Premier League of Darts: Betting Guide 2010

Darts / David Croft / 09 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

"Get behind the [1.37] for Taylor to lose a match; with this quality of opposition it will happen."

It's billed as Britain's biggest indoor sporting event and kicks off this week in front of a sell out 10,000 crowd at the O2 Arena. Over 15 nights, eight players compete for a share of £400,000, the winner taking home £125,000. Premier League Darts is back and the opening night is this Thursday. David Croft reports.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Premier League, too many of those in the crowd seem intent on getting themselves on TV rather than watching the action and the elongated format can lead to a few too many irrelevant matches. But it can also produce some classic darts too and there's no doubting that this years field is the strongest to date. Not one of the eight in the line-up is an easy game, there are no Klassens or Mardles this year.

And seven of the eight go into the first round in the knowledge that Phil Taylor can be beaten. It doesn't happen often but it did in the semi-finals last year and it happened just a few days ago when Phil Nicholson triumphed at the Players Championship Finals. The Power was temporarily turned off and I wouldn't be surprised to see him lose a couple of matches in the group stages of the Premier League. So get behind the [1.37] for Taylor to lose a match, with this quality of opposition it will happen.

Along with Taylor; Ray Van Barneveld, James Wade (the reigning champion), Mervyn King, Ronnie Baxter and Terry Jenkins all qualified through their top six rankings. The field is supplemented by wild cards Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock. As a result, Fox TV in Australia will be showing the action live, no bad thing for the global spread of the sport. And there's no doubting Whitlock will be a live and dangerous opponent for anyone throughout the 15 weeks, which is why I feel I have to pose this question: how can Whitlock have a best price of [15.0] to win the Premier League? And how can he be priced at [3.85] to win without Taylor?

Odds of [15.0] are too generous for me. Did nobody watch the world championship? Has nobody seen Whitlock in the last few years? This man is impervious to pressure, as steady and solid as Ayres Rock itself. As talented as a juggling Koala and almost as laid back. Whitlock is an outstanding possibility for the title and beautifully the draw pairs him with Phil Taylor in Thursday's opening round. It's a no lose situation for the Wizard; should he beat The Power then it's a tremendous morale boosting first game. If he loses, then c'est la vie, he's got another 13 matches to come en route to the play-offs. At [6.4] for Whitlock to beat Taylor, would you be mad not to have some of that? In a three horse race, you might as well have a bit of the [7.4] for the draw as well. Without doubt they are the value bets for the opening night.

Away from that clash, Wade against Barneveld is always a tasty encounter and I'm not surprised to see both players so close in the market. Wade just shades favouritism and that may be down to a Premier League record against the Dutchman which reads four wins to two, three out of three in last year's competition. Odds of [2.26] are the price for Wade to make it four on the trot against Barney.

Betfair's form stats show four TV tournament matches between Terry Jenkins and Ronnie Baxter with each player picking up two wins a piece. Crucially though Jenkins wins have come in matchplay events, which is the format for the Premier League - each match is played over 14 legs with the first to 8 declared the winner. Draws can and often do occur though and while I wouldn't be surprised to see this finish 7-7, I'm going to give it to Jenkins by a slender margin at [1.81]

Mervyn King plays one of my five to follow in 2010, Adrian Lewis. This is a very tough encounter for Lewis to kick off his Premier League campaign. King is on a roll and just came up short in the Players Championship final against Nicholson. He also finished runner up in the Premier League last year and in the market without Taylor is a tempting [4.5]. But Lewis has been hitting big, big scores recently and over a short distance could, if he hits the Oche running, put King away before he's drawn breath. As it is I'm going for a draw in this one at [4.7]; I just can't separate them enough and the value is with the stalemate.

Crofty's opening night selections

Simon Whitlock at [6.4] to beat Phil Taylor
James Wade to beat Raymond Van Barneveld at [2.26]
Terry Jenkins to beat Ronnie Baxter at [1.81]
Mervyn King and Adrian Lewis to draw at [4.7]

and Simon Whitlock to win the Premier League at [15]