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July4July 5, 2018

Michael van Gerwen Lands A Nine-Dart Finish In Hamburg

The first nine-dart finish in the PDC European Tour in five years was recorded last weekend by, who else, Michael van Gerwen as he overcame Ryan Joyce in Hamburg on Saturday night. The last nine-darter on the European Tour was achieved by Ross Smith in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy five years and a day earlier.

The Dutchman’s perfect leg came during his 6-2 win over qualifier Joyce from Newcastle, as MVG sought out a sixth European Tour triumph of 2018. His sixth European Tour event title, which also happened to be his 15th PDC title of 2018, came after defeating William O’Connor 8-2 in the European Darts Matchplay final.

On his way to the final, Mighty Mike beat Robert Thornton 6-1, Ian White 6-4 and Stephen Bunting 7-4 before destroying O’Connor, who was playing in his first ever European Tour final. The Dutchman has now triumphed in 26 European Tour events and has 109 career singles titles in total.

Attention now turns to the Las Vegas Strip, specifically the South Pacific Ballroom at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino which will host the North American Darts Championship and U.S. Darts Masters from Thursday July 5 through Saturday July 7.

Thursday will see eight domestic qualifiers battle for the North American Darts Championship, all hoping to emulate 2017’s champion, South Dakota policeman Willard Bruguier to win a place in the World Championship in London this December.

Eight of the world’s top stars will join their North American rivals to compete on Friday, July 6 in the opening day of the U.S. Darts Masters. The action will conclude on Saturday, July 7 with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

Players confirmed to be there include the reigning champion Michael Van Gerwen, World Champion Rob Cross, Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, two-time World Champion Gary Anderson, James Wade, Michael Smith, Daryl Gurney and Gerwyn Price.

The Dutch world number one is, of course, the favourite with the online bookmakers Betway, pricing him at the odds of 8/11. This is quite a drop from the second favourite Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson’s 7/1. As the prices begin to drift outwards, it is worth noting that each-way bets pay at a third of the odds for the first two places, which basically means that we should be looking for the finalist who will inevitably meet with MVG in the USDM final.

With that in mind, Rob ‘Voltage’ Cross and Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright are priced at 7/1 and 9/1 respectively. Going further down the money line, you’ll find Mensur Suljovic available at 25/1, while Daryl Gurney can be backed at 33/1. James Wade (33/1), Michael Smith (33/1) and Adrian Lewis (40/1) are all worth considering, particularly Smith who impressed in this season’s Premier League. Raymond van Barneveld is another 40/1 shot, half the value of Dave Chisnall at 80’s. Simon Whitlock (100/1) and Gerwyn Price (125/1) make up the numbers in Sin City this year.

September29September 29, 2017

Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright Wins 10th Title Of The Year

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Last week, we called Kim Huybrechts as a worthy each-way bet and identified Peter Wright as the major talent. For those paying attention, well done. While Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright was our 3/1 winning darts betting tip last week, at ¼ of the 25/1 odds, Huybrechts’ losing appearance in the final was still worth £6.25 to the pound.

The win in Riesa, Germany means that Wright becomes only the fourth man to win 10 PDC titles in a calendar year, as he beat Huybrechts 6-5 to clinch the International Darts Open. For Huybrechts, this is his second losing final appearance in this tourney since losing to Mensur Suljovic at the same stage last year.

Wright’s path to victory

The victory at the SACHSENarena represents Wright’s fifth European Tour title of the year and tenth overall. Earlier this year, Wright landed the UK Open title in March, the Players Championship 11 as well as three UK Open qualifiers. It was a welcome return to form for Wright after a disappointing Champions League showing one week earlier when he failed to escape the group stage. This week, as the highest ranked name in attendance, he posted a 102.65 average in the final after fighting back to win from behind in the previous round.

Huybrechts, looking for his first European Tour title since 2015, had beaten Ian White, Gerwyn Price and Joe Cullen on his way to the final where he quickly established an early lead, twice breaking his man to move 3-1 ahead. The advantage swung back and forth between the two over the next few legs, before Wright settled things at 4-4. In the following, deciding leg, Wright produced a 116-checkout making a 12-dart leg that allowed him to win another title plus pocket £25,000 in the process.

Kim became the second Huybrechts of the weekend to fall victim to world number three Wright, who also beat Kim’s brother Ronny Huybrechts 6-4 in the third round. Wright then saw off Dutchmen Jelle Klaasen and Ron Meulenkamp in an impressive run to the final.

Darts World Grand Prix betting tips

This week, players move on to the Citywest Hotel in Dublin for the week-long Darts World Grand Prix. Getting underway at 19:00 on Sunday the 1st of October, Michael van Gerwen is favored to win the event as reflected at both Betway and Bet365. Both bookmakers have placed an 4/5 price on the World number one’s head.

A double-start format means all legs have to begin and end with a double so Peter Wright’s notorious double hitting ability might well cost him dear. Of course, much the same can be said for Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson. As good as both players unquestionably are, this short format tourney can disrupt those who let things get to their head, which is a risk to Anderson and Wright. Normally during a match, darters will get numerous attempts to fix their game; however, the Grand Prix will not afford that luxury, and with no Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor or even Raymond van Barneveld present, the wise money should go on MVG even at an odds-on price.

For the record, Anderson finds himself at 5/1 while Wright is 7/1, so if you’re feeling like an outside gamble these two are your best shot. From there, the prices drift well out with Mensur Suljovic a best price of 22/1 at Betway, before the 28/1 offered on Daryl Gurney. Of the bigger longshots, perhaps the most intriguing is the 33/1 listed on two-time World Champion Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis but this is an event that Mighty Mike van Gerwen really should be taking down without too much bother.

Starting with 32-players, the first round runs across two nights, before the second round on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the quarter-finals on Thursday and semi-finals on Friday. All the action will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Sunday October 1 (7pm)

• Alan Norris v Justin Pipe
• Joe Cullen v Darren Webster
• Steve Beaton v Rob Cross
• Robert Thornton v Kim Huybrechts
• Raymond van Barneveld v Kyle Anderson
• Adrian Lewis v Daryl Gurney
• Michael van Gerwen v John Henderson
• Dave Chisnall v Jelle Klaasen

Monday October 2 (7pm)

• Benito van de Pas v Cristo Reyes
• Mervyn King v Ronny Huybrechts
• Steve West v James Wade
• Simon Whitlock v Christian Kist
• Mensur Suljovic v Ian White
• Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price
• Gary Anderson v Richard North
• Peter Wright v Stephen Bunting

Tuesday October 3 (7pm)

• Chisnall/Klaasen v Thornton/K Huybrechts
• Lewis/Gurney v Cullen/Webster
• Van Gerwen/Henderson v Norris/Pipe
• Van Barneveld/K Anderson v Beaton/Cross

Wednesday October 4 (7pm)

• Smith/Price v Van de Pas/Reyes
• Suljovic/White v West/Wade
• G Anderson/North v Whitlock/Kist
• Wright/Bunting v King/R Huybrechts

Thursday October 5 (7pm)

Quarter-Finals

Friday October 6 (7pm)

Semi-Finals

Saturday October 7 (8pm)

World Grand Prix Final

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.