with an unexpected massive tax bill he hadn’t budgeted for.

Unfortunately for Lewis, this wasn’t the first time he has seen his winnings diminish. In 2005, when playing in the Las Vegas Desert Classic aged just 20, Lewis broke the local law by unknowingly gambling under age at the MGM Grand Casino. Ironically, this is how he earned his professional nickname ‘Jackpot’.

Today, the World Championship pays £500,000 to the winner as part of its £2.5 million pot. £10,000 of that goes to the players union and the rest will go into a player’s bank account. From there, the taxman will eventually take their cut.

Exhibition Earnings

When it comes to exhibition games, players can anything from £250 to £20,000 for one night’s work. The amount that they can command will obviously depend on the size of their profile. 

Today, the likes of Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen can pretty much charge whatever they want, and the top players usually have a fixed fee. Even then though, it’s up to the promoter to pay that fee or at least attempt to negotiate it.

Again though, there are plenty of players that have won major titles but then slipped down the rankings so are unable to command the same fees as when they were at their peak. Adrian Lewis being among them. At the end of the day, ticket sales will dictate and the big names are the draw.

Air Miles

As with a lot of top sportsman, the very best players in world darts will need to do a lot of travelling. Only last month, there were players who, in the space of a week, having played in the Darts Premier League in Brighton, flew to Prague for the Czech Darts Open before moving on to Budapest for a big exhibition. Then its was on to London and Stuttgart. That’s a busy week.

Not long after that, the top players travelled to New York for the first event of the World Series Tour. Other stops along the way include Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands. And while flying isn’t as expensive as it used to be, not all of them will be flying business class in luxury.

Working Class Made Good

Darts is a working-class sport and many of the players don’t come from money. That’s not too problematic with this game because all you really need to get started is a set of darts, a board and a wall (or a good pub).

However, unless a professional is a regular winner, it makes it hard to make regular payments for something such as a mortgage. Most darters aren’t driving around in fancy cars or living lavish lifestyles, they just want to buy a home, put food on the table and generally provide for their families.

So, for the lower-ranked players it can be a very hard living and many maintain a second job. Everything they have hinges on their performance.

Even Jonny Clayton, who earned a cool £500,000 in 2021, refuses to quit his part-time job as a plasterer for his local council. That’s hard when you need to find the time to practise and now that he has established himself as one of the best in the world that may change soon.

However, one good earning year is no guarantee it will happen again. Former electrician Rob Cross springs to mind. Voltage is also a former world champion and has won some other major tournaments too, but he also had more than enough baron years.

Of course, the more you win, the greater the weight of pressure is lifted. There was a point a few years ago when Nathan Aspinall famously only had £19 left in his bank account. One quick run to the World Championship semi-finals and a triumph at the UK Open and now he doesn’t have to worry about money anymore. He was a totally different player after that and paid for his family’s home outright with his winnings.

Next Live Darts

Live PDC Darts returns on 16^th July when the game’s second-biggest event, the Darts World Matchplay rolls into Blackpool. 

The summer’s biggest darts tournament runs until 24^th July at the Winter Gardens and will see 32 of the world’s best players such as Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen and reigning champion Peter Wright fight it out for the Phil Taylor Trophy.

As soon as we have the bet365 darts betting odds for this year’s event we will bring them to you here at Betting Darts.

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