Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011

[kevshat]

The 2011 Grand Slam begins on Saturday evening with the draw for the tournament being made on Monday night at 6pm live on radio station BRMB. The draw will appear on the PDC website at some point tonight too I would imagine. Scott Waites is the number one seed as the defending champion and all the regular players are in the event which is usually a top week of arrers as the best of the PDC and BDO go head to head. Unlike in previous years the tournament is on Sky not ITV but other than that the format and everything is the same. Fire away gents.

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Here are the groups from the draw. The schedule of play will be announced on Tuesday. The Groups Group A Scott Waites (1) Mark Walsh Tony O’Shea Michael van Gerwen Group B Raymond van Barneveld (8) Dean Winstanley Ted Hankey Ian White Group C Gary Anderson (5) Wayne Jones Brendan Dolan Nigel Heydon Group D James Wade (4) Terry Jenkins Justin Pipe Dave Chisnall Group E Phil Taylor (2) Mervyn King Steve Beaton James Hubbard Group F Wes Newton (7) Paul Nicholson Barrie Bates Magnus Caris Group G Mark Webster (6) Jan Dekker John Part Arron Monk Group H Adrian Lewis (3) Vincent van der Voort Co Stompe Martin Phillips

[Samba_SamPa]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 The sponsors have priced up the Group betting Group A Waites 6/4 Walsh 2/1 O'Shea 11/4 van Gerwen 11/2 Group B van Barneveld 8/13 Winstanley 3/1 Hankey 7/2 White 14/1 Group C Anderson 4/6 Jones 7/2 Dolan 7/2 Heydon 8/1 Group D Wade 13/8 Jenkins 5/2 Chisnall 5/2 Pipe 4/1 Group E Taylor 2/7 King 4/1 Beaton 11/2 Hubbard 33/1 Group F Newton 11/10 Nicholson 6/5 Bates 7/1 Caris 9/1 Group G Webster 5/4 Part 6/4 Dekker 9/2 Monk 7/1 Group H Lewis 10/11 van der Voort 5/2 Stompe 4/1 Phillips 6/1

[bigson22]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 My money is going on Scottie Waites, 25-1 with Betfred. Defending champion and in good form, he really likes this tournament to show the PDC what he can do. Always hard to look padt Taylor but no value to be had backing him in this format where he has struggled in the past.

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 4pts - Pipe v Jenkins - Pipe to win @ 1.83 Skybet For me this match represents two players who's careers are going in opposite directions. Pipe has very much been on the up and is really starting to thrive on the big stage. Jenkins IMO is very much on the slide and I feel his best days are behind him. The career stats for the last 5 months reflect this - Pipe - 10th in Prize money won, and 7th in the PDC order of merit. Jenkins - 34th in Prize money won, and 32nd in the PDC order of merit. Pipe warmed up for this event reaching both finals of the recent Pro tour event in Crawley. Loosing 6-4 to Dave Chisnall and winning 6-3 against Vincent VDV. In the same event Jenkins was knocked out in the 2nd round on both days by Mark Frost and Gary Eastwood. I will take Pipe to win this one and hopefully get me off to a winning start :ok

[tadley]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Dean Winstanley to win group 2 7/2 boylesport bet365 stanjames BDO world finalist Winstanley is a solid player and looks the value bet at 7/2. Barneveld is obviously the quality player in the group but sadly he isn't the player he was and sometimes it appears that he no longer has the determination needed to win. Winstanley showed the world championship final was no fluke when he reached the final of the world master where he lost to Waites. I cant see white figuring much and Hankey's best days are behind him although he is still capable on his day.

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 3pts - Jones v Dolan - Dolan to win @ 1.91 Coral Dolan showed his class in reaching the final of the World Grand Prix in Dublin with a win against Wade and the 9 dart finish along the way. He also gave Taylor more of a game than anyone else managed that week. Granted he did have the crowd on his side in Dublin but he threw some great darts with consistent scoring. Jones hasn't played his best darts on TV for a while and although he may be buoyed by the home crowd I don't think he will have enough to beat Dolan here. Jones also lost to Dolan 2-0 in the Grand Prix. For me Dolan is the form player here and with the odds on offer I will back him to bring his Grand Prix form into this tournament and dispose of Jones. :ok

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 2 outrights for me this week. Agonised a little bit over this market because I think anyone of 8 players can be considered live runners in the top half of the draw. Really looking forward to this tournament. Would love it if a BDO player won with the tournament on Sky for the first time :lol. 1.5pts ew R.Barneveld to win Grand Slam of Darts 18/1 Boylesports (1/2 1,2) Not only is Barneveld a top price with Boylesports but the Irish firm are refunding losing outrights should Wade win the tournament which is a fair enough offer for me to go with them anyway. I think we might just see the best of Barneveld this week. In many ways he's been a touch unlucky in 2011. I think back to that European Championship semi final against Adrian Lewis where Lewis threw a 9 dart finish at Barney, a barrage of high scoring and still needed an amazing 121 finish on the bull in the deciding leg to win. Since that day Barneveld has ditched his manager and the word on the scene is he's enjoying life and darts a lot more which is good to hear and see. Since then he's won a pro tour event and then in Spain two weeks ago he made a final and a semi final but the big thing in both events was that he beat Phil Taylor along the way. That's a big thing for Barney who has often been beaten by Taylor before he's got going really. The draw for Barney this week has been nice to him with Anderson and Wade both in the other half of the top half of the draw so there isn't a whole lot between Barneveld and the semi finals this week if we see the best of the Dutchman. I certainly think we'll see some good darts from Barney this week and darts of the quality to make the 18/1 quote look a very big price. 1pt ew D.Chisnall to win Grand Slam of Darts 40/1 Paddy Power (1/2 1,2) Regulars to the darts threads will know how highly I rate Dave Chisnall and I'm going to take that and put my money where my mouth is this week. Chisnall comes into this event having won his first PDC tour title last week when he beat the form man Justin Pipe in the final. Prior to the final he beat Adrian Lewis so that's a decent form guide. That was the second final Chisnall has made in the last 6 weeks so he's playing good darts. We all know Chissy's achilles heel is his doubles but I believe winning his first title will give him the confidence to attack those doubles and if he does attack them I think he'll be very tough to stop this week because it's probably only Gary Anderson who outscores him these days. Chisnall is in a bitch of a group so he'll need to be focused from the off but I expect a decent run out of the St Helens man this week and at 40/1 the price is perfectly acceptable for an each way punt.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 3 group bets for me. 2pts J.Part to win Group G 2/1 Boylesports I think John Part is a fair price to win this group. We've seen in the past how Webster struggles in tournaments which are not straight knockouts and we've seen that struggle no more so than in this event last year when he went out in the group stages. I do think this group will be between Mark Webster and John Part. Although Arron Monk is definitely one for the future I'm not convinced he's consistent enough just yet to win this group while Jan Dekker is another to be respected but I'll be surprised if he's good enough to win this group. John Part is though. He's playing some great darts at the minute and he'll probably fancy his chances of going well this week. With Webster's frailties in league style tournaments I'll take Part in this group. 2pts A.Lewis NOT to qualify from Group H 11/4 William Hill For someone with the talent and the class that Adrian Lewis has his record in this event is garbage. Not since 2007 has he come out of the groups and even that year he was runner up in his group not the winner. I really think there's a chance he doesn't come out of this one too. Vincent van der Voort is a live danger for anyone over 9 legs as he's shown here in the past with a win over Taylor at that distance on his record. Co Stompe has come back to form in recent weeks and Martin Phillips is always dangerous, as he showed Lewis here last year. So I don't think it's a certainty that Lewis comes out of this group and with stats and history on my side I'll take a bit of this 11/4. 1pt M.van Gerwen to win Group A 15/2 Sportingbet I think these odds are a touch insulting in a lot of ways. There's no Phil Taylor or James Wade in this group. I think it's a wide open group. I know a lot of people fancy Scott Waites in this event and I wouldn't necessarily put them off him with the form Waites is in but this group has a feel of anyone can beat anyone about it. Mark Walsh will be a match for most as will Tony O'Shea. Michael van Gerwen is no mug though and I think he's benefitted a lot from the PDC Youth tour this year. He's in the final of the World Youth Championship which has got him in here and only 5 weeks ago he made the final of an adult tour event when he beat Mark Webster, Gary Anderson and Mervyn King on the way to a decent to a 6-3 defeat by Phil Taylor. Yes Scott Waites is a worthy favourite in this group but over a series of best of 9 leg matches should MVG really be 5 times the price of the defending champion in an open group? I don't think so therefore I'm happy to take the big price on Mighty Mike this weekend.

[kevshat]

3 match bets for me tonight. On my way to the Luton game at the minute. Will come back with reasoning after the game but I appreciate it's Saturday and people will go out so this gives people who want to follow the chance to take the prices I've just taken. 4pts T.O'Shea to beat M.Walsh 11/10 Boylesports 3pts D.Chisnall to beat J.Wade 7/4 William Hill 4pts J.Pipe to beat T.Jenkins 11/10 Sportingbet Sent from my Desire HD using PL Forum

[fishy25]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Really like tonight's schedule and taking an alarming 7 :loon. Going to be a long way back if this goes wrong tonight. Gary Anderson (-2.5 legs) to beat Nigel Heydon- 8/11 Sportingbet- (4/10) Fancy the Scot here to make light work of the qualifier in this one. Anderson has had a super year, winning the PL and losing to Lewis in the World Championship final, firmly establishing himself as one of the best players around. It wasn't a huge surprise he didn't fare too well in the Grand Prix, considering you have to start and finish on a double which is by far Anderson's weakness. However over the next week or so, he'll be able to pound the lipstick from dart one, and if he gets going, Heydon won't be able to keep up. They've actually met 4 times in the past, with Anderson winning 3 of them with ease, and I'll back him to make up for his Grand Prix efforts tonight, and can't see him dropping more than 2 legs. Brendan Dolan to beat Wayne Jones- 10/11 Coral- (3/10) Leaning towards the Irishman here, who should be full of confidence given what he did in front of the TV cameras in the Grand Prix. He was extremely consistent back then in Ireland, and even in the final he didn't roll over, taking 3 sets off the Power which is easier said than done. Granted he hasn't done alot since that final appearance, but he did make the semis in a Players Championship event in Crawley last week, so he'll have some momentum behind him coming into this one. Wayne Jones has been hugely disappointing for some time now, failing to make it past the last 16 in any Player Championship events for a while, and in front of the TV cameras, he has been far from his best. Since making the semis in this event 12 months ago, he hasn't looked anything like that player and despite having the crowd behind him tonight, feel Dolan's consistency might see him through and repeat the victory that he got over Jones in the Grand Prix. James Wade vs Dave Chisnall- Highest Match Checkout Over 105.5- 5/6 Coral- (3/10) This could well be the cracker of the night with two players meeting eachother, who are both oozing in quality. Whenever these two guys meet, the matches are tight and last a little while, and although I give the slight edge to Chisnall, I think the slightly safer option is this checkout market which in my eyes is a low one for these two quality players. As I've said these two usually cancel eachother mostly when they play so we should see a fair few legs, which increases the chance of a decent checkout. Both players when playing well are more than capable of taking out a 120+ finish, and given the form both players have been in for the past 12 month on the circuit, I see no reason why we won't see a checkout of higher than 106 later on so overs for me. Scott Waites vs Michael Van Gerwen- Over 7.5 Legs- 10/11 BlueSquare- (3/10) The line looks one leg too low for me here and this could well go to a deciding leg I feel. Both have been in good form, with Waites winning 4 events recently, and adding another final appearance to that as well whilst Van Gerwen made the youth championship final a week or so ago. Waites is the obvious favourite due to his history in this event, after winning it last year, and making the final a few years ago as well, but Van Gerwen is arguably the most promising youngster in the game and is more than capable of holding his own here. In the past, these two have always played out close matches, and I see no reason why both won't hold their throw enough times to play out a 5-3 or 5-4 here. Justin Pipe to beat Terry Jenkins- 11/10 Sportingbet- (2/10) Don't really see why Pipe is the underdog in this one, given he is the form player on the circuit coming into this event. He has been hugely consistent over the past few months , and comes into the Grand Slam with a win in the Players Championship last week, and also a final loss to Chisnall to add to that. His slow and smooth throw looks to really put opponents off, and doesn't allow them to get any sort of rhythm. Terry Jenkins I really like, but he hasn't any form to speak of for a while now and in those events in Crawley which Pipe did so well in, Jenkins was beaten by a couple of guys he really should be beating with ease. Got to back the form player here, and that is definitely what I'm doing here in Justin Pipe, and I fancy him to open his Grand Slam campaign with a win. Dean Winstanley (-1.5 legs) to beat Ted Hankey- 6/5 Sportingbet- (2/10) A couple of the BDO players face eachother here, but we have two players who have had completely different seasons and are in different places right now. Winstanley has made the two BDO major finals this season, and only last week won the Czech Open so he should be coming into this one with some confidence. The Count hasn't played a great deal of competitive darts recently really, and he hasn't really done much to catch the eye over the past 6 months or so so I'm wary over what kind of place he is in with his darts right now. Winstanley beat him 5-2 earlier on this year, and at odds against, I'll back him to win by at least 2 legs again tonight. Tony O'Shea to beat Mark Walsh- Evens BlueSquare- (2/10) Backing the BDO player here and think he will edge this one. Both players are consistent when they throw, but O'Shea in my eyes will turn those 100s into 140+'s which could be crucial here. O'Shea won an event last week in Northern Ireland so that should give him some confidence, and 12 months ago he won his group so he knows he can do it in front of the cameras at this venue. Walsh hasn't had a bad year at all, and is usually consistent when he plays but like I said, O'Shea is more capable of scoring heavily, and with these kind of match, feel that might see him through.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Reasoning for these.....

4pts T.O'Shea to beat M.Walsh 11/10 Boylesports 3pts D.Chisnall to beat J.Wade 7/4 William Hill 4pts J.Pipe to beat T.Jenkins 11/10 Sportingbet

Mark Walsh is a solid player but for me he is always too one paced. I made that point at the Grand Prix and when Mark Hylton found his stride he breezed past him and I expect Tony O'Shea to be too good for him tonight as well. O'Shea is one of the heaviest scorers in the game and I don't believe his doubles are insufficient enough to allow Walsh into this game. When he flows Tony O'Shea is one of the best players in the world and I would think unless Walsh finds 4-5 legs of sustained purple patch that O'Shea will have just too much for the PDC player in this match. Dave Chisnall has every chance against Wade tonight I think. We've seen in tournaments gone by that Wade isn't the quickest starter and if that rings true tonight then he could face a few problems against an in form opponent. For me this match all depends on Chisnall's doubles. If he hits them crisply as I expect him to do then I'm confident he will win because his scoring power will see him outscore Wade for the most part. Wade has needed 9 dart shootouts and all sorts of things in group matches in the past too. Wade might also have a few demons to overcome after his collapse in the final in this venue 12 months ago so Chisnall has enough going for him to pick up the win tonight. Justin Pipe is the form man on the PDC tour at the minute and although I realise he hasn't done it on the TV yet I do still think he should be the favourite tonight. Terry Jenkins is almost on home soil and he has a good record in this event but he hasn't played well on the box for a while and his form on the floor isn't anything to write home about. Justin Pipe gets run down for his slow style and I'm guilty of it myself but I recognise that he is also a very good darts player with that style and if he can bring his floor game with him tonight then I would be very surprised if he doesn't win the finale of the evening.

[fishy25]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Flipping Gary Anderson and his inability to finish legs off :wall Justin Pipe sealed a minimal profit for me though with 4/7 coming through, giving me +0.82 for the night. Quite a tricky round of fixtures to call in the end.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Good work Fish. Annoyed I came out of that session -2.6 because O'Shea had plenty of chances and Chisnall didn't really do a lot wrong. MVG's performance has made the group bet a seriously live runner though so it's not all doom and gloom. One for me initially for Sunday afternoon. 4pts P.Nicholson (-2.5 legs) to beat B.Bates 11/10 Boylesports This handicap is a big price to me. I accept it's a relatively large handicap but to be getting odds against on it is generous to say the least. In his last 13 tour events Barrie Bates has won all of two matches. In the whole of 2011 he's only won more than two matches in the same tournament three times so this is a Barrie Bates who is really struggling. Let's not forget Mark Webster carried Bates into this tournament as well with their respective performances in the World Cup. In his last four or five tour events Bates has a 6-0 defeat to Dylan Duo, a 6-1 defeat to Ian White and a 6-0 defeat to Mark Frost and with all due respect to those individuals none of them are Paul Nicholson. I still think Paul Nicholson is a touch overrated but one thing I do admire about this guy is for all his stupid antics to hype up his big matches he rarely fails to get the job done against the opponents he's expected to beat and who he should beat. I expect him to win this and if he gets ahead early on I would expect him to run away with this match so at odds against I'm happy to get on this handicap particularly when Bates' recent form has been factored into it.

[tadley]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011

1pt ew D.Chisnall to win Grand Slam of Darts 40/1 Paddy Power (1/2 1,2) Regulars to the darts threads will know how highly I rate Dave Chisnall and I'm going to take that and put my money where my mouth is this week. Chisnall comes into this event having won his first PDC tour title last week when he beat the form man Justin Pipe in the final. Prior to the final he beat Adrian Lewis so that's a decent form guide. That was the second final Chisnall has made in the last 6 weeks so he's playing good darts. We all know Chissy's achilles heel is his doubles but I believe winning his first title will give him the confidence to attack those doubles and if he does attack them I think he'll be very tough to stop this week because it's probably only Gary Anderson who outscores him these days. Chisnall is in a bitch of a group so he'll need to be focused from the off but I expect a decent run out of the St Helens man this week and at 40/1 the price is perfectly acceptable for an each way punt.

Now 66/1 Stan james Agree with everything you say about Chisnall the guy is a prolific scorer and maybe the best 180 hitter in the business. Its his ability to regularly hit the doubles that is the only concern. However his doubling against Wade was excellent. Despite his impressive performance stanjames have pushed him out to 66/1 which looks too long to me. Yes he's may have to win the two final games to qualify but he is certainly capable of that.

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 The smallest of profit for me last night with +0.32, better than a loss and hopefully onwards and upwards from here on in. 3pts - Anderson v Dolan - Dolan to win @ 3.50 Skybet Despite losing on Dolan last night I see definite value in backing him again here. He didn't play anywhere near his best darts last night and I think the crowd go to him a bit, whilst also inspiring Jones to his best TV appearance in sometime. For me he is still a class darts player and he was in very good form leading into this tournament. We saw the worst part of Anderson's play last night in that he just can't finish his doubles. In this shorter format he has less chance to rectify his mistakes, and if he doesn't start well his head can go down and the match is gone. On the flip side of that if he does hit his doubles then he will outscore Dolan and this match will be over very quickly. However with the odds on offer I just can't be having Anderson around 1.33 and would much rather be on Dolan here. :ok

[leepfrog21]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 5.5pts Dave Chisnall most 180's vs Terry Jenkins 10/11 Skybet Hi im a long time lurker,thought it was time to start posting :) Anybody who regularly watches the darts will know that Chizzy is one of the best scorers in the game,and has been playing fairly well and consistently over the past couple of months. Terry Jenkins on the other hand used to be one of my favourite players to watch 3-4 years ago but over the past couple of years or so his form has been fairly poor and i dont think his scoring is what it used to be. Last night Chizzy outscored James Wade 3-1 in the 180's department whereas The Bull hit zero in his match with Justin Pipe. I think 10/11 at Skybet is fairly good value as other firms have the price around the 4/7,8/15 mark.

[fishy25]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Didn't actually like much in the afternoon session at first glance, but after further inspection, quite a few I have got involved with in the end. Adrian Lewis vs Martin Phillips- Highest Match Checkout 101 or more- 4/5 Sportingbet- (4/10) This is the repeat of last year's match in which the BDO player came through impressively and he win again be a danger to the likes of Lewis and Van Der Voort this year. He is a solid thrower Martin Phillips, with bags of experience, shown through the last 2 years of the Lakeside championships where he has made the semis to he could well push Lewis here, in a tournament the world champion doesn't often go too well in. However regardless of the outcome, I do fancy this checkout market which is insanely low. Both are heavy scorers and both are more than capable of taking out a 3 figure checkout. In their group match last year, both players covered this checkout line individually over the 7 legs they played, and I see no reason why there won't be a ton plus checkout again today. Vincent Van Der Voort vs Co Stompe- Over 7.5 legs- 8/11 BlueSquare- (4/10) Reckon this could well be the tightest affair we see this afternoon and I feel the line is a leg too low to be honest in a match where I fail to see either guy really running away with it. Stompe looks to have found some form last weekend in Crawley coming into this week, making the semis on both days and he's back at a venue where he did well last year and made the quarters. Van Der Voort actually won one of those events over in Crawley, but I'm sure he'll be disappointed with his results in the bigger events this year. Whenever these two Dutchman meet, the matches are usually fairly close, and if we look at the 4 matches they've played this year, only once has one guy won by 3 legs, whilst the other 3 have been tight affairs so I'll back that to happen again this afternoon. Don't see either guy not winning 3 legs here. Paul Nicholson (-2.5 legs) to beat Barrie Bates- 5/6 Blue Square- (3/10) Kev has said it all really with this one. Indeed it is a large handicap, as I found out with Anderson last night, but with the form Barrie Bates is in, it is more than achievable for Nicholson to cover. The Welshman only has a couple of wins to his name for a while, and hasn't made the round of 32 in any tournament since February :loon. Nicholson is his own biggest fan, but he is still a good player around the circuit despite being a complete tool, and he should really take care of Bates in this one by a few legs or so. Haven't got the price that Kev has, but still fancy the handicap to come through. Mervyn King (-1.5 legs) to beat Steve Beaton- Evens Coral- (3/10) Think King has come into some good form at the right time here after his personal problems this year, and fancy him to win this one by at least a couple of legs. Before a couple of months ago, he hadn't done too much to catch the eye since the start of the year, but he has made a few semis of late, including the Championship of darts and then he got a win over in Spain where he beat Wes Newton well. Out of all the players involved over the next week, I think King will be one of the most motivated given what he's been through this year, and then all of the talk about when he moved from to BDO to the PDC, so he'll be keen to prove a point. Beaton will have fond memories of this event, as he beat Taylor here last year in arguably the best match he has ever played, but since then he hasn't really gone on. Just one semi appearance in the last year, that in the same event where King made the semis as well, but not a great deal to speak of apart from that. On both ocassions where these two guys have met, King has won both, including a whitewash in the group stages of the champions league only last month so more than happy to back him again here at evens to win by a couple of legs. Wes Newton (-2.5 legs) to beat Magnus Caris- Evens Coral- (3/10) Granted we've already seen from last night what the qualifiers are capable of doing, with Anderson and Barney going down to them, but Newton is far more consistent than those guys, and although he's arguably not as exciting to watch, he usually gets the job done with minimal fuss. He hasn't been at his best in recent weeks, but he did make a final over in Spain recently and also reached the quarters in Crawley so he has some momentum behind him and in front of the tv cameras, we know what he can do. Caris came through the qualifiers last week which was a good result for the experienced player from Sweeden. He's been around a long time, and back in the 90s when I was a youngster, he very nearly beat Bobby George to reach the final of the BDO championship. Of recent times though he has really struggled against the better players. King beat him 3-0 in the first round of the World Championship this year, and Newton has already beaten him in all 4 of their matches this year. Caris did push him to a deciding leg over in Crawley last week, but the two matches before that, he was whitewashed and won only 2 legs in the other match. Just feel Newton will cope a whole lot better on the big stage so will back him on the handicap as well. Jan Dekker Most 180s vs John Part- 13/8 Bet365- (3/10) Surprised to see such high odds on the youngster to hit more maximums here. The Dutchman has undoubtedly got some talent as he made the semis of the BDO world championship earlier this year at the age of 20, defeating 3 seeds on his way to that semi and from watching that, he was very cool throughout, and despite his modest age, the big stage didn't seem to get to him at all. Although he can be inconsistent at times with his doubles, he is more than capable of hitting some maximums though, and he shouldn't have any fear today so he should be able to relax and play his own game. Part has had a pretty good year, and been fairly consistent, but on the 180s front, he doesn't score an excessive amount. I do expect him to come through this one, perhaps narrowly but I'm still happy to take the BDO youngster to beat his opponent in terms of maximums.

[fishy25]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Perfect start this afternoon turned to complete misery in the end. First 3 matches went perfectly, before it all turned sour. -1.60 for the session though, leaving me on -0.78.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 First one for me tonight. 3pts D.Chisnall (-1.5 legs) to beat T.Jenkins Evs Boylesports While I don't like taking on outrights in what is effectively a knockout situation at the same time I don't like leaving lines like this alone so I will hit it. Dave Chisnall played just how I expected him to last night. He scored heavily and his doubles were crisp as I thought they might be after the confidence of winning a title will have given him the belief he can hit them. I have to say I wasn't as impressed with Terry Jenkins. I know he makes a good living from the exhibition scene and good luck to him with it but it's clear his tournament darts are nowhere near what we would expect from him. I don't see how he is going to live with Chisnall here. He certainly can't in the scoring stakes and Jenkins himself misses way too many doubles than he should do so even if Chisnall has a mare on them, which I don't expect him to have, he should still be too good for Jenkins in that area as well. The rhythm of the match will suit Jenkins a lot more than last night as will the time it's being played but often in sport you get a match up between a career on the up and one on the down and whatever the situation you should really take the man on the up and I'm going to do that tonight and take Chisnall to win this no worse than 5-3.

[fishy25]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Will post this now as it starts soon... Dave Chisnall (-1.5 legs) to beat Terry Jenkins- 5/6 Bet365- (2/10) Felt a bit sorry for Jenkins last night as he looked completely lost on stage, which is sad to see, and was just highlighted by him busting on 121 I think it was, and eventually lost the leg. Dave Chisnall was at the other side of the spectrum last night, and was heavily unlucky not to beat James Wade, but he was scoring well and wasn't mucking about on the doubles either which is good to see as he has had problems with them in the past. If he plays anything like he did last night, hard to see Jenkins keeping up and getting down to a double regularly enough to really trouble so I'll back the man who is playing the better darts, which is Chisnall on the handicap.

[fishy25]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Very surprised Terry did the job on Chisnall there. Taking 2 more though for tonight's bill whilst I plunge into a 3000 word essay. Barney (-1.5 legs) to beat Ted Hankey- 4/6 Bet365- (3/10) Have to fancy the Dutchman here. He should have really won his opening match but errors crept into his game and well the rest is history so he needs a win tonight and I don't see him having too many problems in doing that. Hankey, well he can't get much worse than last night with the crowd getting on his back, but from the darts he threw last night, I don't see him winning more than 3 legs tonight. An average of under 80, and missing all 14 shots at his doubles, is simply terrible at this standard. He let the crowd get under his skin again and in an arena where Barney is loved, that doesn't bode well for Hankey's chances tonight and can't see Barney dropping more than 3 legs in recording a win here. Michael Van Gerwen Most 180s vs Mark Walsh- 17/10 Bet365- (2/10) Perhaps the player of the first round the youngster, averaging over 100 and showing no nerves against the defending champ and Phil Taylor would have done well to keep up with him in the opening 4 legs. He hit 3 maximums in that one, as well as a 177 and although he may not play as well tonight, he should still be pounding the lipstick I'd imagine. Mark Walsh was a slight bit fortunate to beat Tony O'Shea in his opening match, with the BDO player missing a fair number of doubles to take the initiative. Walsh only managed the one maximum in that match and admitted he was nervous. Van Gerwen clearly wasn't and I'll back him to win the match in terms of 180s here.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 That wasn't the start to the night I was looking for :sad. 2 more for me tonight. 3pts I.White to beat D.Winstanley 7/4 Stan James Ian White beat Barney last night and he probably beat him better than the scoreline suggested. Ok Barney wasn't at his best but that's nothing to do with White. White scored solidly and checked out pretty well too which was impressive given the magnitude of the match for him. Dean Winstanley won even better against Ted Hankey but Hankey was shocking but still had chances to win every leg. Winstanley didn't score all that well - just 10 100+ scores in 5 legs and missed a load of doubles himself. Coming into this event Ian White made a quarter final in a tour event in Crawley last weekend where he beat James Wade and Richie Burnett along the way. Having beaten Barneveld on Saturday night his confidence should be sky high. I always have difficulty backing Winstanley at the best of times anyway because he can't count and that affects him when it comes to rhythm on the doubles and short of him taking an abacus up onto the stage that doesn't appear as though it will change anytime soon. At this price I think the Stokie provides a bit of value in a match which should be closer than these odds suggest. 4pts M.van Gerwen to beat M.Walsh 6/5 William Hill Michael van Gerwen took the game he's been playing on the floor in the last 5-6 weeks up onto the stage last night and he looked like the wonder kid which shot onto the darts scene who beat Barneveld and Taylor and rammed in 9 darters for fun. It was good to see and I think having won a match on TV, van Gerwen's consistency could well improve and I would expect a decent run from him this week now. Mark Walsh came past a game Tony O'Shea but it must be said Silverback never got anywhere near his top form and still had the chances to win the match or make it a lot closer at the very least. I think when both these men play their best games van Gerwen is a lot better than Walsh. He scores in outrageous batches and usually doesn't miss a lot of doubles. Walshie is solid but for me he's a plodder. If you make mistakes against him or let him in he'll take advantage but he isn't going to blow you away off his own startling darts. Best of 9 legs is the perfect length for van Gerwen to fly out the traps and keep his form up and hopefully where this match is concerned, win the match.

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011

The smallest of profit for me last night with +0.32, better than a loss and hopefully onwards and upwards from here on in. 3pts - Anderson v Dolan - Dolan to win @ 3.50 Skybet Despite losing on Dolan last night I see definite value in backing him again here. He didn't play anywhere near his best darts last night and I think the crowd go to him a bit, whilst also inspiring Jones to his best TV appearance in sometime. For me he is still a class darts player and he was in very good form leading into this tournament. We saw the worst part of Anderson's play last night in that he just can't finish his doubles. In this shorter format he has less chance to rectify his mistakes, and if he doesn't start well his head can go down and the match is gone. On the flip side of that if he does hit his doubles then he will outscore Dolan and this match will be over very quickly. However with the odds on offer I just can't be having Anderson around 1.33 and would much rather be on Dolan here. :ok

Fair play to Anderson he took his A game to the stage tonight and dealt with Dolan. When I saw his prematch interview :loon I thought this bet was a banker. -2.68 for me over the 2 nights so far. :sad

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 8pts - Monk v Dekker - Monk to win @ 1.61 Skybet Skinnier odds than I would usually like to take, but based on their opening performances I just can't see past Monk in this one and will go in with a large play. Monk gave Webster a tough time in the opening match just losing out 5-4 and finishing with an 84.40 average. That performance should give him plenty of confidence going into this match and he is in with a real chance of progressing. Dekker on the other hand produced one the worst performances of the tournament so far. He finished with an average of 73.23 and didn't look like he can handle it at this level. Anything like a repeat of either players opening performances should see this bet come in with ease :ok

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 That was a horrible night last night. -11.2 overall now after Barney got knocked out. I'm going with three tonight. There are a couple of others I fancy but the prices are nothing to write home about so I'll leave those. 6pts M.Caris (-1.5 legs) to beat B.Bates 4/5 Blue Square Magnus Caris played fairly well in the main yesterday he just missed a few doubles but he was in that unusual situation where he left tricky doubles. Barrie Bates was rotten really as he has been pretty much the whole year as health issues really kick in on the Welshman. Having seen him yesterday I would say it's a miracle he's still on the circuit because it's clear to see he is struggling health wise and there can't be a lot of fun in getting beaten heavily most weeks. Bates could only hit 5 tons and a 140 in 5 legs against Nicholson and never even looked at a double let alone hit one. Caris in contrast managed 11 tons and 7 140's against Newton in just 7 legs and but for the missed doubles Caris could well have won that match. If he scores as well in this match tonight then I think he will have enough time on the doubles that the odd miss doesn't cost him. Caris came through the PDPA qualifier to get into this event and he beat Dennis Priestley, Steve Brown and Andy Smith along the way. They are all better players than Bates and playing better than Bates and so that's a decent form guide as is what we saw yesterday and with that form guide I'll take the Swede to win this no worse than 5-3. 4pts W.Newton to beat P.Nicholson Evs Bet365 I'm not sure Wes Newton should be the outsider in this match. He's clearly the better player of the two as we've seen on the circuit all season. I know that doesn't mean that he'll win but I do fancy him to win this match. Nicholson has begun to show signs on the TV stage that he is struggling on his doubles. He rarely threatened a double against Taylor in the Grand Prix last month and he was only 5 from 18 on them yesterday. It's definitely an area he will need to tighten up on because Newton will stay with him in the scoring and won't allow Nicholson the time he had on his doubles against Bates. Newton wasn't brilliant yesterday against Caris but once he got going he scored well enough and hit his doubles crisply. Newton has won 6 of their 8 meetings and while they are usually close it shows that he has a bit of an edge on Nicholson and is the better player. At even money I'll take the Warrior in what looks like the Group F decider. 3pts M.Phillips to beat V.van der Voort 11/10 Boylesports Martin Phillips played really well against Adrian Lewis yesterday and the only thing that was between the two in the end was the bull throw before the match. Had Phillips won that there was enough to suggest with the way he was holding his throw that he would have won the match. Van der Voort had a 98 average yesterday but it was one of those averages which was a little bit distorted because he didn't throw at a double in most of the legs. Two decent legs from 4-1 to 4-3 clouded over what was an inconsistent performance from me. Phillips performance against Lewis was no surprise for me and a repeat of that, especially on the doubles, could well be enough to set him up with a chance of making the last 16 on Wednesday night.

[kevshat]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 +4.1 for the night for me which was a bit better. Only one of the other two I fancied won so nothing lost by not taking them. 2pts went with the Lewis bet though so +2.1 pick up and back to -9.1 overall now. Tuesday and Wednesday are the type of days I hate because as the night goes on players need to win a set amount of legs rather than matches so many of my plays will come throughout the evenings rather than prior to them. There are two I like early on Tuesday though. 4pts S.Waites to beat M.Walsh 4/5 Sportingbet I'll complete the clean sweep of taking on Mark Walsh in this group. Scott Waites is out of the tournament but he's not actually played that badly. There was nothing he could do about the opening four legs against van Gerwen and did well in the end to get 3 legs off him the way he played in that match and then he played some good darts in leading Tony O'Shea 4-1 in the second match before he missed a stack of doubles to win 5-3. That leg is the only thing he's done wrong really and yet he's out of the tournament off the back of it. Mark Walsh hasn't done anything special so far, he's taken advantage of a couple of misses from his two opponents and yet he's won both matches and is through to the next round which shows how small the margins are in this format. With no pressure on Waites I think we might see a real performance where the defending champion reminds everyone how he played when winning the event. Walsh might be more focused on not getting smashed rather than winning the match because as long as he doesn't lose heavily he will be through. With Waites the better player I'll take him at a 4/5 which is a lot bigger than it would be if he was still in the tournament. 4pts N.Heydon to beat B.Dolan Evs Ladbrokes Nigel Heydon has played some really good darts in this tournament. He deservedly beat Gary Anderson in his first match and was unlucky to lose to Wayne Jones in his second with Jones averaging almost a ton in the match. Dolan too walked into someone averaging a ton in his last match in Gary Anderson but Dolan to me isn't walking with the same strutt or air of confidence which he had in Dublin. I thought Dolan was poor against Jones and was deservedly beaten and his 90 average against Anderson was distorted because he wasn't down to a finish very often. Heydon has really peppered the 140's this week and hit the odd 180 too and that scoring hurts. Dolan is more a ton man and I still think the only reason he made that final in the World Grand Prix was because one phase of the scoring leg was gone trying to find an initial starting double. Heydon qualified for this tournament which is no mean feat and he's played well while he's been here. He knows any kind of win will given him every chance of going through to the next round and I expect him to get just that here.

[Pobby]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 I'm a bit p*ssed off! I backed Newton last night and although he wasn't bad he was beaten as he didn't have the throw. With such a short format it's vital. I won't have another bet until I see who has the throw. Is there any way of finding out prior to the players getting on stage? Has there been a noticeable price swing in any matches after the throw for the bull and before the player getting to the stage?

[BIG X]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Another shocking night for me leaves me at -10.68. I just can't seem to hit the large bets at the moment. :( I did exactly the same thing backing Nicholson in the Grand Prix. However I still managed to turn that around for a small tournament profit, so fingers crossed I can do it again. 5pts - Chisnall v Pipe - Chisnall most 180's @ 1.80 Bluesq Pretty straightforward with the reasoning for this one....... Pipe hasn't hit a 180 in either match so far. Chisnall hit 4 in losing to Jenkins and 3 in losing to Wade. Chisnall is one of the biggest 180 scorers in the game and you have got to fancy him to outscore Pipe tonight. I also think that Jones is overpriced @ 3.00 with Bluesq. He has the home crowd support behind him, and that could be enough to unsettle the delicate Anderson. However as that is the last match on I will wait and see how I am fixed going into that one.

[wellarmy]

Re: Darts: Grand Slam of Darts 2011 Chisnall v Pipe; Pipe to win 6/5 skybet If Pipe wins this match he will almost certainly be in the next round. He performed well on Saturday night against Jenkins and was unlucky not to beat Wade the following night. In past tournamnets in front of the tv cameras he has really struggled but he appears to have turned the corner, bringing his impressive form on the floor to the big stage. In Chisnall we have a Gary Anderson type player, tremendous at scoring but can be poor on the doubles. With very little hope for him progressing i don't really see him putting up much of a fight tonight. Pipe's slow style won't suit Chisnall's game and i would imagine this will put him off his stride allowing Pipe to take the victory.