Category: Darts Betting Tips

In a tournament that has already produced a number of shocks, Friday afternoon’s session threw up yet another as 1000/1 shot Ryan Joyce stunned James Wade to reach the World Darts Championship quarter-finals. This result, which came about after the longshot had survived five match darts from Wade, is the latest unexpected result at this year’s dramatic tournament at the Alexandra Palace.

33-year-old Joyce is making his Ally Pally debut having only joined the PDC Tour at the start of the season and missed two match darts at the double eight before Wade blew three shots at the same target to give the rookie a second chance, which this time he took. The Newcastle native has now overcome Anastasia Dobromyslova, Simon Whitlock and Alan Norris, which has seen his outright price cut dramatically to 66/1 with Betway.

Elsewhere, Nathan Aspinall produced a 13-dart leg against the throw to bank his place in the quarter-finals following a 4-3 victory over Devon Petersen. Aspinall, who is currently 33/1 in from 300/1 prior to the tournament, will now fancy his chances in the quarter-finals against 40/1 shot Brendan Dolan, who made certain of finishing in the final eight after beating Benito Van de Pas 4-1 a round earlier.

Friday night’s final match saw the end of Rob Cross’ defence of the title he picked up this time last year. Voltage threw away a two-set lead over Luke Humphries, who rallied magnificently to draw level before taking the lead and finishing a 4-2 winner. Humphries, who started the day at 40/1, has now seen his price chipped in with Betway to 20/1.

One player who survived a scare is second favourite Gary Anderson, who fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to defeat Chris Dobey. The Flying Scotsman had survived a match dart in his previous game against Jermaine Wattimena and needed to cling on once again. In the end, he took three successive legs to claim his first set. After surviving Dobey’s bullseye dart for a fifth leg checkout, Anderson took charge of the game to make the last eight, where he will meet Dave Chisnall after Chizzy beat Jamie Lewis in straight sets on Friday night.

Finally, Michael van Gerwen averaged 108 for a 4-1 victory over two times World Champion Adrian Lewis in a match that, despite the one-sided scoreline, would have given Jackpot some hope for the future. Although bettered by the world’s best player, Lewis averaged over 100 and hit 10x 180s in an impressive display in which he also managed to win 10 of the 24 legs played.

PDC World Championship Quarter Final betting lines

Michael van Gerwen is the short-priced favourite at 4/5, while second in the betting Gary Anderson is available at 10/3 with Betway. The same online and mobile bookmaker are also offering 5’s on Michael Smith, 7’s on Rob Cross and 25/1 for Dave Chisnall.

A schedule for the remaining eight is as follows:

Saturday December 29

• Nathan Aspinall v Brendan Dolan
• Dave Chisnall v Gary Anderson
• Luke Humphries v Michael Smith
• Michael van Gerwen v Ryan Joyce

Sunday December 30

• Semi-Finals (Best of 11 sets)

Tuesday January 1

• Final (Best of 13 sets)

Raymond van Barneveld’s retirement year took a tricky turn on Monday as the five-time PDC & BDO world champion went out in this year’s second round at the Ally Pally.

In losing 3-2 to Darius Labanauskas, Barney has now dropped down to a provisional 26th on the Order of Merit and faces a tough test to make next year’s majors. It’s a sad way for the former number one to professionally bow out, but the Darts World Cup aside — which he won alongside Michael van Gerwen —  it’s been a largely miserable year on the circuit for the Dutchman.

For Barney to follow in Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor’s footsteps and have a successful send off, the 51-year-old now needs to do well on both the Pro and European tours in the new year. Barney certainly deserves a decent goodbye too, having won four BDO titles at the Lakeside before claiming the PDC version within 18 months of switching codes back in 2006. He went on to win two UK Opens, one Darts Premier League and one Grand Slam of Darts among many other notable victories.

Other World Championship action

Elsewhere, Michael van Gerwen took to the oche wetter than usual after one silly crowd member threw beer all over the world number one during his walkout for his opening match against Alan Tabern. Understandably upset, the Dutchman returned backstage to compose himself before returning to the stage where he beat his English opponent 3-1 in the second round. 29-year-old Mighty Mike is now 11/8 to win outright at Betway.

One leading darter who is now out of the betting is Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, who was knocked out on Sunday night as Spaniard Toni Alcinas pulled off a surprise 3-1 victory. The world No 3, who was dressed in matching Santa Claus outfit and trademark mohawk, lost the first two sets and never really recovered before being eliminated early from this year’s competition courtesy of a 3-2 defeat. Earlier on, Dave Chisnall fought back from two sets down to beat Josh Payne, while the first-ever female player in the PDC World Championship, Lisa Ashton, went out her first time, losing to Jan Dekker of The Netherlands 3-1.

The second ever lady entrant, Russian Anastasia Dobromyslova, didn’t fare any better, herself being shot down by Ryan Joyce in straight sets. World number two, Gary Anderson eased through his first match, winning 3-1 over Kevin Burgess in the second round. This after Burgess ruined Aussie Paul Nicholson’s return from a three-year absence with a 3-0 first round victory. The same scoreline was enough for Daryl Gurney to overcome his second round match against Ross Smith, while reigning champion Rob Cross beat Jeffrey De Zwaan by three sets to one.

James Wade came out on top after a five-set clash with Seigo Asada, but the victory was soured by accusations of bullying. The Machine added a bit of needle to the match and admitted afterwards that he “wanted to hurt his opponent in his face” and set out to do just that. Earlier on Wednesday, Michael Smith got his championship up and running with a 3-1 victory over Ron Meulenkamp. Yet to drop a set, Ryan Joyce, fresh from eliminating Anastasia Dobromyslova, whitewashed the eighth seed Simon Whitlock 3-0 as his brilliant debut campaign continued. Joyce is now ranked as 300/1 to win outright at Betway.

Week 2 and the latest betting lines

Tonight, sees Mensur Suljovic and twice winner here Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis kick off their campaigns, while Gerwyn Price gets underway on Friday, all of which has had the following effect on the outright betting for this year’s championships. Gary Anderson remains second favourite as we go into the second week. Betway have placed a 10/3 price on The Flying Scotsman’s head to achieve success here. Following Peter Wright’s elimination, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith moves into third position in the betting, and can now be picked up for 10/1, one point lower than Rob Cross’ 11/1. Mensur Suljovic is available at a generous 18/1, while Gerwyn Price, who gets underway on Friday, is at 20’s.

Further down the betting, Daryl Gurney can be backed at 25/1, James Wade 28/1, Adrian Lewis, 50/1 and Dave Chisnall 80/1, all available now at Betway.