Sporting Life
Josh Rock
Josh Rock

Players Championship Finals 2023: Free darts betting tips and preview for the ITV4-televised major in Minehead

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Fri November 24, 2023 · 1y ago

Fresh from tipping up Luke Humphries to win the Grand Slam of Darts, our expert Chris Hammer is back to preview the last major tournament before the season-ending PDC World Darts Championship.

* Chris Hammer and fellow tipster Carl Fletcher generated a profit of 17 points during the whole Grand Slam of Darts tournament at a ROI of 37%, while they predicted 45 correct results out of 62 *

Darts betting tips: Players Championship Finals

0.5pts each-way Stephen Bunting to win the Players Championship Finals at 66/1 (Sky Bet 1/2, 1, 2)

1pt each-way Josh Rock to win the Players Championship Finals at 33/1 (Sky Bet 1/2, 1, 2)

1pt Stephen Bunting to win quarter one at 16/1 (Star Sports)

1pt Josh Rock to win quarter two at 6/1 (Sky Bet)

1pt Gary Anderson to win quarter three at 11/2 (Sky Bet)

1pt Krzystof Ratajski to win quarter four at 15/2 (Sky Bet)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Luke Humphries has now become one of the few players in PDC history to start a major tournament as bookies favourite.

Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have obviously enjoyed that honour for about 99% of these premiere events down the years so it really underlines how far Cool Hand has come in such a short space of time to earn this status.

WATCH: HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL DARTS PLAYER WITH PAUL NICHOLSON

HOW TO BECOME A DARTS PROFESSIONAL!

Given his consistency, stats and two breakthrough major titles this season - which have both come since the start of October - it's no surprise that he's widely dubbed the unofficial 'best player in the world right now'.

He's as short as 10/3 in places to make it three ahead of Gerwyn Price (9/2) and MVG, who goes into an event he's won seven times since 2013 at a massive 13/2.

It always seems a dangerous event for the big names due to the best-of-11 leg format in the opening two rounds so we'll go through each quarter of the draw in search of some value.

Quarter One

  • (1) Gerwyn Price v Ricky Evans (64)
  • (32) Kim Huybrechts v Martin Schindler (33)
  • (16) Stephen Bunting v Mickey Mansell (49)
  • (17) Gian van Veen v Chris Landman (48)
  • (8) Ross Smith v Scott Williams (57)
  • (25) Callan Rydz v Michael van Gerwen (40)
  • * (65) Dylan Slevin v Matt Campbell (56)
  • (24) Mike De Decker v Mario Vandenbogaerde (41)

Odds to win quarter: Price 11/8, MVG 13/8, Van Veen 10/1, Smith 14/1, Bunting 16/1, Schindler 33/1, De Decker 50/1, Rydz 50/1, Williams, 50/1, Huybrechts 80/1, Campbell 100/1, Vandenbogaerde 100/1, Landman 125/1, Evans 125/1, Slevin 125/1, Mansell * Dylan Slevin replaced Danny Noppert.

To see Michael van Gerwen 40th seed for a tournament he's won seven times in the last 10 years is amusing but completely understandable when you consider he only entered 15 of the 30 Players Championship events.

Apart from wining one of those back in March, he didn't really pull up trees in any of the others and the penalty for that is ending up in a quarter with his old foe Gerwyn Price.

MVG is never as big as 13/8 to win a quarter of a major tournament and the immediate reaction is 'what great value' but at the moment we're seeing that inconsistent version of the Dutchman where his C game of low 90s average rears its head too many times and is clearly very beatable.

Callan Rydz or Ross Smith could take him down in the early rounds while neither Price nor Stephen Bunting will fear him, especially over best-of-19 legs.

Talking of the Bullet, I think he's too big here at 16/1 to come through this quarter. Gian van Veen can't be underestimated if they meet in round two but Bunting has been one of the form players these past few months and enjoyed an impressive Grand Slam of Darts in which he reached the semi-finals with a string of consistently good displays apart from one scruffy victory over Danny Noppert.

He'll rightly be underdog if he faces Price in round three and will need to be at the top of his game when you think the Iceman averaged 104 for his Grand Slam of Darts campaign before it ended prematurely. But if he can spring a surprise that he's playing well enough to do, I'd fancy his chances against anyone he comes up against in the quarters. Even MVG.

Quarter Two

  • (4) Dave Chisnall v Lee Evans (61)
  • (29) Chris Dobey v Raymond van Barneveld (36)
  • (13) Rob Cross v Cameron Menzies (52)
  • (20) Luke Woodhouse v Simon Whitlock (45)
  • (5) Josh Rock v Rowby-John Rodriguez (60)
  • (28) Gabriel Clemens v Connor Scutt (37)
  • (12) Jonny Clayton v Stephen Burton (53)
  • (21) Daryl Gurney v Niels Zonneveld (44)

Odds to win quarter: Cross 10/3, Chisnall 9/2, Clayton 11/2, Rock 6/1, Dobey 8/1, Clemens 14/1, Gurney 14/1, Menzies 33/1, Van Barneveld 33/1, Woodhouse 33/1, Whitlock 40/1, Scutt 66/1, Rodriguez 66/1, Zonneveld 100/1, Evans 125/1, Burton 125/1

Rob Cross heads to Minehead as the Grand Slam runner-up and among the top five for averages in all competitions since the start of October with a healthy 97.96.

Despite being blown away by Luke Humphries 16-8, Voltage didn't do much wrong in the Wolverhampton final and averaged 103.61 so it's little wonder that he's favourite to come through this quarter of the draw.

However it's a tough top half to this section along with Dave Chisnall and Chris Dobey, who you'd expect to meet in round two, so it's very hard to decide who will reach the quarter-finals. Chizzy may well have fluffed his lines in majors this year despite very impressive floor and European Tour form but he'll always be a huge threat on his day while Dobey is in the top 10 for averages since October and has already proved he can challenge - and win - at major tournaments this year.

But I'm going for Josh Rock to come through a slightly softer bottom section before going on to win the quarter at a very tempting 6/1.

The Northern Irishman enjoyed an extremely promising Grand Slam of Darts, where it took the comeback of the season from James Wade to deny him a place in the semi-finals.

Admittedly he's probably still cursing his missed match darts in that match but generally he has a lot to be positive about from his best major campaign of the season and he'll have the hunger and drive to back that form up in Minehead.

He's playing better than anyone else in his section including Jonny Clayton, who has been out of form for much of the autumn and winter months, and will give anyone in the top half a real close contest.

Quarter Three

  • (2) Gary Anderson v Steve Beaton (63)
  • (31) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Jim Williams (34)
  • (15) James Wade v William O'Connor (50)
  • (18) Andrew Gilding v Steve Lennon (47)
  • (7) Luke Humphries v Martin Lukeman (58)
  • (26) Radek Szaganski v Ian White (39)
  • (10) Ryan Searle v Boris Krcmar (55)
  • (23) Ricardo Pietreczko v Christian Kist (42)

Odds to win quarter: Humphries 8/11, Anderson 11/2, Searle 10/1, Wade 10/1, Van den Bergh 16/1, Pietreczko 18/1, Gilding 25/1, Williams 40/1, O'Connor 50/1, Kist 50/1, Szaganski 100/1, Krcmar 100/1, White 100/1, Lukeman 100/1, Lennon 100/1, Beaton 100/1

There's little doubt Luke Humphries is the best player in the world right now despite his seeding of seven and he's also got quite a soft draw until a likely meeting with Ryan Searle in the last 16.

That would be over a best of 19 legs and a repeat of their highly-entertaining clash at the Grand Slam of Darts, which Cool Hand won 10-7, while Searle would have the home support at a major he reached the final back in 2021.

If he got through that, you'd be expecting him to face either Gary Anderson or James Wade - two more of his victims at the aforementioned major - but the result could be different unless he overcomes his only clear 'Achilles Heel' at the moment. The sleepy afternoon sessions.

By his own admission after battling past Wade 16-10 in the Grand Slam semi-finals last Sunday afternoon, he seems to save his very best darts for the evening, and was lucky to catch the Machine on such an off day. Back at the European Championship in October, Wade beat Humphries 10-6 in the afternoon quarter-finals which was a much shorter format.

If it's Anderson then the Flying Scotsman has proved what amazing darts he's still capable of on the big stages, even during a 16-14 defeat to Humphries that could have gone either way. Over best of 19 legs, Anderson is more dangerous and this is the kind of tournament that represents his best chance of achieving major glory again. That said, can he handle three matches on the final day, including two in the night session?

But as far as this quarter is concerned, there's enough reason to swerve Humphries at odds-on prices on this occasion and I'd rather side with a red-hot Anderson during a potentially sleepy Sunday afternoon shift for Cool Hand.

Quarter Four

  • (3) Damon Heta v Jules van Dongen (62)
  • (30) Jose de Sousa v Kevin Doets (35)
  • (14) Krzysztof Ratajski v Maik Kuivenhoven (51)
  • (19) Brendan Dolan v Ritchie Edhouse (46)
  • (6) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Jermaine Wattimena (59)
  • (27) Michael Smith v Richard Veenstra (38)
  • (11) Ryan Joyce v Daniel Klose (54)
  • (22) Joe Cullen v Jamie Hughes (43)

Odds to win quarter: Smith 5/2, Heta 9/2, Cullen 11/2, Ratajski 15/2, Van Duijvenbode 14/1, De Sousa 16/1, Dolan 22/1, Joyce 28/1, Doets 50/1, Van Dongen 50/1, Veenstra 50/1, Hughes 66/1, Kuivenhoven 66/1, Edhouse 66/1, Wattimena 66/1, Klose 66/1

As far as the eventual winner is concerned, cream tends to rise to the top in the Players Championship Finals but the tournament has a history of throwing up surprise semi-finalists - or even runners-up - down the years due to the seeding structure and the short format in the early rounds causing havoc for bigger names.

Although world number one Michael Smith is favourite to come through this section, he is vulnerable given his shaky recent form - especially in the short format as we saw during his Grand Slam of Darts group stage exit.

Richard Veenstra is more than capable of causing an upset and perhaps Dirk van Duijvenbode if he was fully fit - but the biggest danger in the bottom half of this quarter is Joe Cullen or Ryan Joyce, who has enjoyed a superb Pro Tour season.

Damon Heta enjoyed a superb run at the Grand Slam - where he shocked a below-par Michael van Gerwen - but I wouldn't be surprised to see Krzysztof Ratajski reach the last eight having also impressed in Wolverhampton.

The Polish Eagle averaged 97.65 for the tournament over his 39 legs while his November average in all competitions of almost 99 puts him fifth out of everyone in the field behind Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, Ross Smith and Gary Anderson.

Admittedly that doesn't involve 'that' many matches or events but it's a nice little indicator of his form whereas Heta is down in 14th on 95.76.

Ratajski has also won a couple of titles this season, including the German Darts Open back in September, so his confidence levels are definitely in a good place as we reach the climax of the campaign.

Who will win the title?

A Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries final would be the obvious outcome but in terms of finding some value, I do like Stephen Bunting at a massive 66/1 for aforementioned reasons.

If he gets through the Price-MVG quarter as I'm tipping then there's obviously no reason why he can't follow it up and fire himself into the final.

Josh Rock also has eye-catching title odds of 33/1 when you consider the momentum he built at the Grand Slam and while some may argue he'll be deflated about his missed match darts - it's the type of setback that the confident breed of players can learn from very quickly and be keen to put right.

He'll look at how Humphries has famously dealt with his previous battle scars to become an extremely mentally strong player and hopefully be inspired to follow suit.

Darts: Related content