PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 Betting Preview & Winner Odds

Mighty Mike to rule Winter Gardens again

Darts Betting

The PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 festival is rapidly approaching. It kicks off in mid July at the famous Blackpool Winter Gardens. This will be the 22nd edition of the hugely popular tournament and there was a shock last year when Phil Taylor’s 38 match winning streak at the tournament came to an end when he was beaten by fellow Englishman James Wade. That led ultimately to Michael van Gerwen powering his way to the title for the first time in his career. So now will The Power be able to strike back at the tournament he loves so much, or has a new era of dominance been ushered in by Mighty Mike?

The tournament starts on July 16th and runs through to July 24th. So there is a wealth of darts betting action to come and it’s worth taking a look ahead at the odds and markets. The winner will walk away with one hundred grand in his pocked, the runner up at the tournament taking away half of that. There has been a change in the format since 2013 remember, the matches will only go to a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. There never used to be any sudden-death legs.

Dutchman Michael van Gerwen is leading the market at a quote of 11/10. After such an impressive year, Mighty Mike is the one to stop in the sport at the moment and that’s not an easy thing at all to do. He has already claimed the 2016 Premier League, UK Open and Masters titles this year. He is the frontrunner and is going to be value to back to walk away with the title, because even Phil Taylor has found him too much to handle over the last couple of years. As for Taylor, of course he is up there in the outright betting at 5/1 because of his immense track record at the tournament. That’s a stretch for value because the 7/1 quote on Gary Anderson is probably going to have a lot more appeal than that.

PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 Odds

Michael van Gerwen 11/10, Phil Taylor 5/1, Gary Anderson 7/1, Adrian Lewis 14/1, Peter Write 16/1, Dave Chisnall 22/1, James Wade 25/1, Raymond van Barneveld 28/1, Michael Smith 33/1, 50/1 bar

PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 Promotion

AS usual with all of the darts betting action, you will be able to track the live action Bet365’s brilliant live in-play betting service. Just head into the extensive live markets that they will have on offer for the matches at the tournament to try and land yourself some extra value. Register an account with Bet365 and earn a 100% matched deposit bonus to kick things off with and then when you make your first mobile wager with them too, you can earn a free £50 bet bonus as well!

PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 Draw

The top sixteen in the PDC Order of Merit will all book their place at the PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 along with the top sixteen PDC Pro Tour qualifiers. Of course, there is such a vast gap between the two orders even taking into consideration the likes of Simon Whitlock and Brendan Dolan in there, that you are only going to be looking at a winner coming from the Order of Merit. The draw is set up with seedings so each of the top sixteen Order of Merit players will face one of the qualifiers in the first round.

The draw is split with the first and fourth seeds in the Order of Merit going in the top half of the bracket, with the second and third seeds down in the bottom half. As things stand that would mean Michael van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis would be on for a semi final collision course at the PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 with Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor scrapping it out in the bottom half.

PDC Darts Order of Merit Top Sixteen

  1. Michael van Gerwen
  2. Gary Anderson
  3. Phil Taylor
  4. Adrian Lewis
  5. Peter Wright
  6. James Wade
  7. Michael Smith
  8. Robert Thornton
  9. Dave Chisnall
  10. Jelle Klaasen
  11. Raymond van Barneveld
  12. Ian White
  13. Kim Huybrechts
  14. Stephen Bunting
  15. Terry Jenkins
  16. Vincent van der Voort

PDC Darts World Matchplay History and Stats

The tournament started back in 1994 at the Winter Gardens, where it has remained throughout its history. Up until 2012 the matches at the event had to be won by two clear legs but as there was no sudden death, if a match went to 9-9 then the players just kept going and going until someone won by two clear legs. Since 2013 though there is a cap six extra legs being played before a sudden-death leg would kick in. This is to shorten matches for television. Both the 1998 and 1999 finals went through to 35 legs before being decided.

This tournament has been all about Phil Taylor who has been to the final fifteen times before in his career and he won each of those appearances. It’s a remarkable record and it means that only six other players have actually won the event. That is Rod Harrington, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen, Larry Butler, Peter Evison and Colin Lloyd. James Wade has lost the final more times (5) than any other player in its history.

Though the history of the PDC Darts World Matchplay there have been six nine dart finishes and Phil Taylor has two of them, striking out in 2002 and in 2014. Michael van Gerwen and Wes Newton both landed one in the 2012 edition. The highest ever average posted in the final of PDC Darts World Matchplay tournament is a staggering 111.23 which was posted by yes, Phil Taylor, in the 2013 final when he beat out Adrian Lewis.

PDC Darts World Matchplay 2016 Predictions

You can’t knock Phil Taylor’s achievements at this tournament and it will always be great to see him climb back in the winner’s circle. But it is hard to see happening at the moment unless she pulls one of those big, special performances out of his hat. If in the final he has to take on Van Gerwen then then money would be on the Dutchman. No-one is likely to stand up to the Dutchman’s rapid scoring over the distance at the tournament. It may be nice to dream of a Van Gerwen/Taylor final, but the Dutchman takes precedence.