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January18March 4, 2022

The PDC Darts Premier League Gets A New Format For 2022

The PDC has announced the most radical shake-up of the format for the Darts Premier League in the event’s history.

The size of the playing field, the players of which are still unknown, has been reduced from ten darters down to eight while the 16 league nights will now be contested as individual mini-tournaments made up of quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final, with all matches played to the best of 11 legs.

With the new format change, there is also the introduction of a £10,000 bonus to each night’s winner.

The tournament will still be played in the same stated 17 arenas across the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Germany. The tournaments will still be held on the original Thursday night dates but will now offer up an increased £1 million prize fund.

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2022 Premier League of Darts Tournament Structure

New for 2022, every night of the PDC Premier League of Darts will feature eight players that will contest four quarter-final matches, with the winning four players progressing on to two semi-finals followed by a final to determine that week’s winner.

Each match will be played over a best-of-11 legs format.

Over the course of the competition, all players will play each of the other seven players twice.

Each time they will play in the quarter-final stage of that night’s mini tourney.

There will also be two additional nights that will feature extra fixtures, also best of 11 legs.

Ranking points will be awarded each night and applied to the Darts Premier League table.

After 16 nights, when all of the fixtures have been played, the top four players in the league table will progress to the play offs, which will be held the following week on the 26^th of May at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle.

The ranking points that will decide the league table will be allocated as follows: five to the winner, three to the runner up and two each to both of the semi-finalists.

Judgement Night, traditionally week nine, has effectively been done away with. Over the 16 weeks, a draw will be formed for 14 nights, with an extra two nights, Night Eight and Night 16. Those nights will feature additional fixtures in the same format in a draw bracket based on the league table following Night Seven and Night 15, respectively.

Line Up Unknown

The lineup has yet to be announced, with the PDC likely to make their statement after next week’s Darts Masters event, as was the case in 2021 when Jonny Clayton’s victory meant that he was awarded the final spot in that year’s competition, an event he would also go on to win.

Darts fans can likely expect some of the world’s best darts players, including recently crowned World Champion Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, world number one Gerwyn ‘The Iceman’ Price, returning Darts Premier League champion Jonny Clayton and Michael van Gerwen. all to be included among the eight players competing for this year’s title. Other potential participants include James Wade, Dimitri van den Bergh, Gary Anderson and Ally Pally runner up Michael Smith.

In a statement, PDC chief executive Matt Porter said, “The Premier League has grown beyond recognition since first being introduced 17 years ago, but the time was right to introduce this ground-breaking new format.

“Our new format means that every match matters. Every night throughout the season has its own champion and will provide even greater value for fans attending and watching around the world, with seven games playing through to a conclusion to find a winner in each venue.

“There is also the wider race to be involved in the Play Offs and to challenge for the overall Premier League title and a share of the massive £1 million prize money.

“We’ve already seen great interest across the UK and Europe from fans looking forward to attending the Premier League live once again, and this year they’ll be experiencing more top-class darts than ever before in this event.”

Queen Of The Premier League of Darts?

Queen of the Palace Fallon Sherrock recently failed to earn her two-year PDC Tour Card at Q School, but there is still the possibility that she could get one of the eight Darts Premier League places, should the ruling body factor in her popularity among darts fans.

That is, at least, according to 2020 BDO World Darts Championship quarter-finalist Laura Turner.

While many believe it should be the top eight ranked players on the PDC Order of Merit, Matchroom Sport, the owners of the PDC and chairman Eddie Hearn did float the idea that Sherrock had a chance late last year.

When asked about Sherrock’s potential Premier League inclusion, Turner said, “Yeah, I’ve said it before, she’s got to be one of the most commercial assets within darts at the moment. She’s hot property, everyone wants to see Fallon play.”

That view is not shared, however, by two-time PDC World Championship winner John Part.

The Canadian, who also has a BDO World Championship win under his belt, believes she shouldn’t be included in the final line up because it wouldn’t fair to her, or the others involved, due to the unforgiving nature of the tournament.

Darth Maple said, “I think it would be hard to pick her with the current format. Certainly, she is capable of playing. But if I was Fallon or representing her, I probably wouldn’t want her to. I know from experience it is a gristmill. It’s not favourable to somebody’s confidence. Yes, it is challenging and a great experience in a lot of ways, but it can really bash you as well. Yes, it would be good in a lot of ways to have Fallon in it. I don’t think it would be good for Fallon. I’m not sure it’s fair to others.”

The Premier League has undergone a number of format changes in the previous 17 seasons since the tournament was first introduced in 2005.

When it started out, there were just seven players involved which were later stretched to eight and then 10 competitors.

In recent years, we have even seen the inclusion of one-night challengers.

The 2022 Darts Premier League gets underway on Thursday the 3^rd of February at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, just days after the conclusion of the 2022 Darts Masters at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

In the coming weeks, we will bring you our darts betting tips as well as the latest bet365 darts betting odds for both events.

Darts Premier League Points

Night Winner – 5 points + £10,000 bonus
Runner-Up – 3 points
Semi-Finalists – 2 points

2022 Premier League of Darts Schedule

Night 1, Thursday February 3: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Night 2, Thursday February 10: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Night 3, Thursday February 17: SSE Arena, Belfast
Night 4, Thursday February 24: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin
Night 5, Thursday March 3: Westpoint Exeter
Night 6, Thursday March 10: The Brighton Centre
Night 7, Thursday March 17: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Night 8, Thursday March 24: Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam
Night 9, Thursday March 31: Utilita Arena Birmingham
Night 10, Thursday April 7: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Night 11, Thursday April 14: AO Arena, Manchester
Night 12, Thursday April 21: P&J Live, Aberdeen
Night 13, Thursday April 28: 3Arena, Dublin
Night 14, Thursday May 5: OVO Arena, Glasgow
Night 15, Thursday May 12: Utilita Arena, Sheffield
Night 16, Thursday May 19: The O2, London
Play-Offs, Thursday May 26: Utilita Arena Newcastle

January14March 30, 2022

Oche And Out – When Darts Players Fall Over On Stage

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Darts fans are notoriously loud and raucous bunch so when their heroes take a tumble on stage they won’t let them forget about it.

It doesn’t happen very often of course, but when the best darts players slip in front of the TV cameras, it does it gives us all a good laugh.

Names as big as legendary pair Jocky Wilson and Martin Adams have been left red-faced after tripping up on stage much to the delight of the chanting spectators, some of whom have even joined in on occasions.

In the past, we have seen players drinking from the wrong water bottles and only weeks ago world number one Gerwyn ‘The Iceman’ Price was laughed at when he dropped a dart on the oche during his World Darts Championship quarter-final match against eventual runner up Michael Smith.

The Welshman is still to fall over on stage however but we can’t say the same for the following few unfortunate fellows.

Jocky Falls At The First

A star of the eighties and one of the most memorable figures in the history of darts, Jocky Wilson won BDO World Darts Championship titles in both 1982 and 1989 and was known for his colourful character.

The Scot played a big part in the rise of televised darts during his era alongside the likes of Eric Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe.

Scotland’s first-ever world darts champion even made an appearance on the BBC’s flagship music show at the time, Top Of The Pops, when Dexys Midnight Runners performed their cover of the Van Morrison song “Jackie Wilson Said”.

He did like a drink though and would regularly play with a pint by his side and was also said to have downed pints of vodka that had been disguised to look like cola.

And on one occasion, his thirst got the better of him when, during his 1984 world championship defeat to Dave Whitcombe, he drunkenly fell over and landed off the stage and on his face.

Seeing the humour in the mishap, Wilson got up and congratulated his victor.

Clumsy Like The Wolf

Three-time BDO World Champion Martin “Wolfie” Adams, who is also a three-time World Masters champion, has been in the professional game since 1981 and remains a formidable darter and fan favourite to this day.

He didn’t enjoy the happiest of days at the 2015 BDO HAL Masters in Venray, Netherlands, however, when the venue made the unusual decision to make the players walk down a flight of stairs instead of the usual flat runway.

While he did reach the final of the low-key event in one of his matches, he was unable to master the complete stairway, tripping on the final few steps and losing his balance and tumbling out of site.

Amazingly, the crowd remained calm, had it have happened at the Ally Pally Wolfie would have got the biggest cheer of the night.

Bravedart Takes A Tumble

Before the World Grand Prix was founded in 1998, there was a competition called the World Pairs tournament which ran from 1995 to 1997.

During the 1996 event, one match saw Phil Taylor and Bob Anderson take on Keith Deller and Jamie Harvey.

Harvey, nicknamed “Bravedart” because he was Scottish, had a career that included two spells in the BDO as well as being one of the founding members of the PDC.

Also in 1996, the Scot managed to reach the semi-final stage of both the PDC World Championship and the World Darts Matchplay, but it was his mishap in Salford that most people remember.

In the Group One match in the last 16, Harvey was playing alongside Deller when he fell off the stage, leaving Taylor looking bemused as to what happened as Harvey disappeared from the stage.

Unfortunately, the telly cameras missed the actual incident at the time, meaning viewers at home were left as baffled as to what happened as The Power.

The Thorn Is Nipped In The Bud

There must be something about facing the greatest darts player of all time, Phil Taylor.

Perhaps it’s the nerves.

We don’t know if that was the case when, during judgment night of the 2014 Premier League of Darts, Robert Thornton had to face The Power to stay in the competition.

Eventually ending up a 7-4 loser, The Thorn was clipped in the 10th leg while collecting his darts prior to tripping past the match referee Russ Bray and failing to regain his balance.

In an attempt to save his opponent, Taylor leaped forward to try and catch Thornton, who only just narrowly avoided crashing into his table and falling from the stage.

Thornton limped back to his table with his head down, possibly in embarrassment, likely in pain, while Taylor then stepped up to the oche to continue the match.

Thornton managed to see out the game in what was to be his last Premier League appearance for another two years.

Sun Goes Down

At the Ally Pally for the 2017 PDC World Darts Championships, China’s Qiang Sun provided one of the more memorable moments of the tournament.

The Chinese player suffered a nightmare prior to his 2-0 preliminary round defeat against Australian wonderkid against Corey Cadby.

The 51-year-old was shaking hands with the match officials before he embarrassingly tripped over the oche and fell flat on his face.

As you might expect, the boisterous crowd loved it and were cheering and laughing in hysterics.

Sun was soon laughing himself though as he was helped back to his feet by PDC Master of Ceremonies John McDonald.

He might walk on water, but…

During one night of the 2017 European Tour1 1 in Riesa, Germany one fan got a little too excited.

Invited to come on stage during the warm-up for a Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright match, one crazy German who had come along for the evening dressed as Jesus really got into the swing of things when he began to shake his long hair back and forth like a would-be rock star.

Naturally, our wannabe lord and saviour made himself quite dizzy, and when he turned around to shake hands with the walk on girls things didn’t quite go to plan.

While the TV camera angles don’t quite catch the initial wobble, the look on the walk on girls’ faces tell the story as Jesus, wig in hand, stumbles backwards towards the edge of stage before inevitably tripping over a speaker and preceding to plop backwards off the edge and posting himself into some kit requiring the help of security guards to help him get back on his hallowed feet.

Looking for the latest darts betting tips? We have all the latest information on some of the best lines to bet on at Bet365 Sport.

January4January 4, 2022

Peter Wright Wins 2022 PDC World Darts Championship, Becoming Two-Time Winner

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Peter Wright beat Michael Smith 7-5 in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace to become a two-time winner of darts’ biggest event.

The Scot needed to produce a comeback late in the game after letting an early two-set lead slip to beat Michael Smith in a thrilling final at the Ally Pally.

Snakebite found himself playing poorly and trailing five four down in a race to seven sets with Smith two legs up in the tenth.

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Streaky as he is, he then turned on the style and never really looked back, stunning Bully Boy in the process.

Wright, who won the event in 2020, went on to win three sets in a row to claim the title.

The 51-year-old becomes only the sixth player to win the title twice.

2021 World Matchplay champion Wright became the oldest first-time darts player when he won the event two years ago and remains the second oldest winner in history behind 16 times winner Phil ‘ The Power’ Taylor, who was 53 when he won his last world title.

During the tournament, Wright averaged 98.34 compared to Smith’s 99.22.

In the semis, Wright had beaten fellow Scot Gary Anderson, while Bully Boy saw off the challenge of James Wade.

Only one round earlier, Smith knocked out the returning champion Gerwyn ‘The Iceman’ Price, who threw the tournament’s third nine-dart finish during the match.

Two Set Lead Lost

Playing in his third final, Snakebite stormed into a two-set lead before England’s Smith, who was appearing in his second Ally Pally final, took the following two.

The world champion then switched his darts set during the break before coming out to hold his throw, this despite Smith throwing his 72nd 180 of the tournament – which broke Gary Anderson’s previous record of 71 – and retake the lead to go three two up.

Smith then took the following two sets to lead the match for the first time at four three before also claiming the ninth.

In the 10th set, with Smith five four ahead, Wright was two legs down before winning three straight legs to level the match once again.

Switching on the afterburners, the Scot then reeled off another three legs without reply from perennial runner-up Bully Boy.

After taking down the 11th set, Snakebite then won two more legs to move within one of victory.

Smith did manage to win the third leg in the 12th set but Wright landed a double 12 before long to win the match and win the PDC World Championship for the second time.

Snakebite’s Winning Darts Betting Tips

Back in July, our new world champion made a bold prediction when he made the following claim, “I am going to win the Worlds and the World Matchplay this year, so get the double on. Put a £1 on it or 50p“.

As far as darts betting tips go, that was a pretty successful one because back in the summer, prior to the Blackpool event, that double was around 80/1 with bet365 darts betting so we hope you got that on at the time.

Peaking at the exact right time for darts’ two biggest majors, he has been consistently inconsistent in 2021 throwing the best and worst of darts.

In all though, it’s been a pretty decent couple of years for a player that nearly quit the sport before reaching his first World Championship final back in 2014.

Since then, he suffered a further 19 televised final defeats and lost 11 of his first 12 majors finals before winning six of his last seven ahead of his maiden world title, so he knows only to well how his beaten opponent feels today.

For Smith, 31 from St Helens, this was his sixth major final defeat out of six after also coming home second in the 2018 Darts Premier League, 2018 World Series of Darts Finals, 2019 World Darts Championship, 2019 World Matchplay and the 2020 Darts Masters.

PDC World Championship 2022 Key Stats

OVERALL

Tournament average: 91.66
100+ averages: 13
100+ checkouts: 228
Tournament 180s: 859 (0.47 per leg)
Legs played: 1798
Sets played: 435

HIGHEST TOURNAMENT AVERAGE

Jonny Clayton: 102.83 (three matches played)

HIGHEST MATCH AVERAGE

Michael Smith: 106.32 versus Ron Meulenkamp (Round Two)

MOST 180s

Michael Smith: 83 in 199 legs (0.41 per leg) *Tournament record

NINE DARTERS (THREE THROWN)

William Borland versus Bradley Brooks (Round One)
Darius Labanauskas versus Mike De Decker (Round One)
Gerwyn Price versus Michael Smith (Quarter Finals)

NEW YEAR, NEW SEASON

With the first title of the new season out of the way, it’s around 49 weeks until we make a return to the North London and the Ally Pally, but there’s plenty of PDC darts tournaments lined up for the new year in what looks like a more regular darts calendar in 2022 following a disrupted couple of seasons.

Next up is the PDC Darts Masters at the end of the month where reigning champion Jonny Clayton will return to Milton Keynes looking to defend his crown.

The Ferret’s success in the tournament earned him a spot in the Premier League of Darts, which he then also went on to win.

In a similar manner, the PDC will announce this year’s 10 Premier League players later on in the month, likely after the Masters.

We do know that Jonny Clayton has his entry, as does world number one Gerwyn Price, five times winner Michael van Gerwen and, of course, newly crowned world champ Peter Wright.

July sees the World Matchplay get underway at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, while all of the autumnal tournaments should be going off in their usual spot all things being well, before the World Champions get going again around Christmas time to lead us into the new year.

PDC 2022 FULL DARTS TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

JANUARY

28 – 30, January (Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes) The Darts Masters
Defending champion: Jonny Clayton (Wales)

FEBRUARY

3February, (Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff) Premier League Darts 2022 Night One
10February, (M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Two
17February, (SSE Arena, Belfast) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Three
24February, (Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, Germany) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Four
31March, (Utilita Arena, Birmingham) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Nine (Judgement Night)
(Premier League) Defending champion: Jonny Clayton (Wales)

MARCH

3March, (Westpoint, Exeter) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Five
4 – 6 March (Butlin’s Minehead Resort) UK Open
Defending Champion: James Wade (England)
10March, (The Brighton Centre, Brighton) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Six
17March, (Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Seven
24March, (Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Eight

APRIL

7 April, (First Direct Arena, Leeds) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Ten
14 April, (AO Arena, Manchester) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Eleven
21 April, (P&J Live, Aberdeen) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Twelve
28 April, (3Arena, Dublin) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Thirteen

MAY

5 May, (OVO Arena, Glasgow) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Fourteen
12 May, (Utilita Arena, Sheffield) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Fifteen
19 May, (The O2, London) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Sixteen
26 May, (Utilita Arena Newcastle) Premier League Darts 2022 Night Seventeen (Play Off Night)

JUNE

3 – 4 June (Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA) US Darts Masters (World Series)
Defending Champion: Nathan Aspinall (England)
16 – 19 June (Eissporthalle, Frankfurt, Germany) World Cup of Darts
Defending Champion: Scotland

JULY

16 – 24 July (Winter Gardens, Blackpool) World Matchplay of Darts
Defending Champion: Peter Wright (Scotland)

AUGUST

12 – 13 August (Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre, Townsville, Australia) Queensland Darts Masters (World Series)
26 – 27 August (WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Australia) New South Wales Darts Masters (World Series)
19 – 20 August (Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, New Zealand) New Zealand Darts Masters (World Series)
Defending Champion: Michael van Gerwen (The Netherlands)

SEPTEMBER

16 – 18 September (AFAS Live, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) World Series of Darts Finals
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton (Wales)

OCTOBER

2 – 8 October (Citywest Convention Centre, Dublin) World Grand Prix
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton (Wales)
27 – 30 October (Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany) European Championship
Defending Champion: Rob Cross (England)

NOVEMBER

TBC: (Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton) Grand Slam of Darts (Unconfirmed)
Defending Champion: Gerwyn Price (Wales)
TBC: (Butlin’s Minehead Resort) Players Championship Finals (Unconfirmed)
Defending Champion: Peter Wright (Scotland)

DECEMBER

TBC (Alexandra Palace, London) 2023 PDC Darts World Championship (Unconfirmed)

Defending Champion: Peter Wright (Scotland)