PDC Home Tour

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This gets underway tonight. Four tour card players play eachother, with the winner of each night going into the Last 32. 32 nights and 32 groups of this so it's very much a "world cup of darts" type event that is going to go on and on. 

This has plenty of huge prices in it and I'm not sure everybody is going to adapt to playing at home, so you can't just assume the favourites are going to win the event. I'm going for some outsiders in this

Chisnall may be a perfect candidate. He scores well and he hasn't got the pressure of being up on stage. Durrant is playing some great stuff at the moment in the Premier League and I'll back him to continue that. Especially the doubling. Of the outsiders, there are a few that I am surprised to see at such big odds. 

1pt E/W G.Durrant to win PDC Home Tour 16/1 paddypower
1pt E/W D.Chisnall to win PDC Home Tour 20/1 paddypower

0.5pts E/W B.Dolan to win PDC Home Tour 150/1 paddypower
0.5pts E/W D.Noppert to win PDC Home Tour 200/1 paddypower
0.5pts E/W M.King to win PDC Home Tour 250/1 paddypower

 

 

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Group 1 
P. Wright
N. Zonneveld
J. Lewis
P. Jacques

Not the greatest of value hanging around in tonight's opening group. Peter Wright looks a shoe-in to come through it and most likely to do it with a 100% record. There's a couple i like though. Peter Jacques is 501st in the rankings and only has a couple of grand to his name in winnings tally this year. A couple of last 64 places in Barnsley and Wigan and a last 32 placing, also in Wigan. His best result being a thrashing of Max Hopp 6-0 in Barnsley and a win over Mensur Suljovic.

I think all 3 could beat Jacques tonight but Zonneveld has a few good results under his belt including wins over Ratajski, Simon Whitlock and James Wade, Whilst also pushing Rob Cross in the UK Open. I'm backing him to beat Jacques tonight.

Jamie Lewis is abit of an unknown tonight. After such a bright start to his career and being a top 30 player 2 years ago, he now finds himself 229th in the rankings. He has beaten Michael Smith and De Zwaan this year though so he has the ability.

6pts N.Zonneveld to beat P.Jacques 5/6 bet365
2pts P.Wright to win all games 5-0/5-1 or 5-2 5/1 paddypower

long shots
1pt P.Wright to win all 3 matches, have the most 180s and highest checkout 16/1 betfair
0.5pts N.Zonneveld to win all 3 of his matches 20/1 paddypower
 

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A pretty awful day 1 from a betting perspective. Looking at Day 2 Gerwyn Price gets involved tonight. I think this event may take a little while to see each players ability at home. It seems to be abit random. I'm going to give Ted Evetts a chance tonight. I'm also going to side with him in the match market against Rowby Rodriguez. Evetts has beaten Rowby for the last 3 matches together. 

1pt T.Evetts to win Group 2 6/1 bet365
6pts T.Evetts to beat R.Rodriguez 5/6 paddypower

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Well it looks like I picked the wrong outsider of the two, between Woodhouse and Evetts. Woodhouse winning all 3 and producing a 9 darter. Atleast Evetts did beat Rowby to bring some profit for once.

With two favourites going out in a row, it's the turn of one of the outright picks, in Dave Chisnall. 

Group 3: 
S.Waites
D.Chisnall
J.Dekker
J.Worsley

I think Chisnall goes through this otherwise I wouldn't have put him up as an outright tip. Waites would be the other worry of the rest and I've heard he just has a dartboard at the top of his stairs and makes me wonder how much practising he's actually doing at home. Chisnall however, I know is. 

5pts D.Chisnall to win Group 3 evens william hill 

PDC Darts at home tips -5.5pts

 

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Chisnall wins all his matches to win the group without too much fuss.

Looking at tonight and I would say it's the most wide open group of all. Here's the line-up:

R. Smith
G. Nentjes
M. Mansell
L. Ashton

I'm not conviced by Ashton to win 3 out the 4 she would need to win the event and so I'm going to rule her out of this. Smith is the favourite and that's fair enough but he form isn't the best by any means and for I think I'll be taking Nentjes here. He's still very much a young gun in the sport but he has the natural ability that you need and if he can get the all important first win against Mansell, he'd have a chance.

Mansell is a player I like and I think he has every chance of beating Smith in there head-2-head but I'll stick to the one outright for tonight

2pts G. Nentjes to win Group 4 11/4 paddypower

PDC Darts at home tips -0.5pts

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Nentjes wins with ease. All 3 matches won and a serious average around the 100 mark. One to keep an eye on for the last 32 for sure. Looking to tonight and here is the Group 5 line-up:

Group 5:
L. Humphries
D. Petersen
N. Kenny
J. Murnan

I think Luke Humphries is a rightful favourite here. I like him alot as a player, I think he is a real talent. I do think Devon Peterson will push him though for the group but Humphries has already beaten Devon 4-2 at home this month and it may infact be the winner of the h2h is the player who wins the group. Based on that, no value for me atall in betting on the top 2 at these prices.

The question is, is there any value on Kenny or Murnan? Nick Kenny is now a fully fledged PDC member and 23rd in the rankings. He's had a decent start to the year, winning the Romanian Open in January and getting to the last 16 in the Players Championships, where he beat Kirk Sheppard, Ryan Meikle and Josh Payne. He also managed a last 16 in another Players Championships, in Wigan. There he beat Jonny Clayton 6-3 before going out to a deciding leg against Ratajski (who won the event) It's gone quiet for him since then, but based on those performances against the better players, perhaps it shows he likes the limelight and could shine here?

2pts N. Kenny to win Group 5 11/2 bet365

PDC Darts at home tips +5pts

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Kenny wins all 3 my word, the other 3 were bad though. Looking at tonight's group :

Group 6 :
J. Wade
R. Searle
A. Boulton
A. Gray

I think tonight is all about the top 2. I know Wade has a hell of a setup at the moment and that would make me think he's probably getting the practise in. Searle would be his only threat out of this group, for me. Boulton and Gray are both capable ofcourse, but you'd expect one of the top 2 to turn up tonight. If not both. Alot will depend on the doubling of Searle because it can be really dodgy. I'm going to go where the value is of the two and that's Searle. In February just gone, Searle beat Price, Michael Smith, Durrant, De Zwaan and then MVG in the final. If the doubles turn up, he could win all 3.

I'm going to take a few match bets tonight also. I'm not convinced by Adrian Gray. His results have been pretty poor recently and he's been playing soft-tip alot more than the standard setup you generally see. 

2.5pts double (J.Wade -1.5 legs to beat A.Gray & R.Searle -1.5 legs to beat A.Gray) 2/1 888sport
2.5pts R. Searle to win Group 6 9/5 bet365
1pt R. Searle to win all four matches 4/1 paddypower

PDC Darts at home tips +16pts

 

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Full house last night. Nice. Tonight, much harder to call. Here's the line up: 

Group 7 : 
J. Klaasen
G. Clemens
G. Carlin
R. Meikle

I really can't decide on this group. Klaasen has already performed really well on a "home setup" tournament, which Aspinall eventually won. Klaasen beat Aspinall in that match too and I know that Klaasen has a lovely set-up. I do think he'll be taking this very seriously. Clemens is a player I really like though, and the "normal Klaasen" which throws in a shocking leg every 3, would probably lose to Clemens. It's a really hard group to call. 

Carlin is a player who has beaten some real top players and Meikle can beat anybody on his day, too. He's really hit the ground running on the development tour, in Germany. Winning back-2-back tournaments over there. 

I think if I had to choose it would be the favourite, Clemens. He has a very good h2h against Klaasen and Carlin. He's more solid in his play and will not be so "up and down" in his form tonight.

4pts G.Clemens to win Group 7 11/8 betway
1pt G.Clemens to win all 3 matches 5-0, 5-1 or 5-2 14/1 paddypower 

PDC Darts at home tips +29.5pts

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Clemens didn't really turn up last night. It was quite a poor night of darts really. Looking at tonights action and the line up :

Group 8 :
R. North
J. Clayton
A. Hunt
D. Pallett

Johnny Clayton comes into this as the favourite and rightly so, being the highest ranked.  He has already managed to make the Quarter finals of the Masters and the Semi finals of the UK Open this year. Beating the likes of Van Gerwen, Chris Dobey and Scott Waites. Richard North hasn't made better than the last 48 in any tournament in this year and is bang out of form. He's more than doubled his ranking from last year. One for me to put a line through.

Adam Hunt is another I'm not interested in tonight from a group perspective. He hasn't made anything better than a quarter-final place at Q-School. Other than that, the best he's had this year is a last 32 at Barnsley. He beat Andy Boulton there and Danny Noppert. Finally, David Pallett. Another who has dropped down the rankings since last year and only a last 32 place to his name. He beat Brendan Dolan there.

I'm going to take Clayton to win all 3 tonight. I'm also going to take a handicap bet on him beating Hunt.

2pts J.Clayton to win all 3 matches 7/2 paddypower
4pts J.Clayton (-1.5 legs) to beat A.Hunt evens unibet

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Clayton does the business and wins all 3. He also covers the handicap against Hunt. Let's have a look at tonight's group :

Group 9 :
M. Smith
H. Ward
M. Clarke
M. Kleermaker

Michael Smith is the obvious huge favourite in this and you can see why. He's a huge scorer and that helps alot. You need that, in this. His doubling can be dodgy though and I wonder if, much like Chisnall, it means he can settle down here and put on a show. It wouldn't surprise me if he came out and won all 3 without a fuss. He's already hit a 9 darter this year and based on his recent Twitter feeds he's hitting ton averages regularly enough.

So is there anywhere we can see an upset? I'm happy to put a line through Matt Clarke nice and early. He just doesn't score heavy enough compared to the others. He also hasn't tasted any success for 6 years. Kleermaker is an interesting one. The Giant had a really good year last year, winning multiple BDO tournaments like the Welsh Open and the Luxembourg Open. He then made the last 16 of the BDO Worlds. Since he's switched to the PDC and has had a few half decent results along the way.

Harry Ward is another one who is living off of last years form. In May of last year he won a Players Championship title, in Barnsley. Funny enough one of the players he beat in the Last 16 of that event was... Michael Smith. He beat him on a deciding leg (shows bottle) and then beat Aspinall in the Quarter final in a deciding leg (shows bottle). Thornton in the Semi-finals (deciding leg) and finally Max Hopp in the final.. you guessed it, deciding leg. He beat Chisnall a month later when getting to the Quarter-finals of another Players Championship.

Since then we haven't seen too much of him. He cashed at the International Darts open but went out tamely 6-0 to Sulijovic, in the last 32. He got to the last 16 of the Youth Championships and he cashed at the worlds 15 grand. Beaten quite easily by Whitlock 3-0 though. He only managed an 84 average that day. We've seen him go out early alot since then but he has played some good players along the way like MVG, Klaasen and players bang in form like Devon Petersen and James Wade. He also lost 10-6 to Ian White in the UK Open in early March.

I think Ward can see off Clarke and probably Kleermaker and I think Smith beats both too. This makes me think that Ward probably needs all 3 to win the group and so I'll take a small punt on that happening and keep my money in my pocket for better chances.

1pt H.Ward to win all 3 matches 11/1 paddypower
0.5pts M.Smith to have the most 180s and the highest checkout in all 3 matches 25/1 paddypower

PDC Darts at home tips +35.5pts

 

 

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Another big name departs. Kleermaker goes through on leg difference. Harry Ward couldn't double for toffee. I only see one direction for him. Let's take a look at tonight 

Group 10 :
N. Aspinall
R. Joyce
S. Brown
S. Stevenson

Nathan Aspinall is ofcourse the big favourite and no surprise there. He's already won a home event with the PDC a matter of weeks ago and we've already seen the benefits of what that brings with Jelle Klaasen going through.

Aspinall is in fine form "Pre-corona" having already won multiple PDC events. Semi finalist at the Worlds and then Semi-finalist at the Masters, he then won a players championship in Barnsley in February and also another more recently in March. However in the last Players Championship in which Ian White won, Aspinall had an early exit to lowly Madars Razma. He also didn't look too hot in the home event he won. Missing a few doubles and not scoring to his true capability.

Ryan Joyce had a poor worlds. He should have beat Jan Dekker but missed a few doubles and his scoring was only decent in the third and maybe 4th set. The first couple of sets he was only averaging in the low 80s.

Since then he's made the last 32 of a couple of Players Championships. One in February (the one Aspinall won) where he beat Simon Whitlock and then another last 32 a few weeks later in which he beat yesterdays winner, Kleermaker. He then went out against MVG to a deciding leg. He's also made a last 16 place. Also in Feb. He beat Kyle Anderson 6-1 in that one. Also beating De Sousa, Gary Anderson 6-2 and going out to eventual winner, Peter Wright. 

So his form is decent up until late Feb. He went out early of the UK Open in March to a deciding leg against Clemens and the last 2 Players Championships he has gone out early to Thornton and Whitlock. He should have the form tonight to beat Brown and Stevenson and he has a good head-2-head record against Nathan. He beat Nathan the last time they played infact.

I'm going to take Joyce to win all 3 tonight. This is because I think if he is going to get through, it's most likely going to be the winner of Joyce Vs Aspinall. I can't see him losing to Aspinall and still making the group win. I'll also take Aspinall to win all 3 and cover the 180/checkout double. This is abit of cover because the price is right. Very low stakes.

2pts R. Joyce to win Group 10 7/2 bet365
1pt R. Joyce to win all 3 group matches 6/1 betfair
0.5pts N. Aspinall to win all 3 group matches, Most 180s in all and highest checkout in all 25/1 betfair

PDC Darts at home tips +34pts

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I'm going to add Stevenson to win on the handicap. i think we'll see him play well tonight. He's beat the likes of James Wade this season and Darren Webster at the UK Open in March. He's also beat De Zwaan. I think we'll see him beat Brown and push Joyce close. Infact he's beaten Joyce in both of there head-2-heads. 

5pts S. Stevenson (-1.5 legs) to beat S. Brown 6/5 coral
 

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Let's also try an accy tonight

1pt accy - Aspinall -2.5 legs Vs Brown / Over 7.5 legs Joyce Vs Stevenson / Stevenson -1.5 to beat Brown / Joyce -1.5 to beat Brown - 12.5/1 sportingbet 

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Tonight shows that some people are either not prepared for this event or they are just not practising. Joyce was poor tonight, but Stevenson was just awful. The only good side to it was thanks to those awful performances, that's a 25/1 hit on Aspinall 

PDC Darts at home tips +37.5pts

[Torque]

Tailed you on the Aspinall bet. Cheers 

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Just now, Torque said:

Tailed you on the Aspinall bet. Cheers 

Wahey! glad to hear it. 

[Torque]

Wish I'd tailed you the other night though when you got a full house across both events you've been covering. Nearly a 1000 to 1 winner if you'd rolled them all up!

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39 minutes ago, Torque said:

Wish I'd tailed you the other night though when you got a full house across both events you've been covering. Nearly a 1000 to 1 winner if you'd rolled them all up!

haha, yeah i tend to get something like that every now and again.

Modus is kicking my a**e at the moment though so hoping to get back into profit on that next week.

[Torque]

2 minutes ago, Fader said:

haha, yeah i tend to get something like that every now and again.

Modus is kicking my a**e at the moment though so hoping to get back into profit on that next week.

It seems a tough competition to crack from a punting perspective. Performance levels seem to fluctuate wildly from looking at the results - that said Nijman has been consistent although I've noticed he isn't the best closer. That's a surprising thing to say about someone who has been winning so much, but there's been a few times where I've seen him get into a double-break lead only to give a break back and quite often when throwing for the match.

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I had 8/1 on Nijman winning all 5 yesterday and he won 4/5 which is annoying. I think it's more likely better to win from in the early days of the group. On the whole I don't think there is alot of value in it. Especially not from a match perspective. Much more value is the PDC At Home where everybody is priced up like they would be if they were in a full studio. We've seen already it's not all the same when they're at home.

[Torque]

At least Nijman does eventually get the wins though. Plenty of other players have lost matches when they've had the darts to win. Off the top of my head, Mitchell did it against RVB and Evans, Koltsov did it against Mitchell and Askew did it against Nijman. Mitchell in particular seems to be a player worth opposing if he's throwing first.

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Yeah, whole new list of players for next week. Only Nijman remains of the bunch, I believe. I'll update the Modus thread with the new lineup etc

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Group 11 :
A. Tabern
S. Whitlock
K. Sheppard
M. Van Duivenbode

Simon Whitlock gets underway tonight. Whitlock has had a decent last 6 months. He looked poor in the Grand Prix, going out 2-1 to Smith and averaging just 77 but 2 weeks later he was beating Adrian Lewis 6-1 with a 100 average. He was in the 90s when he beat De Zwaan and got to the last 32 of the Players Championships, before making the last 16 of the worlds and cashing 35k. This year he went out of the Masters to Gerwyn Price. Whitlock averaged 97 there and then the UK Open he beat De Zwaan before bowing out to Chris Dobey. We should expect something around the 90 average from him tonight. 

The only player who I think can match that will be Tabern. Tabern also has the advantage that he plays Whitlock last and it could well be an "winner takes all" match. Whitlock beat Tabern last year 6-3 and holds a very one sided h2h record against him (W12 L3) but Tabern has won his tour card back and will be buoyed by that.

I'm taking a few big priced outsider shots but I'll also take Tabern to win all 3. That's purely because I think he wins the other 2 matches and I would like to be in a good position before the main match.

1pt A. Tabern to win all 3 matches 10/1 paddypower
2pts S. Whitlock to win all 3 matches 5-0, 5-1, 5-2 or 5-3 5/1 skybet
0.5pts S. Whitlock to win all 3 matches, Most 180s and Highest Checkout 22/1 paddypower

PDC Darts at home tips +37.5pts

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I got greedy last night. I thought Tabern had a chance but I went for him to win all 3. Tabern won the group but only won 2 out of the 3. Let's look at tonight's group :

Group 12 :
M. Hopp
M. De Decker
K. Brown
C. Whitehead

Hopp is the favourite, with Brown as the second favourite. I'm not sure I can be confident about either though. After a decent Worlds for Max Hopp and making the last 32, he hasn't really done much. 1st round exits in 4 out of the 6 tournaments he has played in and a last 32 and 96 in the other 2. That kind of form makes it impossible for me to back a favourite. Keegan Brown is another that I'm not sure of. There was a piece in the Sun paper today saying that he is a key worker and how much extra work he is doing for The NHS. Great for humanity, but not so great for Darts and his practising. You have to wonder how much practise he has got because of that extra work.

Looking at the 2 outsiders, I think I'm going to side with De Dekker. Whitehead started the year making a last 16 in the Players Championships. Only losing out to Peter Wright there. In another Players Championship in February he beat Keegan Brown 6-2 and also Klaasen along the way. But his form after that doesn't fill me with confidence and his average is lower than De Decker. De Decker also has good records against Max Hopp (won the last 3), 

2pts M. De Decker to win Group 12 7/2 William Hill
1pt M. De Decker to win all 3 matches 8/1 betfair

PDC Darts at home tips +34pts

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All sorts of weirdness yesterday as Brown ended up pulling out half way through because of internet and such. Some how Max Hopp won it in the end after they replied it all.

Looking at tonight's group then :

Group 13 :
C. Rydz
S. Beaton
M. Edgar
C. Wilkinson

Beaton comes in as favourite and the highest seed but I do wonder how much practise the old boys do. Especially in lock down. I've liked Callan Rydz for a while now and I've backed him a few times last year. I wouldn't say there is a whole bunch of value in this group and I've marked off Edgar and Wilkinson fairly easily. I think Beaton if he's up for this should win it but he takes on Rydz first up and if Callan can get through that one, I can see him winning all 3.

Rydz actually faced Beaton in there only h2h 10 months ago and Rydz won the match 6-2. 

2pts C. Rydz to win the group 5/2 paddypower
1pt C. Rydz to win all 3 matches 11/2 paddypower

PDC Darts at home tips +31pts

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No joy last night. We knew Beaton wouldn't win but nobody could really see Wilkinson turning up and smashing any average he has ever had and winning all 3. On to Group 14:

Group 14 :
C. Dobey
C. Teehan
R. Meulenkamp
K. Fan Leung

I'm not sure how it will work for Fan Leung. I assume that he will be playing in the early hours as we are playing a home event. Which puts me off alittle. Chris Dobey is the main attraction tonight and he has started the year with some decent form really. He made the Last 16 of the worlds in which he actually beat Meulenkamp in the last 64, but it was a close match in which both averaged in the mid 90s. Dobey coming through 3-2 in sets. Going out to Durrant for a place in the Quarter-finals. Other than that, he hasn't done much on the Players Championship circuit, but did make the last 16 of the UK Open. 

Irishman Ciaran Teehan was great on the development tour last year, winning a couple of events. This year, he made the last 32 of a players championship in Feb. He beat Justin pipe there and Stephen Bunting. He did nothing then until just before the Covid lockdown in which he made back-2-back last 32s in two more Players Championships. He beat Van Den Bergh in one of those. He's an interesting one tonight.

Meulenkamp was going to be the one that interests me tonight but after his decent showing at the Worlds there is very little form to back it up. I'm going to go for Teehan tonight after his recent form.

2pts C. Teehan to win Group 14 8/1
 

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Group 15 :
D. Webster
B. Brooks
S. Baker
A. Hamilton

Long are the days gone when The Hammer, Andy Hamilton was a top player. He used to be my favourite player in the PDC. The nearly man every single time at the Worlds. He would have romped this group back in the day but he's not that player no more.

Bradley Brooks has made a couple of Quarter-finals on the Development Tour this year but that's pretty much all to write home about. He's one I'm ignoring tonight. Andy Hamilton also hasn't really pulled up any trees this year. He's made the last 32 of The Belgian Championship but lost 6-2 to Wright in the last 32. Darren Webster is the obvious favourite and with the rest being fairly weak, I'll atleast have a bet on a boost on him.

It's Baker I'm going to give a try here though. He beat Rob Cross in a Players Championship in February, He's beaten William O'Connor also and with the other players being quite weak minus Webster, it's worth a shot. 

2pts S. Baker to win Group 15 3/1 bet365
1pt D. Webster to win all 3 matches 5-0, 5-1, 5-2 or 5-3 9/1 paddypower

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Right, I'm pretty bored of losing now. Webster should have got that 9/1 last night. Missed so many doubles in his first match it was ridiculous. 

Group 16 :
R. Evans
M. Atkins
C. Bunse
J. Smith

Rapid Ricky is in the place tonight. He made the Quarter finals last year of the Austrian Darts Championships. He beat Dave Chisnall that day 6-3 in the last 16 before being destroyed by MVG in the Quarters. He also made the Quarter finals of the European Championships last year and along the way he beat Durrant in a deciding leg, hitting a 95 average in that match. He went out to Rob Cross in the quarters but maintained a mid 90 average through that tournament. This year, he started the year with a last 32 place in the worlds. Beating Mark McGeeney and again coming up against MVG and getting whitewashed. Again though, mid 90s throughout.

After 3 in a row 1st round exits in Wigan, he did make the last 16 in the Players Championships. He didn't play anybody decent until losing to Wade though. He went out in the 2nd round of the UK Open. The last 2 Players Championships do show some improvement though as he's lost deciding legs to Chisnall and beat Rob Cross before a deciding leg loss to Michael Smith. If he can average mid 90s tonight he should be fine.

He faces Martin Atkins in the first match of the night. Atkins, quite ironically nicknamed "The Assassin" has cashed just 200 euros this year but that was in the last tournament he played, making the last 16 of the Dutch Open. He lost to BDO Worlds winner Wayne Warren there. H'es one I've put a line through.

Christian Bunse made the last 32 of the German Darts Masters last year. He went out with a 92 average to Daryl Gurney. He performed well in that match despite losing 6-2. Gurney was in the mid 90s himself. He's made the Quarter finals of a Development Tour event, also last year. This year didn't start fantastic by any means, after failing to qualify for the worlds. After going out early in a Players Championship, in Wigan though, he did well in the following 3, getting to the last 64 in the next, and then making a last 16 where he beat Van Gerwen in a deciding leg and went out to Rob Cross. In the UK Open though, he did lose 6-2 to Martin Atkins, who he will face tonight. He's cashed in a couple of events recently but no performances stand out.

Finally, we have Jeff Smith. The 44 year old was a multiple winner of BDO events last year, winning the Canadian Open, Seacoast open and a doubles event in Paris, where David Cameron and himself beat Scott Mitchell and Daniel Day in the finals. This year has started well for him. He's beat Dave Chisnall, Nathan Aspinall, Peter Wright and Brendan Dolan upon getting to the Players Championship final in Feb. A day later, he showed that was no fluke by making the Last 16 of the next one. He beat Gurney and Danny Noppert there. it's gone abit quiet for him since then, but if he brings that form tonight he should have a live chance.

With Jeff Smith facing Ricky Evans in the last match, it could be a "Winner takes all scenario" I think both win there 2 matches and based on that, I will risk the better prics for a clean sweep of either. I think Evans should win both of his matches with a few legs to spare before he gets to Smith. 

2pts J.Smith to win all 3 matches 9/2 paddypower
2pts R. Evans to win all 3 matches 5-0, 5-1, 5-2 or 5-3 7/1 paddypower
1pt R. Evans to win all 3 matches, Most 180s and highest checkout 25/1 betfair

 

 

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Smith wins it. I got too greedy and went for the clean sweep but Atkins decided to turn up for that match, ofcourse. 

Group 17 :
J. Henderson
D. Heta
G. Blades
K. Kcuik

Big John Henderson gets involved tonight and I think being at home will suit him. He is always getting too hot up on the stage with the lights and such and when he is comfortable in his own surroundings, I see that as a big plus for him. At the back end of last year Hendo was actually playing really well. He got to the last 16 of the Players Championship. He beat Ryan Joyce there with a 95 average, and then Simon Whitlock with a 96 average. It was good prep for him before making the Last 32 of the Worlds. There he beat Richardson 3-0 with a 93 average and went out to Price with a 94 average. Price was on fire that day with a 104 average. 

In the smaller events since he has made the last 32 in a couple of Players Championship events but the form did go downhill through Feb. He also had a poor UK Open, where he lost to James Wade in the 1st round. March, prior to the lock down though has shown some upturn in form. He made the last 32 of two Players Championships. You would have to expect somebody as good as Henderson to be making a quarter-final or semi-final in a few of these though. Nevertheless, In his last 10 matches he has averaged an average of 96.70. I know that Hendo is doing plenty of practise also. His wife is an NHS nurse and he's said himself that it means with nothing much to do he has been practising more. If he can sort those doubles tonight he could win this group easily. We know what a big scorer he is.

Damon Heta is the biggest threat tonight though. He is playing in the early hours of the morning though. I think it's something like 2am when he kicks off tonight. If it was standard time, I would be much more confident in picking out Heta. Winner of the Brisbane Masters last year, where he beat James Wade, Simon Whitlock, Gary Anderson and Rob Cross. He had a 95 average in that final. He also won the Australian Masters (which he had won in 2018 also) and now he has joined the PDC. 

I initially was going to go with Henderson for this, but the odds are just not good enough. Heta is the clear value to win this. He is up for it and taking it seriously. He moved to the UK prior to the lockdown and had to move back to work. I think he will see this as a good opportunity to show what he can do.

3pts D. Heta to win Group 17 2/1 paddypower
1pt K. Kcuik to lose all 3 tonight 9/2 paddypower
1pt D. Heta to win all 3 tonight 9/2 paddypower

2.5pts D. Heta to beat K. Kcuik and have the most 180s 7/5 paddypower
2.5pts J. Henderson to beat K. Kcuik and have the most 180s evens paddypower

0.5pts J. Henderson to win all 3 of his matches, have the most 180s and the highest checkout in all 3 50/1 skybet


 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fader]

Well, I went for the win aswell as a few bigger prices and really despite making profit on the night it just feels like it should have been better. I though Kcuik would be rubbish, which he was, but nowhere near as rubbish as Blades. Who was so weak, it was unreal.

Group 18 :
S. Bunting
H. Leitinger
K. Huybrechts
N. Derry

Without commitments to the Modus evening shift, I can take a look at this alittle earlier. Let's start with Bunting. Bunting reached a final of a Players Championship last year, which was the first final he had made in the Players Championships since 2016. He lost the final to De Zwaan, and it has to be said that he didn't beat any "big names" along that route. Since then he has made a final of the Czech Open and the  Quarter finals of the Players Championships finals. There he averaged just under 102 across 4 matches. This year started well as he made the Last 16 of The Worlds. That was helped massively by his 180 hitting as he hit 10 in the first round to edge through 3-2 in sets and then smashed Jonny Clayton 4-0 in the last 32. Unluckily for Bunting he then came up against MVG and got whitewashed himself. 

Since the Worlds, Bunting has a semi-final place in a Players Championship, in Wigan. He did beat Aspinall in a deciding leg in that tournament and Ian White also, who tends to do well at the Players Championships. He lost to Price in the Semi-final, who would go on to win it by beating MVG in the final. He also made the Last 16 of the UK Open but when you think he only beat Van Der Voort and Tabern to make that last 16 place, it's not too impressive. Since the UK Open, he's made a last 16 place, but in one of the rounds he got a bye.  I'm pretty sure he isn't practising as much as he used to. I seem to remember he is playing games in most of his spare time now. Despite this he's cashed in over 50k this year already. 

Kim Huybrechts is the 2nd highest seed here. He got to the Quarter final of the World Cup Of Darts last year and also managed a Last 16 spot, much like Bunting, at The Worlds. He's made the last 32 of a Players Championship, The PDC Belgian Masters and also the UK Open. He most recently made the Semi-finals of a Players Championship. Most notably, he beat Peter Wright 6-0 in the Last 16 and Michael Smith in the Quarter finals. He lost that Semi-final to eventual winner Ian White. He averages just 82 that day, but he's averaged 98 in this last 7 prior to that semi-final. He's made 46k himself this year. 

Harald Leitinger has only beaten the likes of Lisa Ashton and Richard North this year and has many 1st round exits and has been on the end of a few big defeats. His averages sit around the mid 80s and I think he'd need more here. Nathan Derry much the same, losing something like 10 of his last 12.

3pts K. Huybrechts to win Group 18 2/1
2pts K. Huybrechts to win all 3 matches 9/2 paddypower
1pt K. Huybrechts to have the most 180s in all 3 matches 12/1

PDC Darts at home tips +21.5pts