Darts - Players Championship

[kompressaur]

I notice that this kicks off today (thur).
Planet Darts | Tournaments | totesport.com Players Championship | totesport.com Players Championship | Players Championship Preview

just having a look at some suggested bets here-

So 2010 started as 2009 had done with Phil 'The Power' Taylor once again crowned the PDC world champion.

And let's be honest, it wasn't a major surprise - though we shied away from tipping him pre-tournament that was only on the grounds of his prohibitive price, the best of 2/5 available simply not enough to get the juices flowing.

In truth, by the end of the tournament he had made even that price look big, losing just one set en route to the final, averaging over 102 in every match and producing thumping victories in the quarters, semis and final against in-form players in Adrian Lewis, Mark Webster and Simon Whitlock.

While Taylor rumbled to a 15th world title at Alexandra Palace, Whitlock's run was the story of the tournament for many people as the pony-tailed Australian exploded onto the PDC circuit with a brilliant run all the way to the final.

He fired a brilliant 105 average in the quarter-finals (bettered by only Lewis and Taylor in the tournament) but as good as his performance was in the final itself it was mission impossible to prevent a 2009 'Powerslam' from Taylor.

Indeed the fact he averaged over 100 and still lost 7-3 illuminates just how hard it is to get the better of Taylor.

Even an 'off day' sees him average in the mid to high 90s but that's generally enough for him to win through as it takes a combination of both that and his opponent producing their best darts consistently over five or more sets to beat him.
And that's why we enter this weekend's totesport.com Players Championship with Taylor a best price of 4/9 to take the title, though he's as short as 1/3 in places.
He's got Peter Manley first up and that looks a combustible encounter but it's one he should win comfortably and though the likes of Terry Jenkins, Kevin Painter and Lewis could lie in wait it's hard right now to see anything other than Taylor picking his way through to yet another final.

But at the price available it's the same old, same old for me I'm afraid - I can't bring myself to get involved at 4/9 and will instead hunt out a bit of value elsewhere.
Those scanning the draw for Whitlock won't find him, though. Indeed the nature of this tournament is such that three of the four World Championship semi-finalists are absent.
The field is made up of the top 32 finishers in last year's Players' Championship Order of Merit, which is determined by prize money won in the 'floor' events which take place throughout the year and not the major televised tournaments.

And with Whitlock based in Australia for much of last year, Webster in poor form initially after switching to the PDC and Raymond van Barneveld taking two breaks in the year and not at his best, all three failed to make the cut.

With Taylor sitting right at the top of the draw and with each-way terms only generate a pay-out for a finalist that means we're confined to the bottom half in search of value.
And our particular focus falls on James Wade.

With 'Barney' absent, Wade is the second-best player in the field according to the world rankings - a fact that's represented in the prices available.

You've also got to factor in what looks - at face value at least - to be a pretty tough draw, but even so we're quite happy to get involved at 12/1.

Yes, he's got Mervyn King first up, but 'The King' seems to be somewhat off the boil at the moment - witness his second-round exit at Ally Pally - and though we're generally big fans of his we're happy to oppose him here.

Wade is then 'seeded' to meet Gary Anderson but you just never know if he'll be on his game or not until he gets down to his first double - and though he leads the head-to-head, it's telling Wade has won the last two.

Thereafter, though the players clearly deserve respect - the likes of Mark Walsh were brilliant in last year's floor events, hence his number two seeding here - there's nothing that a multiple Grand Slam winner should fear.

Yes, he was one of Whitlock's scalps at the Worlds, but he was averaging high 90s for much of the tournament and is always a clinical finisher - he looks primed to go deep into this event.

Both Anderson and Wade are available at 12s in places but at this range we're much happier siding with 'The Machine', with the added bonus he was one of the few players to beat Taylor in 2009 - doing so twice.

One note of caution, though - the 12s on Wade is widely available but only bet365 go 1/2 for two places with all other layers going 1/3.

Generally in the bigger events you'll find three of the quarters (those featuring Taylor, Barney and Wade) have a big-priced favourite but with Barney absent and Wade in a tougher secion than usual due to the unusual nature of the seedings, there's actually only Taylor whose best price is odds-on.

And we'll have a dabble on Lewis winning his section.

'Jackpot' was breathtakingly brilliant at the World Championship - averaging in excess of 102 in each of his matches, even his thumping defeat by Taylor.

Fatherhood seems to have brought with it maturity and Lewis is finally living up to the billing he has received for what seems like nearly a decade.

He starts off here against Brendan Dolan and that should be comfortable and if he gets anywhere near his Worlds form - which there's every reason to believe he will - there should be little for him to be concerned about.

That's not to say there are not good players in his quarter, more a reflection of just how well he's playing. Take the even money on him winning quarter two.

WADE IN ON 12/1 JAMES: Sports Betting - Sports Betting News, Form and Tips

Coverage is live on ITV4 but i wont be able to watch it

good luck

[yorkieacer]

heres some thoughts from a huy who won me a ton of money in the world championships

Off to the delightful surrounds of Histon tomorrow so I'll do my outright now. Will get on before the off on Thursday for any match bets but a quick glance at the card doesn't yield a standout betting opportunity. Pressure is on the outright here after the recent run .

1.5pts R.Baxter to win Players Championship Finals 40/1 Skybet

I'm not a huge Ronnie Baxter backer, certainly not outright because all too often he lacks the balls when the going gets tough and lacks an extra gear too but I'm forgetting that this week because in a fairly tricky draw, if there is a nice part of it I think Baxter's in it. Dudbridge and then the winner of Newton vs Wright isn't the worst path to the quarter finals and even then it's only one of Osborne, Stompe, Caven or van Gerwen. Not a top 10 player in the world in sight. Baxter played fairly well in the world championship before his lack of gears was found out by Barneveld but this is short course darts. Gear changes won't need to be as severe. Baxter will want a good run here to take into the Premier League and he's got previous in this event having made the semis here last year, beating King along the way, before running into a rampant Taylor. He won't meet Taylor here until long after the ew money is secured. With no Barneveld, Whitlock or Webster - the other 3 world semi finalists, in this tournament someone has a real chance of picking up some nice dosh. When you think another of the top 5 in the world goes in the opening round when Wade plays King this draw can open up and open up quickly. Taylor is likely to win this but there's a couple of potential stumbling blocks along the way. I think Baxter could go really well this weekend and 40/1 is more than enough to get me involved.

6pts A.Lewis to win 2nd Quarter Evs Totesport

Initially when you take a quarter bet, a 3 game acca as such, you want a bigger price than even money but I look at this quarter and I can't see where Lewis gets beaten. Steve Beaton, Tony Eccles, Dennis Priestley, Paul Nicholson, Andy Hamilton, Alan Tabern and Brendan Dolan are the rivals in this group. Hamilton and Nicholson would have something close to the potential scoring power of Lewis but Hamilton won't hit doubles and Nicholson still has to prove he wasn't a one hit wonder to me. Dennis Priestley could send him home on the opening night anyway. Lewis was brilliant in the world championships and if he shows up in the same form this weekend then I can't see how he can't make the semi finals. It's short course darts but you'll still have to play well to see Jackpot off and although the price looks a tad skinny, with the lack of a standout opponent in this field I'm all over the Stokie, who I think has every chance in the Premier League which is upcoming, to take this 2nd quarter.

i will post anymore of his thoughts on the matches etc he has a really good strike rate

[yorkieacer]

The draw:

Phil Taylor (1) vs. Peter Manley (32)
Terry Jenkins (16) vs. Vincent van der Voort (17)
Colin Lloyd (8) vs. Denis Ovens (25)
Robert Thornton (9) vs. Kevin Painter (24)
Steve Beaton (5) vs. Tony Eccles (28)
Dennis Priestley (12) vs. Paul Nicholson (21)
Adrian Lewis (4) vs. Brendan Dolan (29)
Alan Tabern (13) vs. Andy Hamilton (20)

Mark Walsh (2) vs. Steve Hine (31)
Wayne Jones (15) vs. Andy Smith (18)
Gary Anderson (7) vs. Jelle Klaasen (26)
James Wade (10) vs. Mervyn King (23)
Wes Newton (6) vs. Peter Wright (27)
Ronnie Baxter (11) vs. Mark Dudbridge (22)
Colin Osborne (3) vs. Co Stompe (30)
Jamie Caven (14) vs. Michael van Gerwen (19)

Im going no where near wade at all, he was a let down at the world championship and he has lost his love for darts. He could go out in the first round here to King

[kompressaur]

Interesting stuff yorkie. Nice write ups. I will take both your tips. Good luck

[kompressaur]

ah i see it's someone else's views. Where you taking this from yorkie? we should quote the source really.

[yorkieacer]

erm disgusting PL theres a guy on there Kevshat he knows his darts really well, i could do write ups of my own but i have more faith in his picks he has an eye for when players are going to balls up, im staying way clear of wade though, thats my personal view

[kompressaur]

well if folks wanna read whats posted on another forum yorkie they can go read it on another forum. No more posts from other forums please. We are not needy.

[yorkieacer]

jsut to let everyone know bet365 are showing all the matches im getting on nicholson now to beat preistley, allthough priestley is a good player if it goes the full way he gets tired quickly, cant wait to see phil the power taylor tonight

[yorkieacer]

Originally Posted by yorkieacer

jsut to let everyone know bet365 are showing all the matches im getting on nicholson now to beat preistley, allthough priestley is a good player if it goes the full way he gets tired quickly, cant wait to see phil the power taylor tonight

6-2 winner

next one im going to take hamilton to beat tabern 1.53 at the moment

[yorkieacer]

Originally Posted by yorkieacer

6-2 winner

next one im going to take hamilton to beat tabern 1.53 at the moment

6-4 winner there good night so far

taking jenkins next 1.44

[yorkieacer]

Originally Posted by yorkieacer

6-4 winner there good night so far

taking jenkins next 1.44

6-5 winner there

Right then taylor vs manley, cant wait to watch taylor again

Taylor to win 6-3 9.00 5 pts
Taylor to win 6-2 4.50 5 pts

[CPFC]

Originally Posted by yorkieacer

6-5 winner there

Right then taylor vs manley, cant wait to watch taylor again

Taylor to win 6-3 9.00 5 pts
Taylor to win 6-2 4.50 5 pts

Made some decent profit tonight, so following you on this one for interest.

[CPFC]

nice one geezer

[Bigkegman]

Taylor was piss poor but still won 6-2 although Manley had darts to take it to 5-3

Painter v Thornton could go either way - Thornton hasn't been playing well but all he needs is to find the 180's and it could all change.

Lewis should beat Dolan relatively easy enough if he continues his form. Odds dont temp at 1/7

[yorkieacer]

Originally Posted by yorkieacer

6-5 winner there

Right then taylor vs manley, cant wait to watch taylor again

Taylor to win 6-3 9.00 5 pts
Taylor to win 6-2 4.50 5 pts

could of been better but still a winner

Right then i expect a close match here thornton for me @ 2.20, profit from last match 12.5 pts