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Well, we start off another darts tournament with high expectations and the PDC World Matchplay is a favourite tournament of ours, as there are no “short format” matches, meaning the cream should rise to the top throughout the week.
We thought we’d start off with our outright picks for the tournament, trying to find the value where we can and we think we’ve foud three picks at fair prices that should give us a good run for our dough. We wanted to avoid betting too much on the top half of the draw if possible, as that’s Phil Taylor’s half and, if it went to form, The Power should stroll is, as he’s playing some fantastic darts at the moment. However, we think there’s one value bet out there, especially if Taylor was to come up short in his first couple of matches, as Robert Thornton may not be the easiest match Taylor has played this year. So, onto our first selection:
Mervyn King to win the World Matchplay – .25 unit e/w @ 40/1 Ladbrokes.
We felt our other two picks should come from the bottom half of the draw, as it could be wide open, esepcially with James Wade playing well below his best and Barney seeming to have some issues with his game mentally. Naturally, if the 2nd and 3rd best players in the world bring their A game, they should coast to the semi-finals, but the way both have been playing, we want to oppose them. While Gary Anderson is an interesting prospect in the PDC, he’s not shown anyhing too special and his price doesn’t reflect his accomplishments to date. Sure, he can play great darts on his day and is a force against anyone, but we can’t tip him on his form and his somewhat skinny price. So, since it’s such an open half of the draw, we’re looking for players who have been there and done that, especially in front of the camera. That leads us to two players who have a lot of experience on the PDC stage in front of the camera thanks to their time in the Premier League. In fact, one is also a former world champion.
Terry Jenkins to win the World Matchplay – .25 unit e/w @ 40/1 Blue Square.
Jelle Klaasen to win the World Matchplay – .25 unit e/w @ 80/1 Stan James.
Tery Jenkins has been playing decent darts this year after a poor 2008. He has a fair record against Barney, who could provide the main challenge for him in the later stages of the tournament and for Jenkins to be that price while players with a poorer pedigree on the PDC stage are shorter beggars belief.
Klaasen is a former world champion and has had a fantastic run since the world championships last Deember. He’s finally finding his footing in the PDC and is capable of some great darts. At 80/1, we feel it’s a fair bet and wouldn’t be surprised if he was shorter than his current price, so we’re happy to snap the 80/1 up.
So, to recap, here are our bets for the World Matchplay outright betting markets:
Mervyn King to win the World Matchplay – .25 unit e/w @ 40/1 Ladbrokes.
Terry Jenkins to win the World Matchplay – .25 unit e/w @ 40/1 Blue Square.
Jelle Klaasen to win the World Matchplay – .25 unit e/w @ 80/1 Stan James.
We’ll be back soon with our picks for the first round of matches, starting on Sunday evening.
