bettrends.co.uk

Is Phil Taylor beatable? Well, based upon his form this season you’d have to say no. Having won 24 of 30 tournaments he arrives at Alexandra Palace as the general 1/3 favourite and the man the rest have to beat. His case is rock solid and although his price is only for the big hitters it is difficult to see any other outcome. However, his price does wonders for the rest of the field and you can get some pretty nice each-way (2 places at half the odds) value about some very good darts players.

The draw is obviously all important and one that does catch the eye is the 100/1 (general) about JOHN PART. He’s won this title on two occasions (although he is a three time world champion if you count a BDO success in 1994), most recently in 2008. His form this year hasn’t been great but you could say the same back in 2008 when he won the title and although he was a first round loser last year there could be some value in his 7/1 (Bluesq) to win the 2nd quarter of the draw as well. Ok so a potential semi-final meeting with Taylor is on the cards should he win his mini-section but a small investment in the overall market at triple figure odds isn’t the worst bet.

The second half of the draw is probably the wisest place to look for potential each-way shots and Terry Jenkins and Paul Nicholson look good options. The problem here is that they meet in the first round so right away you’d be a bet down. However, Jenkins has been in good form this year and Nicholson comes alive on the ‘Ally Pally’ stage. They are in a decent quarter of the draw and I can see both progressing well after their initial match-up. With those two squaring up attention turns to GARY ANDERSON. 16/1 (general) to win the tournament and 11/5 (Boylesports) to win his quarter he looks a good pick. He faces a potentially tricky 2nd round match against Ronnie Baxter and he’s in the same quarter as Barneveld but I’m happy to go with the ‘dreamboy’ and a semi-final slot, at the very least, looks his for the taking.

Bettrends Advice

JOHN PART e/w @ 100/1 (general)

GARY ANDERSON e/w @ 16/1 (general)

JOHN PART to win 2nd quarter @ 7/1 (general)

GARY ANDERSON to win 3rd quarter @ 11/5 (Boylesports)