Tag: darts players championship

PDC Players Championship Finals 2021 Betting Tips

The stars of the PDC are off to Butlin’s Minehead this weekend for the 2021 renewal of the Players Championship Finals in what is the player’s last chance to win a piece of silverware before next month’s Darts World Championship, which gets underway on Wednesday December the 15th.

The £500,000 three-day event features the top 64 players from the 2021 Players Championship Order of Merit and is thankfully back at its traditional home after being staged behind closed doors in Coventry at the Micoh Arena in 2020.

Returning champ, Michael van Gerwen is looking to win the title for the seventh time and third in a row, but it is world number one Gerwyn Price who will rightfully be the favourite.

Last Sunday The Iceman blew away Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright in the final of the World Grand Slam of Darts to win the event for the third time in four years.

In truth, Price didn’t play that well during the week but still had too much for his rivals, even arguably the best player this season, fellow countryman Jonny Clayton, who he beat in the semi-final.

The Welsh pair will, along with van Gerwen and Wright, again carry the biggest threat.

The best tend to win

This isn’t a tourney that normally springs surprises as shown by the fact the duel leading forces of darts over the past 20 years – Michael van Gerwen and GOAT Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor – have taken down the title nine times out of the last 13 renewals of the event.

The draw has seen world number two Peter Wright and world number three Van Gerwen put into the same quarter.

Price looks like the man to beat after he improved across the week in Wolverhampton and was ruthless of his dismantling of Snakebite at the weekend.

Bet365 has put a 10/3 price on the head of, er, Price to win the tourney outright, something that is completely feasible.

Otherwise, at slightly bigger odds, are Mighty Mike at 9/2 and Peter Wright at 8/1, again both with bet365.

Go Jonny go go go

All of the players will be looking at sharpening up their form ahead of the Ally Pally extravaganza next month, but one player who carries a serious threat this year, and one that would be deserving given the year he has had, is the popular Jonny Clayton.

The Ferret has stormed into the world’s top eight this year on the back of his success, but is clearly – and before very long will surely be – in the world’s top four players right now.

Go Go Jonny is the undisputed player of the year and at bet365’s 11/2 is well worth a punt.

Further down the pack, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith showed a return to form in the Grand Slam.

Great to watch, Smith looked in great shape in Wolverhampton and topped his group, which contained Anderson and the returning Raymond van Barneveld, undefeated before dismissing Joe Cullen and Michael Van Gerwen in the knockout stages before losing to Snakebite in the semis.

Speaking of Joe Cullen, while I can’t see a win coming here, he too is improving and averaged 95 over four matches before running into Bully Boy during Round Two.

Bet365 are offering 25/1 on Michael Smith and 55/1 on Joe Cullen to win the first major.

Players Championship Finals 2021 Schedule

Friday November 26

First Round (Best of 11 legs)

• Ryan Searle v Simon Whitlock
• Krzysztof Ratajski v Ron Meulenkamp
• Michael Smith v William Borland
• Joe Cullen v Andy Boulton
• Dimitri Van den Bergh v Madars Razma
• James Wade v Ricky Evans
• Nathan Aspinall v Jeff Smith
• Adrian Lewis v Kim Huybrechts
• Scott Mitchell v Martijn Kleermaker
• Ryan Joyce v Luke Woodhouse
• Martin Schindler v Ian White
• Mervyn King v Darius Labanauskas
• Brendan Dolan v Chas Barstow
• Ross Smith v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
• Danny Noppert v Rowby-John Rodriguez
• Gabriel Clemens v Steve Beaton
• Stephen Bunting v Gary Anderson
• Raymond van Barneveld v Maik Kuivenhoven
• Rob Cross v Jermaine Wattimena
• Jose de Sousa v Devon Petersen
• Gerwyn Price v Jason Lowe
• Michael van Gerwen v Kevin Doets
• Peter Wright v Keane Barry
• Jonny Clayton v Alan Tabern
• Vincent van der Voort v Jamie Hughes
• Daryl Gurney v Alan Soutar
• Damon Heta v Steve Lennon
• Callan Rydz v Mensur Suljovic
• Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ryan Meikle
• Luke Humphries v Jason Heaver
• Chris Dobey v William O’Connor
• Dave Chisnall v Ritchie Edhouse

Saturday November 27

Second Round (Best of 11 legs)

• 16 matches

Third Round (Best of 19 legs)

• Eight Matches

Sunday November 28

Quarter-Finals (Best of 19 legs)

• Four Matches
• Semi-Finals (Best of 21 Legs)
• Final (Best of 21 legs)

Quick glance at the Players Championship Finals 2021

Venue: Butlins Resort, Minehead

Dates: Friday 26 November – Sunday 28 November 2021

Format: Best of 11, 19 and 21 legs

Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen

Where To Watch: ITV 4

When To Watch: 12:45 & 19:00

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Darts Players Championship Finals Betting Tips

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. 

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)

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