Darts Players Championship Finals Betting Tips
The PDC has a new champion in its ranks after 46-year-old former Portuguese kitchen fitter Jose de Sousa took down the Grand Slam of Darts last Tuesday.
Taking part in his first ever televised final in only his second season since earning his first PDC Tour Card, the Special One checked out a shock 16-12 victory over James Wade at the Ricoh having previously dismissed the likes of Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Simon Whitlock.
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De Sousa now becomes Portugal’s first ever darts major winner as well as becoming only the sixth different player to get his hands on the Eric Bristow Trophy since the tournament began in 2007.
The Portuguese is now 14/1 with bet365 to win next month’s Darts World Championships at the Ally Pally.
Up next: PDC Players Championship Finals
This week though, there is a more pressing matter. Friday sees the start of the 2020 PDC Players Championship Finals.
As a change from the norm, Minehead has been swapped for Coventry as we return back to the Ricoh Arena.
With the World Championships only a few weeks away, this weekend’s tournament is critical for anyone seeking form and momentum ahead of stepping out at the Alexandra Palace next month. Thankfully, the venue has now been confirmed the potential for fans, always a massive part of the fun at this event, to be in attendance.
It has been an odd season on the PDC Tour, with De Sousa’s major win following Dimitri van den Bergh’s World Matchplay win back in July. Two new nationalities winning PDC majors, while Michael van Gerwen hasn’t won an event since the UK Open in March.
That hasn’t stopped the bookies making Mighty Mike the 7/2 favourite this weekend, albeit jointly with Gerwyn Price. Both players disappointed at the Grand Slam with neither of them really getting going as the tourney continued to deliver shock results.
This week could very well provide more of the same. The Players Championship Finals is well known to throw up unlikely finalists. In fact, in 12 years so far, we have had eight finalists priced at 25/1 or higher.
Punters, then, might want to consider ignoring the short price favourites this around, either considering Jose de Sousa (12/1) or Dimitri van den Bergh (18/1), who was going great guns at the Grand Slam until dropping out in the last four. Prior to that, the Belgian had posted the tournament record average of 114.85 and hit plus ton in each of his games.
These two could very easily go deep again, as could The Polish Eagle Krzysztof Ratajski, who has made three floor finals in 2020, winning on one occasion when he took down the Gibraltar Trophy. He, like De Sousa, is now part of the world’s top 16 and made the quarter-finals of the Matchplay. So in a year of maiden winners, might be worth a punt. Ratajski is 20/1 at bet365 for anyone that fancies it.
Another maiden winner in 2020 was Glen Durrant who landed the Premier League of Darts. Duzza was in woeful form at the Grand Slam, losing all three of his group games. That has seen his odds plummet to 40/1, a whole 12 points higher than his Premier League price.
South Africa’s Devon Peterson, and Holland’s part-time aubergine farmer flogger, Grand Prix finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode, are also likely to be in the hunt. Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock, who chucked a record-breaking Grand Slam match 19 180s in his epic 31 leg victory over MVG last week, has been marked out by bet365 as a 40/1 shot.
Nathan Aspinall has been knocking on the door for a while now. It was the Asp who took care of The Iceman last week and can be backed for 18/1. No one has been knocking on the door for longer than Bully Boy Michael Smith who is still searching for his first televised major title after a string of losing final appearances. The man from St Helens is available at 14/1 with bet365.
At the favourite’s end of bet365’s book, the shortest priced pair – Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price – are both 7/2. The pair are followed in the betting by reigning world champion Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright at 4/1 who would desperately love a return to form in the penultimate event before his world title defence next month.
Players Championship Finals Schedule
Friday November 27
First Round (Best of 11 legs)
- Dirk van Duijvenbode v William O’Connor
- Michael Smith v Boris Krcmar
- Rob Cross v Jason Lowe
- Joe Cullen v Adam Hunt
- Devon Petersen v Luke Humphries
- Ryan Searle v Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock
- Brendan Dolan v Luke Woodhouse
- Ryan Joyce v Andy Boulton
- Stephen Bunting v Ryan Murray
- Krzysztof Ratajski v Karel Sedlacek
- Gabriel Clemens v Martijn Kleermaker
- Ian White v William Borland
- Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell
- Daryl Gurney v Callan Rydz
- Dave Chisnall v Mervyn King
- Nathan Aspinall v Scott Waites
- Gary Anderson v Keegan Brown
- James Wade v Niels Zonneveld
- Peter Wright v Ryan Meikle
- Michael van Gerwen v Darius Labanauskas
- Gerwyn Price v John Henderson
- Jose De Sousa v Mike De Decker
- Vincent van der Voort v Derk Telnekes
- Ricky Evans v Jamie Hughes
- Ross Smith v Kim Huybrechts
- Damon Heta v Maik Kuivenhoven
- Jermaine Wattimena v Steve Lennon
- Madars Razma v Chris Dobey
- Glen Durrant v Wayne Jones
- Darren Webster v Jeffrey de Zwaan
- Danny Noppert v Steve Beaton
Saturday November 28
Second Round (Best of 11 legs)
- 16 Matches
Third Round (Best of 19 legs)
- Eight Matches
Sunday November 29
Quarter-Finals (Best of 19 legs)
- Four matches
Semi-Finals (Best of 21 Legs)
- Two matches
Final (Best of 21 legs)
- Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2
QUICK GLANCE AT THE PDC DARTS PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Venue: The Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Dates: 27.11.2020 – 29.11.20
Format: Best of 11, 19, 21 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: ITV 4
When To Watch: (1300 GMT)