Darts: European Championship 2011

[kevshat]

As soon as one tournament finishes another one begins although this is only a four day tournament which begins on Thursday. £50k to the winner though so it's well worth winning. All the action is live on ITV4 and the format and it's distance should make for a few betting opportunities along the way. We had a decent Matchplay thread and I'm sure this one will be just as profitable.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 I'm taking 2 outrights this week. 1.5pts ew A.Lewis to win European Championship 12/1 Blue Square (1/2 1,2) Adrian Lewis was a bit weird last week in that he seemed to be in a trance in his matches but did enough to win them until he met his nemesis in the semi final. I think overall Lewis will be disappointed with how he played in Blackpool and he'll want to put in a good tournament this weekend to show why he's the world champion. Having been to the final of this tournament in the past, his first major final, the event has good memories for Jackpot. His initial draw isn't too bad if he has his darts head on and I see him making the semi finals again at least. He could meet any number of tricky opponents in the semi finals but with the semis and final in the same night then I would expect Lewis to have his best game with him by then like we saw in the Premier League where really Gary Anderson would've smashed anyone to pieces that night. A few people are beginning to question the World Champion and he may well feel he needs a good weekend to shut the critics up. I expect him to deliver that with this draw and I think 12/1 is a pretty decent price as we know the quality he has. The world champion and Premier League runner up is probably the second best player in the world on his day. If we see those days this weekend 12/1 will look big very quickly. 0.5pts ew A.Hamilton to win European Championship 70/1 Boylesports (1/2 1,2) It was good to see Andy Hamilton bounce back to form in the World Matchplay last week even if he did deliver the hardest beat to a bet I've ever taken. On his day he's such a devastating scorer that he can be really hard to beat. His doubles are a bit shaky but if he had everything he'd probably be a 5 time world champion and 7/1 not 70/1. One thing we do know is he has restored confidence coming into this week and he also has motivation for a strong week as he wants to get his ranking back towards the top 10 again having had a lean 12-18 months before last week. Hamilton has a manager now and he says that's given him the boost his game needed and we've seen the immediate returns on that. His draw this weekend is very tough but if he can take out Barney in the opening round it could open up a bit for him. The way he played last week 70/1 looks a bit big and if he can redeliver the same form this week then he might well give us a decent run for our money in a tournament which has had Wayne Jones and Steve Beaton as former finalists proving that it's often a wide open event.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 First two match bets. 4pts P.Wright to beat J.Part 7/4 Betfred Underneath all the colour and strange hair cuts there's actually a decent player in Peter Wright and he wasn't a million miles away from taking Whitlock out of the Matchplay last week. A double here or there and the Aussie would've been packing his bags and not worrying about collapsing the quarter final. I have to say I was not convinced at all by John Part last week. I know he hit a 9 dart finish but despite that he only averaged 90.75, a point and a half lower than Wright. I know Part's won a couple of floors events this year and the talk is that he's back to real form but I didn't see any of that last week in Blackpool and the way Part went out of the UK Open missing plenty of doubles to see off Thornton suggests that he isn't yet back to his best under extreme pressure. Funnily enough considering he looks like an idiot, Wright is very straightforward. He plays the board, scores his tons and ton40's with the occasional 180 and hits his doubles. I'm in no doubt at all that this is priced up on reputation because I'd have Wright a lot shorter than this. At this price I'm very happy to take Wright here. 6pts P.Taylor (-4.5 legs) to beat J.Michael 4/5 Boylesports I can't believe the price of this. Phil Taylor was averaging 108 for large parts of last week and I don't believe any Greek is going to keep up with that here unless he brings 3 javelins to the oche rather than the darts. John Michael has done well to qualify for this tournament especially as European darts is on the up since Spain's excellent World Cup run and since a couple of Germans have had success in recent World Championships but his run ends here. I don't see how he can take 2 legs in this match unless Taylor misses a stack of doubles. Mr T as Mardle calls him has a date with bigmouth Nicholson in his sights and I don't expect any let up here. Over a short distance Taylor is capable of averaging over 110 and we saw last week against Newton, Hamilton and Wade that he's capable of 6 leg bursts which kill the top players. One of them here and this is 6-0. Given that we've got the comfort blanket of Taylor dropping a leg I've got to take this one.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 And a few more for the opening night. 3pts C.Stompe to beat M.King Evs Stan James I like the even money on Stompe here. It's fair to say his form has been poor in 2011 but his win over Simon Whitlock in the UK Open should have pepped him up and although he lost from a winnable position to Mark Webster in the UK Open Webster has franked the form since. Mervyn King admitted last week he wasn't practicing because he's suffering from tennis elbow and it showed in his performance even allowing for the fact he was being bored rigid by Justin Pipe. He looked rusty and going out in the first round at Blackpool won't have helped him ease that rust. Stompe won't be easy here. He plays up to decent crowds and he won their last major meeting in the World Championship's last year. If Stompe brings his A game to the party here I expect him to have too much for a struggling for confidence and struggling with injury King here. 3pts C.Lloyd to beat A.Tabern 5/6 Blue Square I know I know, fear not I overdosed with headache tablets before I took this as I always seem to get a headache when I back Lloyd in a TV event. That's because usually he talks himself up and then shits out without a trace. He may well do the talking himself up here but he's got an opponent who is in even worse form than he is and I hope Lloyd's run to the semis in this last year will spur him on too. Alan Tabern was very poor in the Matchplay. He couldn't find any consistency on his scoring and his finishing wasn't a lot better. Lloyd didn't play too badly against the rocking horse Henderson but when the match needed winning Henderson pulled away in style. If Lloyd can repeat that performance here it should be enough to see off The Saint. 4pts M.Webster to beat T.Jenkins 9/10 Boylesports If there was a worrying performance last week it was Terry Jenkins'. An 86.10 average is not something we come to expect from 'The Bull' and he has to improve here else Webster will have an easy night. We know what we'll get from Webster. Solid scoring, solid finishing and the odd eyecatching 3 dart checkout. At the minute what we're getting from Jenkins is inconsistent scoring and indifferent finishing. There's always the chance that this event will give him a kick of the arse as he made the semis in it last year where he took Taylor to a deciding leg but it's clear to see he's not in that form at the minute. These two struggled massively in the Premier League but Webster's come out of that experience a lot better and he's very much better in knockout tournaments. He can apply a knockout to Jenkins here. 5pts G.Anderson (-2.5 legs) to beat J.Caven 5/6 Skybet This price looks generous too. Caven lost 10-0 to Wade in Blackpool last week and I wouldn't say Wade played all that well. He only averaged 87.38. Admittedly he managed legs well which took his average down but he only hit 1 180 and wasn't at his best. Caven only hit 17 100+ scores in the 10 legs of that match and if he scores that badly here he'll get murdered. Caven had 12 darts at a double against Wade but you never really felt he was going to hit one. Anderson's crap on his doubles but the way Caven has scored on TV recently, not just in the Matchplay but the few events prior to that, Anderson will have enough time to have a game of round the clock before he needs to hit doubles here. I expect Anderson's scoring to blow this match wide open and if he throws first we're only looking for one break of throw which I see coming quite easily. If he doesn't we need 2 breaks but I think if he can get away he'll runaway with this and take it no worse than 6-3.

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Dont know how the rest of your bets have got on Kev, but a great shout on Wright. :clap :clap :clap A nice price win to start the tournament for me, although when he was messing around on double 1 it didn't look that likely :lol :lol Good luck with the rest, and great stuff mate.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Ok night last night. 5 for tonight. 4pts W.Jones vs M.Walsh - Over 9.5 legs 10/11 Blue Square These two look absolutely perfectly matched here and I can't seperate them in any stat. Both score solidly and consistently and both are pretty good on their doubles. I don't expect either to run away with this match at all because they are so well matched. It's one of those matches where you look at it and it has to be close. They've met 10 times over the best of 11 leg distance which this match is and 8 of those have finished 6-4 or 6-5 which is what we need tonight. I think there's a strong chance that this one will end 6-4 or 6-5 in either direction so the overs looks a fairly logical call here. 3pts M.van Gerwen to beat R.Baxter 6/5 Skybet Michael van Gerwen might just come in here with the more confidence of the two. Baxter has been struggling both on the floor and on TV for a while now and confidence looked low at the Matchplay and you got the feeling he's forgotten how to win. Michael van Gerwen hasn't pulled up any trees on TV for ages which is a shame because he has real talent but luckily for him he's been able to play in the PDC Youth tour where he's won a couple of events and gone well in others. The standard of that is still quite decent so with a bit of winning momentum behind him I'll take the young Dutchman here. 5pts A.Alcinas to beat K.Huybrechts 8/11 Sportingbet Antonio Alcinas looks a good bet here. We've seen him in a few TV events now and he's looked fairly decent. He certainly played well in the World Cup and was a bit unlucky that he drew James Wade in the World Championship. Kim Huybrechts will be making his PDC TV debut here. The Belgian hasn't really got too many notable tour results either whereas Alcinas made the final of a floor event earlier in the season which should stand him in good stead here. He has the makings of a decent player and I fully expect him to win this one. 3pts A.Lewis (-2.5 legs) to beat V.van der Voort 6/5 Sportingbet This looks a big price on what is a generous handicap anyway if you take into account Lewis' 13-5 win over the lanky Dutchman last week. If Lewis throws first we're only looking at one break of throw for him to win this 6-3 which would be enough to bring this handicap in. As I said in my outright write up I expect a big week from Lewis here. Van der Voort never really brought his heavy scoring to Blackpool and he will need to have found it pretty quickly to compete here. His biggest problem is even if Lewis does score well Lewis can better him so I'll take Lewis to win this no worse than 6-3 at a decent price. 3pts A.Hamilton to beat R.Barneveld 15/8 Sportingbet Couldn't really pass this price up as Hamilton isn't a close to 2/1 shot against anyone outside of Wade and Taylor when he plays well as he showed last week. That's even more the case in a best of 11 leg match. Barneveld retains the same level he's always had but the signs are that he's not quite able to go with the very best anymore. Hamilton isn't one of them but he's more than capable. Barneveld isn't the best under pressure at the minute and if Hamilton can nudge ahead the pressure comes on really quickly in these best of 11's. Against the better players Hamilton struggles to sustain his best form over long periods but he will be fine over this distance. He was well up with Taylor after 17 legs last week so he'll compete with Barney over 11 tonight and at 15/8 I'll take the chance he is good enough to go on and beat him.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Dear PDC darts players. If another one of you misses 8 darts at a fcuking double to deny me a handicap I am going to personally make my way to the tournament venue and throw 8 darts at you :wall:wall:wall. Twice in 2 fcuking weeks :puke:puke :@:@.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 -10.69 overall at the minute after another unlucky night in this sport. Just the one for me tomorrow afternoon. 5pts P.Nicholson to beat T.Jenkins 8/11 Skybet Obviously all eyes will be on this one to see if Nicholson can set up his quarter final with Taylor after calling him out in Blackpool and I think he can. He wasn't at his best against Justin Pipe but who can play their best against him? I wasn't overly impressed with Jenkins early on in his match with Webster but to be fair once he got ahead he ran away with it well. In this match I would expect Nicholson's scoring to be the more consistent and his finishing almost certainly will be. Jenkins needs a real top notch match to convince me that he's over his TV slump because at the minute he seems to be playing 3 or 4 good legs then a load of dross and that's not going to get the job done. His defeat to Beaton is still on my mind in that sense and while Nicholson's not likely to blast Jenkins away he's better under pressure and can keep his cool to set up the quarter final most people want to see.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Back to -7.04 overall now after Nicholson's easy win. Few I like tonight. Here's the first one. 2pts K.Huybrechts Most 180's vs W.Newton 11/4 Betfred I didn't know a huge amount about the Belgian, Huybrechts before the first round, only his results on tour but it was hard not to be impressed with him against Alcinas especially as it was his first match on TV. He hit 4 180's in that match and could've had a few more with near misses. He looks to have a solid throw and generally throws down the line which is good to see. Wes Newton's in cracking form at the minute as we've seen in the last 2 months or so but he doesn't hit a huge amount of 180's for someone who is going so well. He only hit one against Andy Smith in the first round in a match he dominated so the 11/4 on the Belgian, who may relax now he's won a game and let the darts go even more, looks a good bet on the most 180's market. I fully expect this to be the end of the road for Huybrechts but he can take some 180's with him and if Newton does take control of this match he may sacrifice high scoring for setting legs up which would give us more chance of this 11/4 landing. I think it's worth a small stake.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 3pts A.Lewis vs D.Chisnall - Over 8.5 180's Evs Boylesports I like the even money on this line. Both players can be very heavy scorers and I think the pace of the game will suit both men in this one. It will be realy interesting tonight because this is the first time Chisnall has come up against the big names on the PDC circuit on television so we'll see just how much improvement he has to make to compete at this level, if any. One thing we know that he doesn't need to improve on is his scoring because he hits 180's with the best of them and if he does hit his doubles his scoring tends to flow even more. Adrian Lewis generally tends to raise his game against the better players as we've seen in the Grand Prix, Premier League and World Championship. It's rare over a 19 leg distance for these two to not score 4 180's each so I'll take the chance at even money that someone hits a 9th at some point in the match. Both men can be guilty of missing doubles which can keep the match tight and ensure we have enough to get the required 9 180's in here.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Good match that first one. I expect the close games to continue as the night goes on. 4pts R.Baxter (+3.5 legs) to beat J.Wade 10/11 Coral 1pt R.Baxter to beat J.Wade 7/2 Skybet I think this match has the potential to be a lot closer than the bookmakers suggest tonight. Baxter has a pretty decent record over Wade having lost just one of their last 9 meetings. They include a couple of draws in last year's Premier League and Baxter also beat him 16-10 in the Matchplay a couple of years ago. So it could be that the Rocket is Wade's bogey man at the minute and if Ronnie produces the game he played last night then there's every chance he could give Wade problems. It's hard to totally gauge Wade's form at the minute as he's not had to get out of first gear too often. He's clearly playing well enough as he's won the UK Open and made the final of the matchplay but he hasn't got a strong record here and this match looks like just the right length for Baxter to take advantage. I think Ronnie can stay within 3 of Wade and at 7/2 I'll have a small bet on him beating him. 3pts R.Barneveld vs M.Walsh - Over 16.5 legs 11/10 Blue Square 3pts Over 7.5 180's 11/10 Blue Square This looks like it could be another close match to me. Walsh is consistent in what he does which is score solidly, rarely missing big numbers and then he'll hit his doubles without too much fuss. Barney played brilliant darts last night which he was forced to do but we don't see that game from Barney as often as we used to and I believe Walsh has the tools to stay close here. Barneveld isn't one for bursts of 110 averages so Walsh's solid consistency around the 95 mark should see him stay in this match. I don't think either will pull away and win this by two clear breaks of throw so I see the over 16.5 legs coming in and given that I see there being at least 17 legs I think there will be enough time for two solid scorers to give us at least 8 180's. The pair hit 9 in winning 12 legs in their first round matches so with the extra distance of this I expect more of the same in terms of 180 scoring. The 7.5 line is 5/6 in some places so I'm happy to pull the trigger at 11/10.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Small loss on the night. Was going well until that last match. -2.36 on the night so -9.40 overall now but the small loss is kind of offset by Lewis having Huybrechts in the QFs. If that Lewis turns up throughout Sunday I'm in business. Speaking on Lewis and Sunday, one early one for me. 6pts A.Lewis (-4.5 legs) to beat K.Huybrechts 8/11 Boylesports I'm going to risk Lewis on another handicap here because the look on Keith Deller's face on Saturday night suggested his charge was going to get a severe talking to after that match so I expect an even more focused and with that even better Adrian Lewis here. I don't in anyway want to disrespect the Belgian, Huybrechts, as he's been tremendous in this tournament so far but if Chisnall isn't taking 6 legs off this Lewis I don't see how Huybrechts is because Chisnall has the scoring ability to go with Lewis on most occasions. Huybrechts hasn't. Huybrechts played really well against Wes Newton but he's going to face a flurry of 140s and 180s here and eventually I expect the pressure to be too much and I see the World Champion winning this no worse than 10-5 however he plays but if the Lewis that played Chisnall turns up this could be very one sided indeed. I don't anticipate any pissing about on the doubles from Lewis here because the quicker he gets this done with the better going forward on this huge day of darts. Lewis -4.5 for me.

[stubhoy77]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011

Small loss on the night. Was going well until that last match. -2.36 on the night so -9.40 overall now but the small loss is kind of offset by Lewis having Huybrechts in the QFs. If that Lewis turns up throughout Sunday I'm in business. Speaking on Lewis and Sunday, one early one for me. 6pts A.Lewis (-4.5 legs) to beat K.Huybrechts 8/11 Boylesports I'm going to risk Lewis on another handicap here because the look on Keith Deller's face on Saturday night suggested his charge was going to get a severe talking to after that match so I expect an even more focused and with that even better Adrian Lewis here. I don't in anyway want to disrespect the Belgian, Huybrechts, as he's been tremendous in this tournament so far but if Chisnall isn't taking 6 legs off this Lewis I don't see how Huybrechts is because Chisnall has the scoring ability to go with Lewis on most occasions. Huybrechts hasn't. Huybrechts played really well against Wes Newton but he's going to face a flurry of 140s and 180s here and eventually I expect the pressure to be too much and I see the World Champion winning this no worse than 10-5 however he plays but if the Lewis that played Chisnall turns up this could be very one sided indeed. I don't anticipate any pissing about on the doubles from Lewis here because the quicker he gets this done with the better going forward on this huge day of darts. Lewis -4.5 for me.

Hi all loving the darts at the moment and fancy huybrechts on the handicaps +5.5 is 4/6 with skybet which means he only needs to win 5 legs,been very impressed with the belgian and is a big scorer so if he can hold his throw should be a good shout wouldnt be suprised to see the belgian winning.Also today the taylor nicholson match should be a belter taylor will be out to do him 10 nil and is not impossible but dont think si think will be 10-3 or 10-4 so im goin for taylor on the handicaps -4.5 at 5/6 skybet that means at worse hell have to win 10-5 cracking bet.The wade barney match could be a classic barney looking back to his best can see this going close but im gonna go for barney at evs.The last match i expect whitlock to win this one and think the highest checkout of over 123.5 at 4/5 skybet is cracking shout had 60 on this yesterday with whitlock at 5/6 and was up by the 2nd leg :nanaGood luck all cant wait till kicks off.

[stubhoy77]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Just looking at correct score prices 100/1 huybrechts 10 5 worth a quid lol done huybrechts 10-5,10-6(50/1),10,7(40/1),10,8(33/1) and 10-9 20/1 just £1 on each u never know haha all with skybet.:cheers

[kevshat]

Two for me in the 2nd match. 3pts R.Barneveld to beat J.Wade 11/10 Bet365 5pts Over 16.5 legs 5/6 William Hill I'm really looking forward to this match. If both play the way they have done in the tournament so far then it's sure to be a classic. I've been so impressed with the Dutchman so far. He's scored very heavily and checked out brilliantly and has looked focused but relaxed at the same time. Wade has cruised into this stage and deserves credit for not panicking against Baxter when he looked like going 4-0 down. This Barneveld looks like the one which turned up in Blackpool last year. He beat Wade in the semis there and I think he can beat him again today. These two are too evenly matched and playing too well for either to run away with this so I don't see it being won any easier than 10-7 and it's Barney who I expect to hit the final double in this one. Sent from my Desire HD using PL Forum

[jofusie]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Adrian Lewis vs Kim Huybrechts over 7.5 180s @ 10/11 Boylesports Great value,should be easily over 8 180s.Huybrechts is more than capable of 4 or 5 and Lewis hit 8 or 9 yesterday. James Wade vs Raymond Barneveld James Wade to win @ 8/11 Bet365 Wade will win this but not sure about the handicap.Barneveld played some great stuff over the past 2 days but Wade is a level higher and as some have said here if Barnie goes behind his head drops. Phil Taylor vs Paul Nicholson Paul Nicholson +4.5 @ 9/10 Bet365 Taylor will want to hammer Nicholson today but not sure if he will.Nicholson has beat him in their last 2 encounters and I see it being close again.I can see Nicholson getting at least 6 legs

[kevshat]

Few more for this afternoon. 3pts P.Nicholson (+4.5 legs) to beat P.Taylor 10/11 Sportingbet Paul Nicholson has wound Taylor up to the point Taylor will want to batter him this afternoon. I want him to batter him this afternoon too but I don't think he will. Nicholson has beaten Taylor the last two times they've played on TV and while this may just be a step too far I think Nicholson can take 6 legs. He raises his game for the big matches and while I think he'll lose I don't think it will be by 2 clear breaks of throw. Nicholson on the handicap for me. 4pts P.Wright (+4.5 legs) to beat S.Whitlock 5/6 Totesport 1pt P.Wright to beat S.Whitlock 4/1 Totesport Peter Wright has been written off all tournament so far but he's gone about his work nicely and fully deserves to be in this quarter final, his first TV quarter final. Simon Whitlock has come through nicely too but Suljovic and Lloyd is a nice draw. We all know what happened to Whitlock at this stage last week and he wouldn't be human if he doesn't think of that. As I've said all week we know what we're getting with Wright. He'll score solidly and usually finish well. I really don't see Whitlock winning this 10-5 or easier. 6 legs is the bare minimum I expect Wright to win here and if Whitlock has one of those off days on his doubles Wright could upset the Aussie here. Sent from my Desire HD using PL Forum

[jofusie]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011

Adrian Lewis vs Kim Huybrechts over 7.5 180s @ 10/11 Boylesports Great value,should be easily over 8 180s.Huybrechts is more than capable of 4 or 5 and Lewis hit 8 or 9 yesterday. James Wade vs Raymond Barneveld James Wade to win @ 8/11 Bet365 Wade will win this but not sure about the handicap.Barneveld played some great stuff over the past 2 days but Wade is a level higher and as some have said here if Barnie goes behind his head drops. Phil Taylor vs Paul Nicholson Paul Nicholson +4.5 @ 9/10 Bet365 Taylor will want to hammer Nicholson today but not sure if he will.Nicholson has beat him in their last 2 encounters and I see it being close again.I can see Nicholson getting at least 6 legs

2 out of 3 aint bad:)

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Good afternoon all round. One for me tonight. I'm effectively on Lewis at 6/1 in this first semi but there's one I fancy in the other semi. 4pts P.Taylor vs S.Whitlock - Over 16.5 legs 4/5 Betfred This line looks low to me. We're up to best of 21 legs for this semi final so 11-6 seems a very achievable scoreline to me. I think Taylor will win this match but I'm not sure he's going to outscore Whitlock 2 legs to 1 unless Whitlock has a total mare on his doubles of course. Whitlock impressed me earlier. His scoring was fantastic, hitting lots of 180's which keep him in every leg and he hit the majority of his doubles no problem. We know he's capable of the big checkouts that you need to do to stay with Taylor but in all honesty he doesn't need to stay with him to win 6 legs of darts here. Taylor has to break throw 3 times out of 9 at least and hold his own throw in all that time. I think Whitlock is capable of defending his throw too well to let that happen. Of course I should really consider Taylor not winning 6 legs but that's so unlikely it's not really worth considering so at 4/5 I'll hit this line with a solid bet.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 I saw Whitlocks missed double actually brought your Wright handicap bet in Kev! 3 in hand with 40 wanted for 10-5! On the right side of a miss for a change!

[RussP]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 Great stuff today, Kev. Good luck with Jackpot in the final:hope Awesome 9 darter too as well as a 121 checkout to win the deciding leg. Brilliant:nana

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011

I saw Whitlocks missed double actually brought your Wright handicap bet in Kev! 3 in hand with 40 wanted for 10-5! On the right side of a miss for a change!

He just levelled that up :wall :lol.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: European Championship 2011 A small 0.63pt profit on the event for me which isn't too bad having been -10 at one point. Darts wise that was one of the best tournaments I've ever watched. Hopefully Bazza seals the same venue next year.