Alexandra Palace is a legendary venue. Set high up above north London, Ally Pally has hosted the biggest names in music, all manner of exhibitions and sports ranging from snooker to ice skating. But you’re much more likely to see the Teletubbies, Donald Trump and the Ghostbusters wandering around Wood Green tube station at this time of year. The reason? The darts is in town!
Alexandra Palace has been hosting the PDC World Darts Championship since 2008. In that time the competition has grown to the point that £1,800,000 is up for grabs in prize money and players from 24 different countries are competing. Thousands of fans will make their pilgrimage up the hill to catch a glimpse of the action whilst enjoying the atmosphere of the hottest sporting ticket around.
Who Will Win?
The short answer is – Michael van Gerwen will win the World Championship. Sorry to break it to you so abruptly, but there really is no point beating around the bush. The Dutchman is the best darts player in the world by a long distance and heads to Ally Pally on the back of another stellar season with no fewer than six major tournament wins under his belt for 2017.
Van Gerwen is now dominating the world of darts in the same way that Phil Taylor did for so many years and there’s no surprise to see him installed as the odds on favourite. You can question the value represented by a best price of 8/11 with Ladbrokes if you want but quite simply, we can’t question the fact that Van Gerwen will win the PDC World Championship for the second time if he brings his best game to north London.
If the head says Van Gerwen then the heart will, for many people, say Taylor. The 16 time champion of the world will wave goodbye to competitive darts at the end of the World Championship. You can get 12/1 on Taylor’s chance of ending on a high with BetVictor and plenty of people will be tempted by that price.
Not only is Taylor still winning majors but he is significantly more comfortable on the Alexandra Palace stage than his young Dutch rival. He’s also a master when it comes to set play tournaments, understanding the subtle sways in momentum better than anybody. Taylor is in the opposite half of the draw to MVG so there’s every chance he could end his time in darts against the best current player. The tournament win, however, will surely prove too much for him.
Betting Tip – Michael van Gerwen at 8/11 with Ladbrokes
Each Way Tips and Other Bets
If the PDC World Darts Championship plays to form there’s no doubt that Michael van Gerwen will get his hands on the Sid Waddell trophy again. But there is more than one way to approach the tournament from a betting perspective. The bookies price up multiple markets for each match and we’ve picked out some tempting outright bets away from the winner market.
The future of darts is in good hands with plenty of fresh blood coming through the PDC ranks each year. This time last year few outside of darts’ hardcore fans had heard of Rob Cross but the 27-year-old could make himself a household name come the New Year. In his breakout season, Cross has played darts of the very top order. His ability to follow up power scoring with ruthless double hitting makes him a real danger in the betting at a best price of 16/1 with Coral and other betting sites.
The problem with backing Cross each way is that he’ll likely have to come through a semi final with Mighty Mike just to secure a payout on the place. Happily, you can back Cross to make the semi final by winning the second quarter at a very tempting 7/4 with BetVictor.
The third quarter is also very interesting from a betting perspective. Peter Wright is the justifiably short favourite at a general evens to make the semi finals but his participation is in some doubt after being rushed to hospital recently. Even if he makes it to the oche, Wright could be below par so try a bet on Adrian Lewis winning the third quarter at 5/2 with Ladbrokes instead.