Premier League 2012 - Outright bets

[kevshat]

With darts now having it's own forum we can begin threads for the major events a lot earlier than before so we'll kick start the Premier League thread now. It's only just over 2 weeks away anyway so the timing fits. Same format as previous seasons. Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter make their debuts in the tournament this year. All the tournament is live on Sky as normal. We'll have weekly threads for the matches so this thread is for all outright bets to do with the Premier League. Fire away gentlemen :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Premier League 2012 - Outright bets A few outrights for me to begin with. Some value and some nice lines I like. 1pt J.Wade to top League Table 11/1 Blue Square There's two players I like in this tournament - Wade and Lewis but I don't really see why Wade is half the price again as big as Lewis to win the regular season. I think Taylor could be there to be shot at in this tournament, especially with the amount of heavy scorers on show this season and his invincibility is starting to wane too. So we have Lewis who is turning himself into a player for the big occasion and Wade who is a consistent player week in week out. Now he started last season crap but we've found out why since then and I'll give him that and cut him some slack. On his day he's right up there as one of the best players in the world and I think missing the playoffs last year will spur him on in this tournament. He can't afford to be casual in this tournament because if he is then he can be picked off by any of the players, like any of them can. Wade also has a bit to prove too having somehow lost that World Championship semi final from 5-1 up. He's already made a semi final in Benidorm in one of the Players Championship tournaments so there's nothing wrong with his form and if Taylor drops a few matches then I would expect Wade to be right in the mix given that really it's only Taylor who he wouldn't be strongly fancied to beat in this tournament. At 11/1 I'll see how close Wade can go to the top. 2pts S.Whitlock Most 180's (Incl playoffs) 5/1 Bet365 Simon Whitlock has been scoring seriously well since his comeback from injury and I see no reason why that won't continue in this tournament. Even on one leg he was hitting 180's like they were going out of fashion. He scored very heavily at the World Cup at the weekend as well and why I like him over the natural pick of Gary Anderson is a) I think he'll play more legs but b) as you'll see in a minute where I'll elaborate more, I don't think Anderson is a shoo in for the top four and if he doesn't make it I think Whitlock, in the form he is in, will. Adrian Lewis doesn't seem to be the 180 hitter he used to be, or hasn't in recent events at least while the only other phenomenally heavy scorer - Andy Hamilton - is unlikely to make the last four. At 5/1 with a potential of playing two more matches if my prediction is right, Whitlock looks a decent alternative to Gary Anderson. 3pts G.Anderson NOT to make semi finals 13/8 William Hill (7/4 available at Sportingbet but I'm not recommending any bets or betting there until they drop their deposit fee) I think Gary Anderson is vulnerable here I really do. His missed doubles are becoming a real issue now and if anything it's an issue which is getting worse. He should have lost to Jyhan Artut in the World Championship because of it, he nearly lost to Devon Petersen because of it and he did lose to Simon Whitlock because of it. Whenever Anderson steps up for a double I don't know about anyone else but I'm never more than 10% confident he's going to hit it. He's clearly letting it effect him too because he doesn't appear to be enjoying the game anymore and with his ongoing shoulder issue too I think we'll see Anderson come a cropper and maybe even give up in a few matches when his doubles start to kill him. There isn't a player in this field not capable of beating him. Ok it must be said there isn't one he can't beat but if his double troubles continue then there are no players making up the numbers in the tournament this year and I don't think he'll get away with it like he would have against the Jenkins' and Webster's of this world last year. The two supposedly weak players in this tournament are a major TV tournament winner and the world finalist. This is as strong as the PL gets and there are 6 genuine players even if we discard Hamilton and Painter, which we shouldn't do, genuinely going for four spots. Someone has to miss out and I sense it could be Anderson. 3pts R.Barneveld - Over 4.5 Regular Season wins 6/4 Ladbrokes I've had to take this. Everyone else can write off Barney if they want to but I'm not going to. He's still a class act and the fact he'll be playing every week in this tournament could just see him hit the straps we know he can do. To be fair to the Dutchman he's been a bit unlucky in recent TV tournaments. He walked into a Scott Rand who is unlikely to play like he did in Doncaster again in his life in the Players Championship and he walked into James Richardson who took out two monster finishes against him at perfect times in the World Championship but I doubt Richardson will ever do that again either. What I like about Barney is he went to Benidorm and played the Players Championship events last weekend so he's willing to play more. He showed at the World Cup at the weekend that he's playing some decent enough stuff and I think over the course of the 14 weeks here there are definitely 5 wins for him I think. Barney was runner up in the regular season last year and while that could be beyond him I don't think 5 wins are. 3pts G.Anderson's Regular Season 180s - Over 61.5 5/6 Skybet This line looks high on the face of it but Anderson hit 68 180's last season and he didn't have the double troubles he has coming into this season. Well he did but it wasn't anything like as bad as it is at the present time so he could well play a few more legs and I wouldn't be surprised were he to reach the 70 mark this season. It's only 5 a week and at times last season he was hitting 11 in matches. We know Anderson will miss doubles but we know he will score 180's too and in what I foresee as a more competitive league I don't think he'll be thrashing anyone 8-1 like he did Mark Webster twice last season. We would need an average of 4.5 180's a week from the defending champion for this bet to land and I think that's well within his compass. 3pts A.Hamilton Regular Season 180's - Over 44.5 Evs Skybet Andy Hamilton's 180 line is a bit on the low side as well. He's a monster 180 hitter when he gets going and perhaps he won't have the consistency Anderson will have or the regularity but he will hit enough on his good nights to ensure this gets covered. This line requires a little over 3 a week on average and there will be weeks where Hamilton hits 6 or more 180's which will bring this total down in large chunks. I don't think there will be many, if any, weeks where he doesn't score well. I understand he's been averaging well over 100 in practice and that shows how well he's scoring. To be fair he showed it in the World Championship and I can't see the Hammer not finding 45 180's over the course of 14 weeks here.