Glam Slam of Darts 2018 Preview – November 10th-18th
The twelfth edition of the Grand Slam of Darts begins on Saturday, November 10th. The annual event is held in Wolverhampton. This tournament is for players who have won qualifying tournaments throughout the course of the past twelve months, so it is pretty much a Champions event. It is excitedly, one of the few darts tournaments which go under a different form to a straight knockout as there is an opening group stage.
Grand Slam of Darts Odds
Michael van Gerwen 10/11
Gary Anderson 5/1
Peter Wright 9/1
Rob Cross 12/1
Mensur Suljovic 18/1
James Wade 20/1
Michael Smith 22/1
Glen Durrant 33/1
40/1 bar
* (betting odds taken on November 8th, 2018 at 8:16 pm)
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Table of Contents
Reigning Champion
Michael van Gerwen is the title holder at the Grand Slam of Darts who has claimed the title in each of the last three seasons actually. He took out Peter Wright in last season’s final and without any surprise whatsoever he is the 10/11 outright favourite* (betting odds taken on November 9th, 2018 at 12:20 pm). The thing really is that because of the group stage format, that should just increase his chances of going far because it eliminates some of the aspects of a one-off upset in a match. His current form isn’t all that bad either having won the World Grand Prix and the PDC European Darts Trophy last month. He did have a bit of upsets in only reaching the last sixteen of the European Championship and then the quarter of the World Series of Darts though.
Challengers
Completely out of the blue James Wade has burst onto the scene with a hot hand of form. He has won the European Championship and followed it straight up with a win at the World Series of Darts as well. So that’s a couple of big back to back successes. That hasn’t helped him be anything more than 20/1 outsider* (betting odds taken on November 9th, 2018 at 12:20 pm) for this event though. His confidence should be on point though. He did get to the 2016 Final where he lost to Van Gerwen. That was his second appearances in the final of the Grand Slam of Darts after losing to Scott Waites in 2011. Each way bet?
Peter Wright consistently is a short-priced option in fields, but for many punters looking at him, it is going to be too long of a while since he has taken a title win. He is at 9/1 odds for the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts* (betting odds taken on November 9th, 2018 at 12:20 pm) but that’s probably an unappealing price for a lot of punters to look at. Gary Anderson is going to be seen as being the main threat to MVG in this one, although the Scotsman’s recent finishes have been disappointing such as his last sixteen at the World Series of Darts.
Anderson did take a win at the Champions League of Darts back at the end of September and of the field, is the most likely to come through if it is not going to be MVG. Reigning World Champion Rob Cross is a decent 12/1 shot* (betting odds taken on November 9th, 2018 at 12:20 pm) for the tournament and he is pretty consistent when it comes to the bigger tournament and can generally be relied upon to at least get to the final eight. The upset king Mensur Suljovic will probably appeal as each way option as he is capable just now and then of pulling magic out of his hat.
Group Stage
There are eight groups of four players at the tournament. The format is simple with the top two from each of the groups moving through to a knockout stage. You can plan a route as well because it will be the qualified players from Group A taking on the qualified players from Group B in the second round, then C v D, E v F and G v H.
Group A: Michael van Gerwen (1), Jonny Clayton, Joe Murnan, Gary Robson
Group B: Michael Smith (8), Raymond van Barneveld, Krysztof Ratajkowski, Adam Smith-Neale
Group C: James Wade (5), Keegan Brown, Mark Webster, Wesley Harms
Group D: Gary Anderson (4), Ian White’s, Steve Hine, Michael Unterbuchner
Group E: Peter Wright (2), Max Hopp, Josh Payne, Jim Williams
Group F: Simon Whitlock (7), Gerwyn Price, Andre Gilding, Glen Durrant
Group G: Mensur Suljovic (6), Stephen Bunting, Martin Schindler, Scott Mitchell
Group H: Rob Cross (3), Dimitri van de Bergh, Ryan Searle, Mark McGeeney
Predictions
Taking a look at the draw it would potentially be a semi-final showdown between Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. That would be some heavyweight clash and the winner of that fixture would likely then be the favourite to go on and win the event outright. Anderson holds a W17 L35 career record against MVG. We can’t go against Van Gerwen with his recent track record at this event so another title for Mighty Mike is our prediction.
So it is worth having a look down in the bottom half to see who could come through the field. Peter Wright is the top seed down there but is worth a pass. So we can look towards Rob Cross and Mensur Suljovic to perhaps pull something out and they aren’t a bad option to end up meeting in the quarter finals, to be honest. They are both decent enough each way value options to consider with which to oppose MVG.
