DARTS BETTING

Darts Betting Fixtures

The major darts betting events are the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Championship and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship. Since the split of the two organisations in 1994, both events attract big crowds and big darts betting. The 2009 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships will be played at Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green from Saturday, 3rd January to Sunday 11th January 2009 and televised by BBC Sport. Welshman Mark Webster is the reigning champion, having defeated Australian Simon Whitlock 7-5 in the 2008 final. Russian Anastasia Dobromysova took the ladies' title beating 7-times winner, Trina Gulliver of England, 2-0. The PDC equivalent will be held, at Alexandra Palace, from 19th December 2008 to 4th January 2009, televised by Sky Sports. The current title-holder is Canada's John Part, who beat qualifier Kirk Shepherd 7-2 in a one-sided final. Aside from the respective World Championships, the calendar of darts events is crammed with worldwide major events, providing a vast range of darts betting opportunities.

Profitable Darts Betting

There are essentially two major forms of darts betting:

Betting on Darts Tournaments

There is generally little value to be found in betting on the outright tournament winner, as bookmakers work a profit margin (overround) into the prices on offer, usually about 25%. Furthermore, each tournament has only a handful of potential winners, so value is virtually impossible to find. The Blue Square UK Open initially makes some appeal from a betting perspective, as it is played on an "FA Cup" basis, where any player may be drawn against any other. However, this appeal is lost when the overround, in excess of 60%, is taken into account.

Betting on Individual Matches

Far better value can be found in betting on the winner of an individual match, as the overround is generally only about 10%. In fact, by taking the best prices, it is possible to negate the bookmaker's profit margin entirely. For this reason, it is recommended that any punter serious about darts betting should hold a "portfolio" of about 5 accounts with different layers (including Betfair) to ensure access to the best prices. Odds comparison sites such as searchum.bestbetting.com can be extremely valuable in locating the best darts betting odds on offer. Very occasionally, an "arbitrage" situation occurs, whereby it is possible to back both players in a match and make a profit regardless of the result. Consider the following: In a match between John Part and Raymond Barneveld, Ladbrokes bet 8/11 Part and Evens Barneveld, while William Hill bet 1/2 Part and 6/4 Barneveld. Bet 1: £1375 @ 8/11 on Part with Ladbrokes returns £2375 if successful. Bet 2: £975 @ 6/4 on Barneveld with Hills returns £2437.50 if successful. Total Stake = £2350 Minimum Return = £2375 Result = A minimum of £25 and a maximum of £87.50 in free money! Granted, the sums involved may be beyond the means of the average darts betting punter, and the percentages are small, but this serves to illustrate the principle of arbitrage betting.

Other Darts Betting

A large range of other darts betting options are available. These include:

Handicap Betting

The lesser player is given a "start" of a certain number of legs or sets. Prices tend to be 10/11 both players.

Correct Score betting

Winning this bet requires the nomination of the correct match score, either legs or sets.

Total Number of Legs Played

Usually presented as an Over / Under bet, either option usually 10/11.

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