JACKPOT might take a while to get going in First Round

The action begins (19:00) Wednesday night (18th) as Andy Smith takes on Steve Brown with the 27th seed Smith the 8/11 (GENERAL) favourite. Smith is perhaps better known for his nickname the Pieman and the larger than life character could be vulnerable to a shock here as he has gone out in the First Round in five of the last six World Championships. Smith has not had a great year with a semi-final in a Players Championship event a sole highlight.

His opponent Steve Brown qualified for the event after coming 16th on the Pro Tour and this is the fifth year in a row he will compete at the World Championship, only once making it past the opening game. He does though have victories in the last two meetings between the pair including at a Players Championship event in Ireland in October. Bomber, as he is known, is available at 6/5 (sportingbet/BETVICTOR/SPREADEX) for the victory.

The best bet is in taking the 7/4 (SKYBET) that this game goes the distance of five sets as this battle between two players with little to choose between them.

The second game of the evening (20:00) is the qualifying battle between Paul Lim and Morihiro Hashimoto. Lim is the 8/13 (boylesports/BETVICTOR) favourite for the match as the Singapore champion is making his eighth appearance here and way back in 1990 reached the last eight of the BDO World Championships. His opponent from Japan is making only his second appearance here after an opening round loss in 2011 to Gary Anderson. The winner of this battle will take part in the fourth game of the evening (21:45) against Michael Smith. Smith qualified for the event through the Order of Merit where he just broke through in 32nd place and the 23-year-old has never won a game on the stage having lost his two previous. He is a talented youngster but it might take him a while to warm up so look for the qualifier to win at least one set when the game is priced up. This happened four times from the first five games featuring a qualifier.

The exciting Devon Petersen awaits the winner of the third game of the evening (20:30) the encounter between Justin Pipe and Arron Monk. Bookmakers make the 11th seed Pipe the 1/4 (BETVICTOR/WINNER/SPREADEX) strong favourite for the game after an excellent year on the circuit that has seen reach his first semi-final of a major event when making the last four of the World Grand Prix. He holds a 3-1 lead though the man refered to as Monkey did beat him in April in UK Open qualifier. Monkey is 5/4 (SKYBET/paddy Power) to come out swinging (sorry) and win the opening leg and 4/1 (sportingbet) to win the match.

The best bet in the game is opposing Monk in the 180s market as he is not the most prolific of scorers of the top mark and averages just 1.3 per game through his career. He is evens (CORAL) to score under 2.5 and this looks the way to play it in a pressure environment.

The final game of the evening (22:30) features the number three seed and two time World Champion Adrian Lewis. Jackpot is 1/16 (GENERAL) to see off Dennis Smith and just 4/7 (GENERAL) to win the game in straight sets. Lewis though is often a little shaky at the start of big tournaments beating Gino Vos 3-1 in 2013 and he was pushed 3-2 by Nigel Heydon in 2012. Smith then has to be worth an interest at 13/8 (CORAL/SPREADEX) with a 2.5 start which will pay out if he lands just one set which he is capable of doing.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Dennis Smith +2.5 on handicap v Adrian Lewis, 13/8 (CORAL/SPREADEX)
SILVER: Andy Smith and Steve Brown to go over 4.5 sets, 7/4 (SKYBET)
BRONZE: Under 2.5 180s for Arron Monk v Justin Pipe, evens (CORAL)

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20/12/2013     © Frixo 2026