Handicap the entire field and choose the winner of the tournament – The Athletic

The fifteenth edition of the Grand Slam Darts will take place in Wolverhampton, England, starting on Saturday. Over eight days, 32 of the world’s best darts will compete for a share of £550,000, with the winner taking home £125,000. We’re getting to the main stage and I’ve updated the post below with plays for Thursday’s action.

A unique aspect of this tournament is the qualification criteria used to fill out tournament entries. Finalists from PDC televised events in the 12-month period from the 2020 Grand Slam Darts will fill 16 slots. The PDC 2021 European Touring and Players Championship events will be used to fill the rest of those 16 slots. Eight slots were awarded through the PDC Travel Cardholder Qualifier, which took place on November 5, and the remaining eight slots were awarded through eight additional qualifiers.

The Grand Slam format consists of eight group rounds, with two players from each group stage advancing to the second round, after which the standard tournament format will continue.

Future bets on tournament winners

Jonny Clayton (+500) – Shows +400

Ferret has had one of the absolute best seasons for a player ranked outside the top 5 PDC perhaps in professional darts history. What he has achieved this year would be seen by anyone as a fantastic season. Clayton has made it to the finals in nine PDC high-profile events, more than two times more than world No. 2 Peter “Snakebite” Wright and world No. 1 Gerwyn “Iceman” Price, and four times more than world No. anyone else this season. He’s won six of those nine finals, with notable televised wins being at the World Grand Prix, Premier League, Masters and World Series Finals.

Clayton looks set to be the best player in the world through the 2021 season. I’ll continue to play hot in the event and pin Clayton (+500) for his fifth TV title of the year.

Michael Smith (+2200) – Currently +1400

Bully Boy had an unsuccessful 2021 campaign. He was substituted in the Premier League and remains the world’s most overrated player who has never won a major trophy. Smith’s games are always predicted based on high scores. At 98.90, his career average at the Grand Slam of Darts is the second-highest of anyone in the field this year (secoNS for Michael van Gerwen). Smith has also made three appearances in the PDC finals this year, winning two-thirds.

Smith is supposed to be one of the tougher group stages, but I really want him to top Group H and get through the later stages of the tournament. See this as the right campaign for Bully Boy, who clearly has the talent to win a tournament of this magnitude but will need to perform better in doubles than in history. A little bit of trouble for Smith to be crowned champion this year.

Group bets

Group bets involve selecting players to win the group stage. As I mentioned above, two players from each group stage will advance to the second round of the tournament. However, group betting only involves picking an outright winner in each group.

Group A: Price Gerwyn (-175) – Winner

Price has made seven PDC final appearances this season in the high-profile events, claiming four wins. No other member of Group A appears in more than two. The Iceman is also a two-time champion of the event, winning consecutive Grand Slam titles in 2018 and 2019. He’s topped his group stage every year since 2018 and I predict this year to be. are not. different.

Group C: James Wade (+160) – Winner

Despite being currently world number 4, Wade is actually predicted to finish second in Group C, with Rob Cross (+100) predicted to have the upper hand. I think these numbers should be much closer together and would probably prefer Wade over Cross in a head-to-head matchup. Wade also hit 47% of his darts this year, the highest of any player in the Grand Slam field. Finishing doubles is a must for finding success in televised darts, and Wade was one of the best to do so this year.

Group D: Stephen Bunting (+200) – Lose

The odds for this one are a bit confusing for me. World No. 15 Stephen Bunting is +200 for a Group D win, while World No. 30 Chris Dobey is +120. Dobey only found himself in this tournament because Dimitri van den Bergh tested positive for COVID-19 and had to withdraw. Hollywood Dobey is about to win the PDC 28 Player Championship, but I definitely consider Bunting the better player. Bunting took a 2-0 lead over Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix last month, though he ultimately lost that match. The odds on The Bullet are just too delicious; I’ll join a chunk of Bunting at +200.

November 18 matches

Now that the group stage is over and the tournament framework has been set, the players have now envisioned the path needed to win the major championship. Yesterday, we saw the favorites dominate to advance to the third round, with world No. 1 Gerwyn Price, world No. 4 James Wade, world No. 8 Jonny Clayton and Rob Rob. The world’s number 11 cross has surpassed the limit. Here are four giants in darts, with each of them having multiple television headlines for their names.

Matches are much tighter these days in terms of odds and career pedigree. With four interesting matches on paper, one particular match appeared to me in a couple of ways.

Peter Wright (-140) v. Jose de Sousa

I like that 2nd World’s Peter “Snakebite” Wright beat Jose “Special One” de Sousa of 7th World. In the group stage, Wright topped his group, winning fourteen legs and giving up six. Wright actually lost the first game in the group stage, losing 4-5 to Gabriel Clemens in a match where Wright averaged 91.62 with a 20% test clip. The numbers may not be enough to advance in this tournament. However, in the following two games, Wright paired 96.45/32% and 98.41/28%, dropping only one foot in both matches combined.

On the other hand, De Sousa finished second in his group with a thirteen-foot win and dropped ten. He was defeated by Luke Humphries 3-5, won against Mensur Suljovic 5-4, and won 5-1 over Matt Campbell, one of the weaker players on the field. Should Humphries win one more leg in any of his matches, de Sousa will be sent home packed, with Humphries coming forward in his place.

The special one is the defending champion of the event, and someone everyone knows can be deadly from the ocean. But I believe Wright has a clear advantage in this matchup, especially considering it’s a long bout rather than a ten-race win race. Use Snakebite at (-140) to get past the Special and advance to the third round.

Thursday Special Bet: Most Goal Scorer 180 Seconds – Fallon Sherrock (+1400)

Sprinkle a little on the player with the longest odds on the board for this prop, Fallon Sherrock to score at most 180s with (+1400). I consider this a potential value game for a number of reasons.

A No 19’s tendency to move into trebles is one to consider. Michael van Gerwen, for example, has shown a willingness, and sometimes favourite, to win the treble. 19. Sherrock has shown a clear bias towards the treble in almost every scoring situation. Rarely does she score a 19th treble unless the math dictates that.

Also, a look at Sherrock’s 20 treble numbers in the group stage reflects that there may be some hidden value here. Sherrock scored eight 20 trebles in the group stage. She only played a total of 19 pins. Wright has scored nine trebles in 20 seconds in 20 games; de Sousa scored four of the 23 pins; van Gerwen scored nine out of eighteen; Anderson scored five out of 20 feet; Suljovic scored 9 goals in 22 games; Smith recorded eight of the 24 pins; and Cullen scored 11 out of 19. Sherrock, with the longest odds of being a record 180 for most tomorrow, is right in the mix with every other competitor on this list, and may indeed be a favorite pairing.

It’s hard not to root for someone like Sherrock, who always has electricity every time she walks to the occe. I believe she has been mispriced here as (+1400) and will sprinkle some on her to win this prop as I have also rooted her to beat Mensur Suljovic and advance to the next round follow.

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(Picture of Jonny Clayton: Alex Burstow / Getty Images)