Darts Betting Guide: How To Bet On Darts
With the fast-rising popularity of the game of Darts, many more punters are starting to see the huge betting opportunities that come with the sport. We’ve put together this comprehensive darts betting guide that is perfect for both beginner and seasoned bettors who want to gain more knowledge about the world of darts and increase their chances of winning bets.
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A Quick Introduction To UK Darts
Before placing any bets on Darts, you must know how it works…
- The board is divided into numbered sections, scoring different points.
- Matches often start with each player having a 501 or 301 score.
- Players take turns, throwing three darts per turn to reduce their score.
- The goal is to reach exactly zero by ending on a double or the bullseye.
- Matches can vary in format depending on the competition.
Biggest Darts Competitions
Darts are usually associated with the United Kingdom but darts in recent times have grown to have a massive global appeal. There are many darts tournaments throughout the year that you can tune into and enjoy while having a dabble.
PDC World Darts Championship
By far the most prestigious competition in the world of Darts is The PDC World Darts Championship. It begins in December and ends in January and has been held in the iconic Alexandra Palace since the year 2008.
Being the biggest darts tournament also means it’s the most lucrative prize for the winner with an estimated £2.5 million up for grabs throughout the competition with the winner taking home a whopping 500k.
Premier League Darts
One of the most exciting competitions to follow as a Darts fan is the Premier League Darts which is played weekly from February to May competing in a knockout-style where the eight players compete in four quarter-finals.
In the Premier League Darts, winners advance to the semi-finals, battling for a chance in the final to win the title. Matches are played to the best of 11 legs, with the first player to win 6 legs taking the match. The champion earns 5 points, the runner-up gets 3, and the two who lose in the semi-finals each receive 2 points.
The season concludes with a thrilling final where the top players compete, aiming to be crowned the ultimate champion after a series of intense matches.
World Matchplay Darts
Known as the final leg of the Professional Darts Corporation Triple Crown with the PDC World Darts Champions and the Premier League Darts is the World Matchplay. It has been played since 1994 at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool apart from 2020 where it was held in Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The 32 players include the top 16 from the PDC Order of Merit at the end of June and another 16 from the ProTour Order of Merit who haven’t qualified yet. Early matches need 10 legs to win, moving up to 11 in the second round. Quarter-finals need 16 legs, semi-finals 17, and the final needs 18 legs to win.
Most Popular Darts Betting Markets
There are many darts betting markets that you can wager on:
Match Betting
The most straight-forward bet in darts is match betting where you can choose out of the two players who you think will win. It is very rare that you can bet on Darts players to draw so most markets you will find is picking who you believe will win between the two players.
Outright Winners
To choose an outright winner means you are picking who you believe will win a darts competition or tournament. (e.g. Luke Littler to win the Premier League Darts) You can find good value in choosing an outright winner in certain competitions with the current batch of talent, many of the top players can beat eachother on their day.
Handicap Markets
In a darts match, a player will need to get a certain amount of sets or legs to win a game of darts. If you are playing a darts game that requires the player to get 14 sets, you can choose to bet on the handicap markets, this means in handicap markets for those games, the usual score will have a certain number of legs subtracted, shown as a minus number.
Let’s say you’re looking at a darts match where one player is a clear favourite. If the handicap is -2.5 legs for the favourite, for your bet on them to win, they must finish at least 3 legs ahead. So, if the match ends with the favourite winning 10-7, a bet on the favourite with this handicap would win, as they’ve beaten the -2.5 leg difference.
This is usually a favourite among punters when a higher rank player comes up against lower ranked players in tournaments meaning they can get the better odds by backing them to win by a big scoreline.
Most 180s
The biggest score that you can achieve in Darts is 180, many bookmakers will give you the option to bet on which player hits the most 180s during the match. It’s a brilliant way to keep the match interesting from start to finish, as every trip to the oche could change the game.
Highest Checkout
Bookies often let you have a punt on who will manage the highest checkout in a match. The highest checkout a darts player can achieve is 170 also known as the big fish – This bet focuses on a player’s knack for nailing those crucial, high-scoring finishes under pressure.
In-Play Betting
Many punters have started to see the massive value that comes with in-play betting on the darts. When watching darts live, you can feel momentum swing in games and in-play betting lets you take full advantage and let’s place you place bets while the game is ongoing.
How To Bet On The Darts
While we can’t fully predict the future or otherwise we’d all be billionaires – we can make educated guesses when it comes to the darts.
Study The Form
You should take the time to study the darts players form beforehand, just because a bigger name is favourite in the match-up doesn’t mean they are a banker. Many darts players find great form in competitions and tournaments which they can feed off – knowing if a player is in top form can make the difference when picking a winner.
Find The Best Odds
As punters, we want to get the most out of bets. Have a good check around different bookmakers to see who offer the most competitive odds when it comes to darts matches as getting odds at 2/1 instead of EVS can see you land more profit in the future.
Where Is The Match Held
Many darts players thrive when they are playing infront of their home crowd as they will get the most support, this can be offputting for other players as the crowd can often be on their back throughout the game cheering missed darts.
Head-To-Head Records
Darts players can come across other players who they struggle to beat whether it’d be a mental block or more. Darts players often play eachother a lot throughout the year so results can vary but if there is a dominance in the H2H it could be worth placing a bet on the more dominant player in the head-to-head records.