World Darts Betting Tips Day 2: Gian van Veen to cruise into round two

• Gian van Veen the third favourite to win the World Championship

• Great to see Cristo Reyes back but he's been dealt one of the toughest cards

• Heta to turn up the heat

Gian van Veen went off as the third favourite at 14/115.00 in this year's World Championship despite having never previously won a match on the Ally Pally stage, highlighting how highly regarded he is in the game and just how high a ceiling he has, with the ability to sustain it. 

Van Veen to put down a marker

In a section of the draw with Luke Humphries, many are fancying the Dutchman to advance from this quarter at 7/24.50. Even though there are many stern tests lurking in later rounds, I think the 23-year-old will make relatively light work of his opener.

This tie did get my juices flowing when the draw was made. Van Veen has enjoyed a tremendous few months on tour, having previously come agonisingly close to victory on the Euro Tour, reaching two finals and on both occasions losing out to Michael van Gerwen, it all came together in the culmination of the 2025 series, at the European Championship in Dortmund where he clinched his first major title.

Following on from that, the world number 10 got the better of Luke Humphries at the Players Championship Finals before going on to successfully defend his World Youth crown at Minehead.

When you look at the numbers he's posted in 2025, winning over 70% of his matches with an overall average above 98, it's difficult to see a possibly rusty Cristo Reyes finding the level required to challenge, if the European Champion is firing on all cylinders.

As for Reyes, who heads back to Ally Pally for the first time since the 2019/20 campaign having come through the Mediterranean Qualifier, despite much excitement surrounding his return to the big stage, I do question whether he'll be able to replicate the level shown in Segovia last month.

Reyes fell off the PDC circuit almost four years ago but prior to that had made the Last 16 of this tournament on debut back in December 2014 before following that up with five further World Championship appearances on the spin, during which time the Spaniard beat the likes of Dimitri van den Bergh and Kevin Painter. He is a great talent, there's no doubt about that.

In terms of his current level though, we don't have a great deal to go on aside from the fact that he didn't have things particularly easy in qualifying, having to beat the likes of Michele Turetta and Jose Justicia which he did in style. Having taken a large chunk of time away from the game after losing his tour card due to other work commitments, he has said quite simply that the desire to play has returned and that's why he is giving it another go.

However, during qualifying, he looked more and more nervous with each round and admitted that that was because he'd wanted to give a good account of himself, playing at that level for the first time in a good few years.

Whilst it is terrific to see The Spartan back in London and I'd love to see him regain his tour card in January, I don't think his stay in this tournament will be a long one.

I'm backing Gian van Veen to Win the Match and Have 1+ Bull Finish @ 11/43.75. 

Heta to make amends for poor Slam

Damon Heta will be looking for a response when he takes to the oche on Friday having significantly underwhelmed at the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals, where he delivered alarmingly lacklustre performances.

Reaching three finals on the floor and one on the Euro Tour, he has picked up two more PDC titles in 2025 but in major events, it's been a different story, suffering first round exits at the Matchplay, Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam and at Minehead.

I'm still adamant that at some stage it is all going to click into place for The Heat on a big stage and he will pick up that elusive maiden major title.

When it does all come together, he is an absolute joy to watch and capable of competing with anyone, as demonstrated in the quarter-finals of the UK Open last year where he was relentless and ruthless en route to dumping Luke Littler out of the tournament.

His opponent Steve Lennon has beaten the likes of Krzysztof Ratajski and James Wade in big major tournaments in previous years but has not had an easy time of it in 2025, failing to qualify for the majority of them and was eliminated in the opening round at the UK Open.

Damon Heta to Win the Match and Throw 4+ 180s at the boosted price of 13/82.63. 

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