WE re-enter the fold having been absent last week. However we did post a double on Twitter, which did oblige.
Some did back it after getting Post match winning thanks.
The bet was – ‘’ One Premier League Darts bet tonight – Cross -1.5 legs Handicap and Michael Smith draw no bet – pays 2.47 at Sky bet #darts’’
This week comes from Berlin and the fixtures are thus:
- Price Vs Cross – Cross leads 3-2
- Wade Vs Wright – Wade leads 18-17
- Gerwen Vs Gurney – Gerwen leads 18-3
- Smith Vs Suljovic – Suljovic leads 8-6
- Hopp Vs Barneveld – Players tied 2-2
Key stat and betting
Price 9/5 (Betfair) vs Cross 5/4 (Skybet) (tie – 100/30 Bet365)
- Key stat – Cross won this fixture 7-1 last year
Wade 17/10 (Marathonbet) Vs Wright (5/4 Paddy Power) (tie 100/30 Bet365)
- Key stat – Wright won both fixtures in the 2017 campaign and has won the last two games vs Wade
Gerwen 3/10 (Spreadex) Vs Gurney 17/2 (BoyleSports) (tie 6/1 Betfair)
- Key Stat – Gurney won their last meeting to win the Players Championship title
Smith 13/10 (Betfair) Vs Suljovic 9/5 (Unibet) (tie 100/30 Betway)
- Key stat – their last meeting was in the Premier League, where Smith reigned supremacy 7-2
Hopp 6/4 (Unibet) Vs Barneveld 6/4 (Betfred) (tie 100/30 Betfair)
- Key stat – all head to head games have been at the same stage of the respective tourneys!
Raymond van Barneveld made the pro tour final on Sunday having been edged out by winner Jackpot Adrian Lewis. This was good news for Darts to see both players put a run together. The £6k final from Barney effectively put him back inside the top 32 as well as Burton DeWitt staying on Sunday that Barney is in visible distance of the World Matchplay. With Barney’s European Tour qualification efforts can only boost the hope for Raymond in his final year.
Gerwyn Price also made a credible run reaching the semi final on Saturday.
Price faces Rob Cross, who was absent from the pro tour over the weekend due to feeling under the weather and makes the trip to Berlin as the 5/4 favourite. One has to think how much practice has been affected by resting up? I would certainly consider laying Cross at that price despite not throwing first.
Gerwyn is 9/5 to win the game and poor at 8/13 not to lose the game. The draw no bet had Price at 6/5 and Cross 4/5 despite Cross 5/4 to win the game is worth a swerve.
Peter Wright demonstrated some resurgence last week although he bottled a 6-3 lead to draw with Daryl Gurney. Snakebite despite a 102.91 average succumbed to the two time major winner Gurney in a credible fight back. James Wade is the opponent and didn’t do much wrong in a majestic victory by Mensur Suljovic last week.
With Wright adjusting his set up too much for punters liking, with the left hander throwing first, 17/10 is a tad big considering the multi-time major winner is good at protecting leads and see a victory for Wade as a good runner.
Michael Van Gerwen will look to continue winning ways after a convincing victory last week against Gerwyn Price and is short at 3/10 to get the job done. Gurney went deep at the pro tour over the weekend, which is surely a sign of something. Backing a winner here is difficult especially on match price although appreciate the 17/2 on the Gurney win may appeal to some.
Michael Smith and Mensur Suljovic face off in the penultimate game of the evening with the bully boy 13/10 and crowd favourite Suljovic at 9/5. With the performance of Mensur last week with six maximums if he can produce similar could give a runner for match for most maximums a run for its money if Smith can perform the maximums also.
Lastly home crowd will cheer on Max Hopp, which as the contender gets the honour of toeing the oche versus Raymond Van Barneveld. With the Dutch maestro as short as 3/10 to finish bottom, he comes into the game as a 6/4 slight favourite in respect Max throws first.
Barney had a deep run to the final of the players championship on Sunday losing out the Adrian Lewis. However after slipping out of the top 32, the final appearance certainly made this a temporary measure.
We have seen how Barney has performed in the Premier League, but betting potentially blindly on Hopp leaves bookmakers unsure on the winner here.
On to the betting – Wade at evens is acceptable on the draw no bet market with unibet especially with the patchy form of Snakebite.
I like the look of Smith and Suljovic to go at least eleven legs and will double this up with Gurney and MVG to go ten or more legs at 5/4 with Sportingbet.
Recommendations
- Wade to beat Wright draw no bet – 1/1 Unibet 1pt
- MVG game and Smith game (Over 9.5 and 10.5 legs respectively – 5/4 Sportingbet) 1pt
- Hopp/Wright Both U3.5 180s – 1/1 Skybet 1.5 pts
In December 2020 we sadly 
