Michael Smith vs Adrian Lewis
29th January 21:15hrs
Darts – England – Masters
Pick Draw
Bookmaker Ladbrokes
Odds: 4/6 odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday January 28th
If the bookmakers have this one right then it should be a comfortable opening match at the Masters for Michael Smith.
He is opening against former World Champion Adrian Lewis. But Lewis is not the force in the game that he once was.
The winner of this will move ahead to face a tough second round match against top-eight seed Gary Anderson.
Table of Contents
Michael Smith Preview – Smith the favourite to progress
Last year’s Masters runner-up Michael Smith launches a new bid from the first round of the competition.
He is the ninth seed, meaning that he just missed out on a bye to the second round.
In the match outright for darts betting, Smith is the strong 2/5 odds-on favourite* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
From his five previous efforts at the Masters, he has been to the Final as well as the quarter finals on two other occasions.
There was an early exit for him at the World Championships recently though, as he was taken out in the second round.
But we do see Smith as being a very strong prospect here to win this match.
For some extended odds in darts betting, we can look in the Correct Score market.
A Smith 6-3 result is at 9/2* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
There has been a lot of history between these two players.
Michael Smith leads the head to head against Adrian Lewis 12-7.
The most recent meeting was at the 2020 Masters tournament which Smith won 10-6 in the quarter finals.
It means that Smith has won four of the last six meetings against Lewis now.
We think that he has a lot more to bring to the oche than his opponent on the night does.
Adrian Lewis Preview – Can “Jackpot” upset the odds?
Former two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis is the 2/1 underdog in match darts betting for the Masters* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
He is a long way from the kind of form that he was in a decade ago when he was crowned World Champions.
On his Masters debut in 2013, he reached the final and has only fallen in the first round of two of his previous seven Masters appearances.
Last year there was a quarter final exit for him at the hands of Micahel Smith.
We should note that “Jackpot” did find a bit of form in November at a couple of Players Championship events.
He went on a streak of nine wins eleven matches across back to back events.
But then the big disappointment came at the PDC World Championships when Lewis lost his opening match against Danny Baggish from the USA.
That was straight after losing his opening at the Players Championship Finals.
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So it looks as if Adrian Lewis is struggling a bit on the bigger stage.
For darts betting, an Adrian Lewis +1.5 handicap is at 11/10* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
But we don’t even see that coming into play really, as we expect him to fade quickly under the challenge of Smith.
Instead, we would be looking the other way at Smith covering a -1.5 handicap for 4/6 odds* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
Michael Smith vs Adrian Lewis Betting Advice
It is the win for Michael Smith that we would have to get behind in this fixture.
There is no question that Adrian Lewis is not the force that he once was. He hasn’t been for a while.
He did have a good burst of form in November in Players Championship events, but this is bigger stage.
Key Facts – Michael Smith vs Adrian Lewis Betting Tip
- Michael Smith beast Lewis at last year’s Masters
- Michael Smith has won 4 of the last 6 meetings with “Jackpot”
- Adrian Lewis has made it past the opening round in 5 of 7 previous Masters appearances
Smith had the better of the two when they met in last year’s quarterfinals at the Masters.
We accept the same outcome and the 4/6 odds on a Smith -1.5 handicap look more than reasonable* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
For the extended odds pick in Masters dart betting we would go to the 6-3 correct score for Smith at 9/2* (odds recorded 04:23 GMT, Thursday, January 28th).
The best betting odds for Michael Smith vs Adrian Lewis
Michael Smith to win: 2/5 at Bet365
Adrian Lewis to win: 2/1 at Bet365
