PDC World Darts Championship predictions: Darts betting tips
Smith hasn’t won a major trophy since his 7-4 World Darts Championship victory over Van Gerwen 12 months ago.
And bookmakers don’t think he has much chance of successfully defending his crown. In fact, Smith could be out by the quarters if he faces sixth seed Rob Cross, who holds a 75% win percentage over the top seed.
The Big Three of Humphries, Price and Van Gerwen, meanwhile, are hitting form at just the right time and a third of all wagers on are backing one of them to victory.
Here, then, are four outright darts bets worth considering ahead of the first arrow hitting the board on Friday.
have one of the Big Three at 8/15 to win the 2024 World Darts Championship. Van Gerwen, Price and Humphries are all in fine form, know how to play in front of a crowd, and are confident heading to London.
The draw looks good for a Big Three win as well. Price is in the top half with out-of-form Smith (top seed), and two-time world champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson. He’d fancy his chances against all three of them, although Anderson has claimed two recent victories over the Welshman.
In the bottom half, Van Gerwen and Humphries seem destined to meet in the semi-final. They’re both in excellent form. Humphries is ranked top for averages based on his last 200 legs, top for 171-180 scores, and has a 43.41% rating on the doubles.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, can still deliver the nine-dart finishes when required and has been posting some positive results throughout autumn. He is fallible to the odd missed double and, for the first time in his career, is being punished more regularly for them.
Still, between the three big boys, one of them seems likely to take home the top prize. In fact, a Humphries/Price final is the shortest straight forecast at 11/1.
Assuming Humphries does the business against Van Gerwen again, he would be the favourite heading into a final showdown with Price. It's the Ice Man who has the better head-to-head record (W8 D1 L4) but Humphries leads 3-1 against him this year.
Humphries demolished Price in the World Grand Prix final and his form has dazzled since. He was clinical with his checkouts and consistent in landing 140+ scores.
Humphries is 3/1 to win the world title on , with Price out at 5/1. The Englishman is the obvious favourite and will have the backing of the London crowd.
His only potential banana skin before the semis is Dave Chisnall, who has twice beaten Humphries this year and could cause an upset in the quarters.
Still, Humphries has the biggest weight of bets behind him heading into the tournament (17% of the market) and his odds will only shrink as the action unfolds.
With our second PDC World Championship prediction, we’re backing Cool Hand to take home his first world title.
In 1999 the PDC witnessed just one nine-dart checkout across the season (Ronnie Baxter, Antwerp Open). Last year there were 45 professional nine-darters, including Michael Smith’s famous checkout in January’s World Darts Championship final.
This year darts betting fans have been treated to 39 maximum checkouts, although only three have been televised. We’re hoping for more at the Worlds.
Humphries and Van Gerwen each boast three nine-darters this season. Van Gerwen got the crowd roaring with a magnificent leg in the Players Championship Finals but Humphries was the more consistent man on the night.
Betway have Humphries at 11/1 to hit a nine-darter. Those odds are actually wider than Van Gerwen (8/1 at ) and Price (9/1 at ), despite Humphries arguably being in better form.
If you think Humphries can make the final then a nine-darter may also be of consideration.
Last year’s World Darts Championship witnessed six 170 checkouts. In fact, over the last four years, there’s been an average of 6.25 maximum checkouts nailed at the World Championship.
These are pretty impressive figures, yet the bookies may have underestimated the same outcome this time. In fact, most are only offering lines up to +5.5 on the number of 170 checkouts landed at the Ally Pally.
It is potentially worth taking on the oddsmakers here with not only the Big Three in form. There’s been a string of solo major winners this year and the standard on tour is arguably higher than it has ever been.
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Joe Short is a freelance journalist and former editor at the Daily Express, covering politics, football, tennis and darts, among other things. He contributes sports betting tips for The Independent.
