Phil Taylor is 7/2 with Unibet and 888sport as he bids for an eighth successive World Matchplay title at Blackpool later this month.
The Power has been drawn to play John Henderson in the first round, though the tie of the round could be world champion Gary Anderson (6/1 with BetVictor and Ladbrokes) up against Steve Beaton.
Taylor may well value the World Matchplay above all other ranking events as he’s recorded 15 wins since the tournament was first contested at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens in 1994. But there could be some value in the only other previous World Matchplay champion in the 32-strong field in 2015.
World number six James Wade will play Blackpool debutant Kyle Anderson in his first-round tie and is a very tempting 25/1 with most bookmakers. As well as winning this tournament in 2007, the left-hander from Aldershot has also been a finalist on four other occasions so the format clearly suits. A quarter-final place in The Masters has been The Machine’s best performance to date in 2015 but he looks overpriced at Blackpool considering his pedigree and is 10/1 to reach a sixth final with BetVictor.
World number one Michael van Gerwen, last year’s beaten finalist in Blackpool, has already won The Masters and the UK Open in 2015 and should have no problems with fellow Dutchman Benito van de Pas in his first-round game. Van Gerwen (2/1 with BetVictor and bwin) is getting closer to a first World Matchplay title. He reached the quarter-finals three years ago and the semi-finals is 2013 but unusually bottled last year’s final in the face of huge local support for Taylor. He’ll be determined to put that right this time around.
Number four seed Adrian Lewis was the runner-up in 2013 and Jackpot is 16/1 with bet365, 888sport and Unibet. He will play Joe Murnan (750/1 with Coral and Skybet) in round one while flamboyant Scot Peter Wright, who has reached the UK Open and Japan Darts Masters finals this year, starts against Kim Huybrechts. Wright could give supporters a run for their money at the general 33/1 and we may even get a new haircut to admire.
Other first-round matches see World Youth Champion Keegan Brown (a general 125/1) make his Winter Gardens debut against Robert Thornton (100/1 with Skybet), while Raymond van Barneveld (40/1 in several places) plays former World Championship runner-up Andy Hamilton (750/1 with BetVictor and Skybet).
