Grand Slam of Darts Preview

Normally a week in Wolverhampton would not fill me with great excitement however this is the Grand Slam of Darts and this is a good thing as it joins together the darting talents of the BDO and the PDC. The main question is can anyone stop Phil ’the power’ Taylor? The answer in short is yes. Despite being the defending champion here and playing in a format (leg based) that suits his game Taylor does not look a man who should be a 7/4 (BetVictor/william hill) chance. Recent form has not been great for Taylor going out to Brendan Dolan in the European Championship and losing to Robert Thornton in the Grand Prix. Is Taylor the greatest to play the game? Yes. Is Taylor capable of putting together a good week and winning this? Very much so. Is 7/4 good value? No.

If not Taylor then who else should we backing? Well the most obvious answer is Michael Van Gerwen at 12/1 (general). No player is in greater form than the Dutchman who finally grabbed a major trophy in the PDC with victory in the World Grand Prix. His form has continued after this with wins in a couple of recent floor events (taking his total to six this year). Van Gerwen is in a decent but winnable group alongside Robert Thornton, Steve Beaton and Ted Hankey. Take the 5/4 (general) on Van Gerwen to win his group also.

Group A features Phil Taylor, Scott Waites, Mark Webster and Co Stompe and I like the look of Webster to qualify at 6/4 (general). Although a former winner of this (in 2010) Waites has not been in good form of late and Co Stompe is not a player that Webster should be scared of.

Into Group C and it is Simon Whitlock who is the 11/8 (ladbrokes) favourite in a group that also features Dean Winstanley, Kevin Painter and James Hubbard. The Wizard of Oz should have too much for the other three and looks worth taking to win the group. Group D looks like being a battle between James Wade (11/8-general) and Mervyn King (9/4-BWin). Jan Dekker and Arron Monk are no mugs though and could qualify if Wade or King are at their inconsistent worst. Group E has Adrian Lewis as the 13/8 (ladbrokes) favourite ahead of Gary Anderson (2/1-general). I like the look of Tony O’Shea to get out of this group at 11/8 (general). Silverback is playing some great darts while Lewis and Anderson can not be trusted. Andy Hamilton is the 6/4 (general) favourite for Group F with Paul Nicholson 7/4 (sportingbet), Brendan Dolan 4/1 (boylesports) and Barrie Bates 16/1 (sportingbet). Take Dolan to qualify here which looks good value at 11/10 (Skybet). Wes Newton is 15/8 (general) to emerge top of Group F which also features Terry Jenkins, Wesley Harms and Martin Phillips. This looks a tough group to call betting wise.

Raymond Van Barneveld is a player I was looking to take on though the draw has been kind to him as Christian Kist, Mark Walsh and Wayne Jones are not the toughest group opponents. I can’t be backing Barney to win the group at 15/8 (general) though given the inconsistent nature of the other three I would expect the Dutchman to occupy one of the two spots.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Michael Van Gerwen EW to win the tournament, 12/1 (general)
SILVER: To win group: Simon Whitlock (11/8 ladbrokes), Van Gerwen (5/4-general)
BRONZE: To qualify from group: Webster (6/4 general), O’Shea (11/8-general) and Dolan 11/10 (Skybet).

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10/11/2012     © Frixo 2024