Follow @SBTSportBetting [Get Exclusive Tips on our Patreon, Ad-Free]
Well, Day 4 was a strange day of darts. Not the best darts on show, but some good results and we went 50% again, with Taylor missing the bullseye for our big finishes to make it a huge winning night for us. C’est la vie! However, we got a nice touch on the total legs in the Beaton/Nicholson match, even if it didn’t go the way we expected. Those backers of Nicholson as short prices will be seething. We’ll just be counting our money.
Day 5, as Sky Sports like to keep on reminding you, is the Dutch invasion. Three Dutchmen playing in four of the matches, with the first match of the night contested by two very English men. Will we get the drama we had in Day 4? Well, I’d like to think so.
I want to mention the bookmakers that will give you some free money for depositing there. Is there anything better than free money? Well, more free money. So, use my tips along with these free sign-up offers and we’ll keep the great run going!
First up, Blue Square have stopped their £66 promotion and are now offering a seriously fantastic bet for new accounts. will be able to redeem a double your money offer. Customers are simply required to place a £5 bet at odds of evens or greater and once their bet is settled a £10 free bet token will appear in their account. Of course, if that’s not enough to get you to sign up, how about cashback on your loses until the start of the football season in August? You place a bet that loses on various events, including the World Matchplay, you get 10% of your bet back. Just opt in to the promotion once you’ve signed up. Simple as that, seriously.
Victor Chandler as a well established name in sports betting and they really get behind the great sport of darts. They’ll give you up to a £100 free sports bet, as well as casino chips is you sign up there. There’s not a better offer available and I’ve taken advantage of this for tonight’s tips, and I think you should too. Hey, if the tips win, great, but if, for some strange reason, they don’t, you’ve lost nothing!
Boylesports are another great bookmaker for darts. They have a huge variety of markets and they have a nice £20 deposit bonus. You deposit and bet £20, they match it. Simples!
Stan James are big supporters of darts and are the actual sponsors of the World Matchplay. We find their markets to be amongst the best when it comes to darts betting, which is why we proudly support them. Plus, their £25 match bet is a fantastic offer, probably the best out there at the moment. So, why not sign up, deposit and have a nibble on our first tip of the night and Stan James will match it:
Seriously, if you don’t have accounts at any of these bookmakers, sign up, deposit and use your free bet to have a dabble on tonight’s tips. Now that that’s out of the way and you’ve got your free bets, let’s get the tips going.
Ronnie Baxter Vs Wayne Jones:
R1:
Ronnie Baxter (Ave:93.02) beat Jamie Caven 10-7
Wayne Jones (Ave:87.98) beat Colin Osborne 10-8
Both men had performance that weren’t too spectacular, however Baxter looked to be the sharper of the two. Wayne Jones is such a funny one on stage. If he could produce what he does on the floor, he’d be beating players the calibre of Ronnie Baxter all the time and would not doubt be a Premier League lock. As it stands, he doesn’t bring that form to the big stage, while Baxter does.
Baxter has had a big of a resurgence in the past 18 months or so and the Premier League will have helped him get back into the groove of big time darts. This shows in the prices, with Baxter around 4/11 to beat Jones. We won’t get rich backing anyone at that price, especially when we know Jones has the game to beat Baxter should he ever bring it out in front of the cameras again.
Both men aren’t going to be firing in the 180s, with Jones scoring exactly 0 in his first round match, while Baxter fired in a grand total of 3. So, Baxter is averging in 180 every 6 legs or so, while Jones is averaging none and isn’t a heavy 180 hitter at the best of times. Stan James has a hilariously low line of 5.5 for this, but Boylesports are going a nice 6.5, which we’re going to go under.
Under 6.5 180s in the Ronnie Baxter Vs Wayne Jones match: 20/23 @
Recommend: 3 units @ 20/23.
Co Stompe Vs Mark Webster:
R1:
Co Stompe (Ave: 90.17) beat Andy Hamilton 12-10
Mark Webster (Ave: 90.86) beat Adrian Lewis 11-9
Could this be any tighter? Well, actually, yes. Away from the averages, Stompe has the advantage in terms of highest checkout (130) and also number of maximums (8 vs 0), so there’s the edge right there. That being said, the bookies favour Webster, putting him in around 8/11 to beat the first Dutchman on stage tonight. First off, that’s a ridiculous price. Stompe has played some great darts on the PDC stage over the past 2 years and it’s simply due to a lack of TV exposure that he doesn’t do any more. That being said, Webster knows he needs a good run to prove his World Championship 3rd place wasn’t a fluke. In my opinion, 10/11 the pair might be fair.
But we’ll be taking on Webster with my favourite darts player, simply because he can be a great scorer and does some sexy finishing when he’s on top of his game. However, we’re also going to get stuck into the total 180s scored by Stompe. Stompe smashed in 8 in 22 legs of darts, he’ll only need 5 in a match that could potentially go all the way and then some more.
Co Stompe to beat Mark Webster: 11/10 @
Recommend: 2.5 units @ 11/10
Co Stompe to score over 4.5 180s in the match: 4/6 @
Recommend: 3 units @ 4/6
Vincent van der Voort Vs James Wade:
R1:
Van der Voort (Ave: 92.21) beat Dennis Priestley 10-6
James Wade (Ave: 89.14) beat Andy Smith 10-8
A lacklustre performance from the former World Matchplay champion, James Wade, in defeating Andy Smith. The demons that have been plaguing him might have started to resurface slightly in his first round match. His average wasn’t good enough, yet he still fired in 6 maximums and managed to take out a 124 on his way to victory. It just points to a lack of consistency at the oche in legs, not just matches. VDV looked hadny against Priestley, with 3 maximums and 3 checkouts over 100, with a 157 being his finest.
VDV hasn’t actually had a bad year, picking up some big wins on the floor, while Wade has done the opposite. Simply looking at the stats, you’d favour VDV, but Wade, on his day, can pull out something special from his locker. You don’t to where he is in the game without any skill under pressure.
However, the 1/4 about Wade is an insult to VDV, as he’s more than capable of toppling Wade. But I don’t want to take on VDV, as he can be horribly inconsistent. I mean, look at the Grand Slam of Darts for proof of that. But I do think there will be a slew of maximums in this match but the line is set at 10.5, which is just too high. It should be right around that mark and the bookies are taking no chances and neither am I. However, let’s look at the handicap market which I gave a severe mocking to a couple of night ago.
Most of the bookies are giving VDV 3.5 legs, but Victor Chandler and Stan James are giving him 4.5, which is a nice bet, considering I believe VDV can beat him. I think it’ll be closer than Victor and Stan believe.
Vincent van der Voort +4.5 legs Vs James Wade: 4/6 @
Recommend: 2 units @ 4/6
Alan Tabern Vs Raymond van Barneveld:
R1:
Van Barneveld (Ave:97.62) beat Denis Ovens 10-1 (Barney hit a 9-dart leg)
Tabern (Ave: 90.01) beat Wes Newton 12-10
The leader of the Dutch contingent is the last man on the stage tonight and he faces off with the enigma known as Alan Tabern. On his day, Tabern is capable of playing some great darts. However, Sunday wasn’t one of those days. His match against Wes Newton was painful to watch, while tonight’s opponent, Barney, was simply mercurial against Denis Ovens.
If the same Barney turns up, it’s going to be a long night for Tabern, while us watching at home who love Barney playing in his pomp will be lapping it up. But 1/5 Barney? No, thanks. Not for a guy who’s had problems all year and is known just to go a bit mental on stage. Yes, I think he’ll win, but I’m not punting at that price.
However, Boylesports seem a bit generous with their highest checkout line, as Barney fired in two 140+ finishes against Ovens and although Tabern didn’t set the world alight against Newton, he can still fire in some big finishes when he’s on fire. Boylesports setting the line at 124.5 and pricing it at 5/6 is very nice. Unless they know something we don’t!
Highest checkout in Tabern/Van Barneveld match over 124.5: 5/6 @
Recommend: 3 units @ 5/6.
That’s it. Get your Dutch lager in, wear your orange t-shirt and prepare for the Dutch invasion in Blackpool. It should be a decent night of darts and I’m hoping Barney will start to dazzle us, once again. If he does, we could be in for a great finish to the tournament, not just the night.
Enjoy the darts and happy betting!
