World Darts Championship
A year’s worth of terrific tungsten action has all lead to this point. All 96 players have made their way to Ally Pally via many different routes, but all are ready to make a push for the title and allow their dreams to come true on the big stage. Michael van Gerwen was victorious for the third time last year, defeating Michael Smith 7-3 in the final after a dominant run.
A Christmas tradition, the 27th PDC World Darts Championship gets underway on Friday 13th December but hopefully it won’t be a horror show for the players involved. The prize fund this year is an astonishing £2,500,000, with the winner claiming £500,000 and the runner-up £200,000 of that. Whether MVG can retain his title and claim that prize money remains to be seen, as the previous times he has won the World Championship he has failed to follow it up with a victory in the following year.
There are some incredible players that could cause a shot and upset the darts betting favourite MVG, with the World Darts Championship being notorious for shocks and surprises. Last year was a fantastic example of that, with the then defending champion Rob Cross losing to youngster Luke Humphries, while Nathan Aspinall followed up a shock win over Gerwyn Price by reaching the semi-finals.
This time around, there are a few massive talking points going into the tournament. The biggest of which is the impending retirement of Raymond van Barneveld, with this being his last event as a professional player after a legendary career. There is also the immense run of form of Gerwyn Price, coming in to clear second favourite for the title. Here at LeoVegas, we’re taking a look at all of the online betting odds for the biggest tournament in the PDC calendar.
When is the World Darts Championship?
13th December 2019 to the 1st January 2020, taking place at Alexandra Palace in London.
How Can You Watch the World Darts Championship?
Every match in the tournament will be live on Sky Sports Darts.
Previous PDC World Darts Championship Winners
Phil Taylor - 14
Michael van Gerwen - 3
John Part - 2
Adrian Lewis - 2
Gary Anderson - 2
Rob Cross - 1
Dennis Priestly - 1
Raymond van Barneveld - 1
Bet On the PDC World Darts Championship
Outright Winner
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN TO WIN - ODDS: 11/10
It is no surprise to see MVG go into the World Championship as the darts betting favourite, as that’s the role he finds himself in for every single tournament that he enters. With the way that 2019 has gone and the emergence of some other players at the top level, the magnificent Dutchmen no longer goes into events as odds on, which could potentially offer good value if you believe he will retain his title.
The defending champion always plays on the opening night, and for MVG it will be a second round contest against either Jelle Klaasen or Kevin Burness. Although shocks are common, “Mighty” Mike will have to be happy with the draw as his section does seem a little bit weaker than some others. His route through to the semi-final stage is likely to be against players such as Ricky Evans, Jonny Clayton and James Wade. After also winning the last TV tournament, the Players Championship Finals, it is no surprise that he is a big favourite.
The Welsh number 1 has had a fantastic few months, with his stellar performances on the big stage not only leading to titles but also leading to earning the respect of the fans. He has been on record saying that he believes he was painted as the “pantomime villain of darts” and that some of the booing went over the top. Recently though this has changed, and after retaining his Grand Slam of Darts title the crowd seemed to be mostly back on his side again.
This may indeed help him in the Worlds, although it is tough to know how the raucous ally pally crowd will react. Looking at the draw, as 3rd seed Price seems to have some very difficult games in a stacked section 4. Likely facing an in-form William O’Connor in round two, players such as John Henderson, Simon Whitlock, Mensur Suljovic, Daryl Gurney or Glen Durrant could be waiting. On his current form though, Price is a level above all of them.
Alternative Outright Odds
Looking at the rest of the odds, there could well be some value here. “Snakebite” Peter Wright is the 3rd favourite at 12/1, though his has not exactly been his best year on the tour. Playing unbelievably at certain points, he hasn’t been able to get the consistency right. 2018 champion Rob Cross is 16/1 and has had a mixed 2019 too, with some early exits coinciding with title wins in the World Matchplay and European Championship. He is always a threat in the big events and will be desperate to make things right after his shock exit last year.
Last year’s finalist Michael Smith is at 20/1 and he may feel as if his section of the draw is a favourable one. Also in section 2 though is Gary Anderson at 22/1, the former back-to-back champion of the world. After reaching the semi-final last year, he has been plagued with back problems that led to his withdrawal from the Premier League Darts and The Masters. He and Peter Wright did win the World Cup of Darts for Scotland though.
Dave Chisnall has had a magnificent return to form in recent months after a disappointing few years, and can be backed at 25/1. This will be Glen Durrant’s first ever PDC World Darts Championship, after winning the BDO title three times. The man from Middlesbrough has a bit of a false seeding due to his lack of time in the PDC, with his performances being above the level of a 27th seed. Therefore, he should be a danger at 33/1.
Plus, in his last ever tournament, Raymond van Barneveld is 100/1 to lift the Sid Waddell trophy. There’s a reason he is a massive outsider though, as he is nowhere near the level he used to be at this point in his career. It would be a major shock if the doyen of Dutch darts was to win the title, but stranger things have happened and this tournament is well known for shocks and fairytale stories.
Darts Betting Markets
Some markets available to bet on here at LeoVegas Sport for individual matches in the World Darts Championship are as follows.
Match Odds: Who you think will win that particular match.
King of the Oche: Match Winner, Highest Checkout and the Most 180s.
Correct Set Score: What the final score will be, in the sets format.
Set Handicap: One player will start the match with a numerical advantage.
170 Checkout: Will one be hit during the match?
Total Sets: Will the number of sets be over or under a selected amount?
Nine Dart Finish: Will there be one, yes or no?
Most 180s: The player that hits the most 180 scores throughout the match.
World Darts Championship Draw
Section One
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Jelle Klaasen/Kevin Burness
(32) Ricky Evans v Mark McGeeney/Matt Campbell
(16) Jonny Clayton v Ryan Joyce/Jan Dekker
(17) Stephen Bunting v Arron Monk/Jose Justicia
(8) James Wade v Ritchie Edhouse/Boris Koltsov
(25) Steve Beaton v Kyle Anderson/Xiaochen Zong
(9) Ian White v Darius Labanauskas/Matthew Edgar
(24) Max Hopp v Gabriel Clemens/Benito van de Pas
Section Two
(5) Gary Anderson v Brendan Dolan/Nitin Kumar
(28) Steve West v Ryan Searle/Robbie King
(12) Nathan Aspinall v Andy Boulton/Danny Baggish
(21) Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes/Zoran Lerchbacher
(4) Michael Smith v Luke Woodhouse/Paul Lim
(29) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Josh Payne/Diogo Portela
(13) Adrian Lewis v Cristo Reyes/Lourence Ilagan
(20) Darren Webster v Ryan Meikle/Yuki Yamada
Section Three
(2) Rob Cross v Kim Huybrechts/Geert Nentjes
(31) Danny Noppert v Steve Lennon/Callan Rydz
(15) Joe Cullen v James Wilson/Nico Kurz
(18) Jermaine Wattimena v Luke Humphries/Devon Petersen
(7) Peter Wright v Rowby-John Rodriguez/Noel Malicdem
(26) Keegan Brown v Mickey Mansell/Seigo Asada
(10) Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort/Keane Barry
(23) Jeffrey de Zwaan v Raymond van Barneveld/Darin Young
Section Four
(6) Daryl Gurney v Justin Pipe/Benjamin Pratnemer
(27) Glen Durrant v Jose De Sousa/Damon Heta
(11) Mensur Suljovic v Ted Evetts/Fallon Sherrock
(22) Chris Dobey v Ron Meulenkamp/Ben Robb
(3) Gerwyn Price v William O'Connor/Marko Kantele
(30) John Henderson v James Richardson/Mikuru Suzuki
(14) Simon Whitlock v Harry Ward/Madars Razma
(19) Mervyn King v Ross Smith/Ciaran Teehan
*all odds correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.