Luke Littler
Luke Littler

PDC World Masters betting tips: Best bets for today's first-round at the ITV4-televised major in Milton Keynes


James Cooper looks at the early action in the revamped Winmau World Masters, which starts on Thursday night.

Darts betting tips: World Masters round one

1.5pts Florian Hempel +1.5 sets to beat Gerwyn Price at 6/5 (Betway)

1.5pts Andy Baetens under 1.5 180s against Luke Littler at 10/11 (William Hill)

1pt William O’Connor to beat Rob Cross at 23/10 (William Hill)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook


Previously a non-ranking event restricted to the top 24 on the Order of Merit, this week’s World Masters now holds ranking status with the preliminary action whitling the remainder of the field down to an additional eight qualifiers.

Having reverted back to the old style best-of-three legs in a set, with first to three sets taking the honours, the betting dynamic has shifted slightly.

Of course, in this era of gambling, the layers have changed their match odds, correct score and 180s markets to reflect this but there’s still value to be had.

The nature of best-of-three-leg sets adds a precarious element to matches with perhaps only one chance to break throw while two holds on the set when throwing first will do the job, regardless.

The rules of probability confirm that the longer the format, the better the chance for the superior player to come out on top so this relatively short format may play into the hands of the outsiders.

Luke Littler vs Andy Baetens (Friday)

Andy Baetens was perhaps the most surprising qualifier and double-figure quotes to beat Luke Littler confirm the task of prolonging his stay in Milton Keynes.

Beatens actually has a positive head-to-head record against Littler, though that is solely down to the fact he played Littler a few times when he was still effectively in short trousers so that doesn’t count for a great deal.

There’s not a lot that needs to be said about Littler here other than I fancy him to go through the gears quickly so Baetens UNDER 1.5 180s at 10/11 could be a good way to play the match in the hope it is 3-0 in rapid time.

A look at the Baetens' maximum numbers suggests that’s not a strength of his game, with 0.16 180s per leg and a 36.2% treble 20 hit rate very low at this exalted company.

Gerwyn Price vs Florian Hempel (Thursday)

The first match of interest is Gerwyn Price against popular German qualifier FLORIAN HEMPEL.

For betting purposes, Price isn’t an easy one weigh up having spent the large part of 2024 in a slump in relation to his previous very high ceiling.

The vibes were better coming into the World Championship and having seen off Joe Cullen in a classic, he fell short 5-3 to Chris Dobey in a fairly low-key quarter-final by comparison.

A run to the final in Bahrain confirms that Price’s game is in pretty good shape but Hempel has the tools to make a serious game of this.

He produced a sky-high 110.6 average in his qualifying win against Mensur Suljovic on Wednesday and it’s Hempel’s bursts of very-high scoring which may lend themselves well to this format.

The pair’s year-long checkout data is very close and without any knowledge on who will win the bull-off and throw first, I make Hempel around 10/11 to cover the +1.5 handicap, which makes the general 6/5 appealing.

Rob Cross vs William O'Connor (Thursday)

WILLIAM O’CONNOR wasn’t quite as flashy at Hempel in qualifying but he saw off a couple of dangerous opponents in Jeffrey de Graaf and Richard Veenstra, nonetheless.

It’s very hard to know to expect of Rob Cross at present.

His average was below 90 in a meek performance against Scott Williams at the Ally Pally but he bounced back from that in no uncertain fashion to land the Dutch Masters a week ago.

His A-game will be too much for O’Connor but Cross has spikes in his form that may allow the Irishman to take full advantage if he’s not on a going day.

With that in mind, I’m more inclined to side with O’Connor at 23/10 rather than the handicap.

Posted at 1055 GMT on 30/01/25


Full World Masters draw bracket

  • (1) Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen
  • (16) Josh Rock v Jermaine Wattimena
  • (8) Damon Heta v Ross Smith
  • (9) Gerwyn Price v Florian Hempel
  • (4) Rob Cross v William O'Connor
  • (13) Danny Noppert v Michael Smith
  • (5) Stephen Bunting v William Borland
  • (12) Peter Wright v Kevin Doets
  • (2) Luke Littler v Andy Baetens
  • (15) James Wade v Mike De Decker
  • (7) Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
  • (10) Chris Dobey v Ryan Searle
  • (3) Michael van Gerwen v Bradley Brooks
  • (14) Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh
  • (6) Dave Chisnall v Cameron Menzies
  • (11) Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

World Masters Schedule

Wednesday January 29

  • Preliminary Rounds: Eight qualifiers

Thursday January 30 (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: ITV4
First Round x8 - Match Schedule TBC

  • Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen
  • Josh Rock v Qualifier 6
  • Damon Heta v Ross Smith
  • Gerwyn Price v Florian Hempel
  • Rob Cross v William O'Connor
  • Danny Noppert v Michael Smith
  • Stephen Bunting v Qualifier 5
  • Peter Wright v Qualifier 1

Friday January 31 (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: ITV4
First Round x8 - Match Schedule TBC

  • Luke Littler v Andy Baetens
  • James Wade v Mike De Decker
  • Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
  • Chris Dobey v Ryan Searle
  • Michael van Gerwen v Qualifier 2
  • Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh
  • Dave Chisnall v Qualifier 7
  • Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

Saturday February 1
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)

  • Second Round x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

  • Second Round x4

Sunday February 2
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)

  • Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

  • Semi-Finals
  • Final

Format

  • Preliminary Rounds - Best of three sets, best of three legs per set
  • First Round - Best of five sets, best of three legs per set
  • Second Round - Best of seven sets, best of three legs per set
  • Quarter-Finals - Best of seven sets, best of three legs per set
  • Semi-Finals - Best of nine sets, best of three legs per sets
  • Final - Best of 11 sets, best of three legs per set

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