Masters (Milton Keynes)

[Fader]

World Championships over and the 1st event we come to is the Masters. This event has been utterly dominated by Michael Van Gerwen over the last 4 years. He won it in 2015 with a 103.64 average, 2016 with a 105.07 average, 2017 with a 106.07 average and last year with a 105.40 average so I am quite frankly avoiding the top half of this event. Luckily, Anderson is also in the top half so we can find a couple of decent odds players in the bottom half, to go each-way on.

Here's the draw :

Van Gerwen Vs J.Clayton
M.Suljovic Vs S.Whitlock
D.Gurney Vs D.Chisnall
G.Anderson Vs D.Webster
R.Cross Vs J.Cullen
G.Price Vs J.Wade
M.Smith Vs I.White
P.Wright Vs A.Lewis

I think the three players I like are Smith, Cross & Lewis (as an outsider)

Cross seems to be getting back close to his form of old. He had a good world championship where he averaged over 100 in his 3 matches. In fact, here last year (went out in the Quarter-Finals) he averaged over 100 too; that kind of average could get him to the semi-finals alone. There he would meet my second tip, Michael Smith. Smith had a fantastic world championship getting to the final ofcourse (although not really performing like he can once in the final) Smith regularly hits over a ton and I fancy him to reach the final here. My only worry for him is he has just got married and been away on holiday. How much practise time has he had? I asked him about it on Twitter and he said he was raring to get back so that will do for me. Luckily he faces White round 1 to get himself back into the swing.

My final bet is a little outsider in Lewis. Lewis is 40/1 which is far too overpriced. If he beats an unimpressive Wright and Smith isn't on his game, he could quite easily see himself in a final. His form has picked up a little recently and he had a good world championship, hitting over 101 average against Van Gerwen and having an average of over 96 for his 3 matches.

2pts E/W M.Smith to win the Masters 9/1 Boylesports
1.5pts E/W R.Cross to win the Masters 12/1 Sportingbet
0.5pts E/W A.Lewis to win the Masters 40/1 Sportingbet

Thoughts? 

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[Torque]

Not much I can add to that TBH. At the prices I'd favour Lewis over Smith and Cross in the bottom half, particularly as Lewis starts against Wright who looked well off the pace at the Ally Pally. Smith should come through the first round though - White can't be feeling all that confident after being knocked out at the Worlds even though he was leading by two sets - but I'd be wary of backing him to win the tournament at a comparatively short price after he was so underwhelming against Van Gerwen in the Worlds final and a repeat of that final would be likely if Smith made it to the final here.

As for the first round of matches, Whitlock should have a chance against Suljovic as his form has improved whilst Suljovic disappointed at the Worlds; Gurney against Chisnall should see plenty of 180's; Price and Wade will likely be a coin-flip (as the prices suggest) and should stand a good chance of going the distance whilst Webster could be competitive against Anderson who was riding his luck for large parts of his Ally Pally campaign and so based on these thoughts I'll put up the following bets:

Lewis to beat Wright @ 2.20 BetVictor

Whitlock to beat Suljovic @ 3.00 BetVictor

Over 180's line at around even money in Gurney against Chisnall

Over 16.5 legs between Price and Wade @ 1.73 BetVictor

Over 15.5 legs between Anderson and Webster @ 1.83 BetVictor

I'll also be on Lewis to win the tournament each-way 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Torque