Darts action heads to England this week where the best 32 names in the sport will be fighting it out for nine days in the World Matchplay 2023. In what will be the 30th running of the World Matchplay tournament, players are competing for more than £800,000, meaning the competition will be hot this next week.
Michael van Gerwen heads into Blackpool, England in strong form and chasing his fourth World Matchplay title. While he’s a way off of equaling Phil Taylor’s record of 16 wins, the Dutchman will no doubt be eager to continue building his legacy while he can. However, the likes of Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith will have something to say about this as will past champions Dimitri Van den Bergh and Peter Wright. Expect an entertaining tournament with plenty of 180s and drama along the way.
We break down the latest betting odds from bookmaker William Hill and outline what bets make sense this week heading into the World Matchplay 2023.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 12th, 12:30 A.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright betting odds from bookmaker William Hill, we can see there are three favourites that stand head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen both sit first equal in the betting odds at 5.00, while Michael Smith is keeping them honest at 5.50 as well. Behind these three, however, the rest of the pack are trailing. Luke Humphries is the fourth favourite with a pay out of 15.00 before a three way tie for fifth with Peter Wright, Josh Rock and Jonny Clayton all sitting on 17.00.
While there are plenty of excellent betting markets to wager on over the coming days, it’s hard to get past the great value being offered by the outright winner odds here. We say your choice of bet comes down to either Michael van Gerwen, the obvious favourite, or Peter Wright, the riskier underdog.
The argument for Michael van Gerwen is clear: he’s the modern day Phil Taylor. The Dutchman has already won this event more than anyone else other than the aforementioned GOAT and is coming into this tournament with the fresh taste of victory in his mouth, having won the Poland Darts Masters last week. Expect ‘The Ogre’ to be a tough beat and with odds of 5.00, is an excellent bet.
However, if van Gerwen doesn’t happen to win, we say Peter Wright might have something to do with it. The Scotsman has been throwing well recently, picking up two titles already this season and a myriad of other deep runs. With Wright having won here before, the 53-year-old is paying a very lucrative 17.00 to do so again and would be a strong second option to Michael van Gerwen to take out the event.
