The 2018 PDC World Darts Championship will see the best 72 darts players in the world come together at Alexandra Palace from December 14th 2017 to play it out for the game’s ultimate prize. The winner will take home a cheque for £400,000 in prize money and be etched forever in darts folklore as World Champion.
Reigning two-time World Champion and world number one Michael van Gerwen is the odds-on favourite for the 2018 PDC Darts World Championship and it’s easy to understand why. MVG has been a dominant force in darts for several years now, but 2017 was one of his finest.
MVG collected a raft of major titles during the year including the Premier League, European Championship, Grand Slam, Players Championship, The Masters and of course, last year’s PDC World Darts Championship. In recent months, he has been unstoppable, so how can you tip against him winning the Championship again? Some would argue that the price of $1.80 at William Hill is value, but as hard as it is to see him losing, it’s hard to get excited about those odds.
While an MVG win looks the most likely scenario, if an upset is to happen, then I expect it to be early in the tournament. The shorter set format does give an opponent an outside chance if they play very well and MVG is a little cold to start the tournament. MVG plays former BDO Champion Christian Kist in the first round. This would normally be a dangerous first round match, but with Kist struggling with arthritis, he might not give MVG the early challenge we’re looking for.
Basically, if MVG turns up and plays well, there’s very few players in the world who can even compete with him. The two most likely to push MVG are Peter Wright and Gary Anderson – the number two and number three ranked players in the world. Gary Anderson ($7.00 at CrownBet) was the World Champion in 2015 and 2016, and runner up in 2017, and although this year hasn’t been his absolute best, he has a consistent game on the big stage to ensure another deep run. Peter Wright ($13 at CrownBet) has elevated his game to new levels in 2017. I would love to see him bring his best and see how far he can progress in this tournament, but he has had recent health problems that have hampered his preparation.
MVG, Wright and Anderson, the three highest-ranked players in the world, accounted for 25 appearances in televised finals in 2017, so expect at least one of them to be thereabouts at the business end of proceedings.
The wildcard is of course, the 16-time World Champion, Phil “The Power” Taylor ($13 at CrownBet). In his farewell event, the fairytale would obviously be another championship to cap off the greatest darts career of all time. No doubt, he’ll want to put in a big performance and it’s going to take a very good player to retire “The Power” from the game. While most players would love to be part of Taylor’s finale, I think most will want to avoid Taylor in the draw.
There are a few other players in the field who are capable of causing a few ripples in the water throughout the tournament.
Rob Cross has been the breakout star of 2017 and appears destined to become one of the elite players in the game. He has incredible composure on the big stage and is one of the few players who doesn’t seem at all intimidated coming up against Michael van Gerwen. Some of their recent clashes have been amazing, and at $15 at CrownBet, he offers some nice value as someone with a genuine shot of winning.
Daryl Gurney is the #4 ranked player in the world, yet we’re getting a massive $41 at CrownBet for him to win the championship. Sure, Gurney is still young, but he claimed his maiden PDC title this year at the World Grand Prix where he played superbly. His best is as good as anyone, but he is yet to prove himself against the very best players on the big stage. I expect 2018 to be a year for “Super Chin” to really shine and think he can go very well in this tournament.
One who seems to save his best for the World Championship, is Raymond van Barneveld. The five-time World Champ has played a reduced schedule in recent times, but he is still a dangerous foe and one that MVG will want to avoid. You’re getting juicy odds of $67 at Ladbrokes if you think he can go all the way.
For the Aussies, it’s a shame that Corey Cadby didn’t qualify, as he’s one who could’ve definitely thrown a few spanners in the works. Kyle Anderson is at $151 at Ladbrokes which seems worth a nibble for an Australian sweat. Anderson can definitely go well, but he doesn’t yet seem comfortable on the big stage to make a real impact. Simon Whitlock is at $101 at Ladbrokes, and although he’s just outside the top ten rankings, he’s inconsistent and it’s hard to see him going far given recent form. Australia’s Gordon Mathers and Kiwi Cody Harris will also be hoping to qualify into the main draw from their preliminary matches.
First Round Matches
There are a lot of one-sided matches for the opening round, but we’ve found a couple of interesting spots that are worth a bet.
Stephen Bunting against Dimitri van den Bergh is a great first round match and although the experienced Bunting is favourite, van den Bergh won the Youth World Championship with a 100+ average and if he plays like that again, he can win at $2.28 at CrownBet.
Jelle Klaasen comes up against Jan Dekker in an all-Dutch first round clash, with Klaasen the favourite. I’m a Klaasen fan but he’s so inconsistent. Dekker was great at the recent Player’s Championship reaching the semi-finals, and I think he’s worth a bet at $2.75 at William Hill.
2018 PDC Darts World Championship Schedule
First Round (Best of 5 sets)
Thursday December 14, Evening Session (7pm)
Steve Beaton v William O'Connor
James Wilson v Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael van Gerwen v Christian Kist
Gerwyn Price v Ted Evetts
Friday December 15, Evening Session (7pm)
Seigo Asada v Gordon Mathers (P)
Stephen Bunting v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Phil Taylor v Chris Dobey
Rob Cross v Seigo Asada/Gordon Mathers
Saturday December 16, Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Alan Ljubic v Brendan Dolan (P)
Benito van de Pas v Steve West
Mervyn King v Zoran Lerchbacher
Robert Thornton v Alan Ljubic/Brendan Dolan
Saturday December 16, Evening Session (7pm)
Jeff Smith v Luke Humphries (P)
Joe Cullen v Jermaine Wattimena
Jelle Klaasen v Jan Dekker
Gary Anderson v Jeff Smith/Luke Humphries
Sunday December 17, Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Kenny Neyens v Jamie Lewis (P)
Alan Norris v Kim Viljanen
Kyle Anderson v Peter Jacques
Jonny Clayton v Kenny Neyens/Jamie Lewis
Sunday December 17, Evening Session (7pm)
Willard Bruguier v Cody Harris (P)
James Wade v Keegan Brown
Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
Ian White v Willard Bruguier/Cody Harris
Monday December 18, Evening Session (7pm)
Kai Fan Leung v Paul Lim (P)
Mensur Suljovic v Kevin Painter
Daryl Gurney v Ronny Huybrechts
Mark Webster v Kai Fan Leung/Paul Lim
Tuesday December 19, Evening Session (7pm)
Aleksandr Oreshkin v Kevin Munch (P)
John Henderson v Marko Kantele
Raymond van Barneveld v Richard North
Adrian Lewis v Aleksandr Oreshkin/Kevin Munch
Wednesday December 20, Evening Session (7pm)
Xiao Chen Zong v Bernie Smith (P)
Michael Smith v Steve Lennon
Simon Whitlock v Martin Schindler
Justin Pipe v Xiao Chen Zong/Bernie Smith
Thursday December 21, Evening Session (7pm)
Cristo Reyes v Toni Alcinas
Kim Huybrechts v James Richardson
Darren Webster v Devon Petersen
Peter Wright v Diogo Portela
Second Round (Best of 7 sets)
Friday December 22, Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Price/Evetts v White/Bruguier/Harris
Chisnall/Van der Voort v Beaton/O'Connor
Klaasen/Dekker v Bunting/Van den Bergh
Friday December 22, Evening Session (7pm)
Suljovic/Painter v Thornton/Ljubic/Dolan
G Anderson/J Smith/Humphries v M Webster/Leung/Lim
Van Gerwen/Kist v Wilson/Ratajski
Saturday December 23, Afternoon Session (1pm)
Wade/Brown v King/Lerchbacher
M Smith/Lennon v Cross/Asada/Mathers
Van de Pas/West v Cullen/Wattimena
Saturday December 23, Evening Session (7pm)
Gurney/R Huybrechts v Henderson/Kantele
Taylor/Dobey v Pipe/Zong/Smith
Van Barneveld/North v K Anderson/Jacques
Wednesday December 27, Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Whitlock/Schindler v D Webster/Petersen
Norris/Viljanen v K Huybrechts/Richardson
A Lewis/Oreshkin/Munch v Reyes/Alcinas
Wednesday December 27, Evening Session (7pm)
Wright/Portela v Clayton/Neyens/J Lewis
2x Third Round (TBC)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
Thursday December 28, Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Thursday December 28, Evening Session (7pm)
3x Third Round
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 sets)
Friday December 29, Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
2x Quarter-Finals
Friday December 29, Evening Session (7pm)
2x Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 sets)
Saturday December 30, Evening Session (7.30pm)
Semi-Finals
Final (Best of 13 sets)
Monday January 1, Evening Session (8pm)
Final
2018 PDC World Darts Championship: Prizes
Winner £400,000
Runner-Up £170,000
Semi-Finalists £85,000
Quarter-Finalists £40,000
Third Round Losers £27,000
Second Round Losers £18,500
First Round Losers £11,000
Preliminary Round Losers £4,500
Total £1,800,000
2018 PDC World Darts Championship: Tournament format
Preliminary Round - Best of three sets. No tie-break.
First Round - Best of five sets
Second Round - Best of seven sets
Third Round - Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals - Best of 11 sets
Final - Best of 13 sets
All sets are the best of five legs
