We have had three excellent nights in the A Night at the Darts competition this week and we move into the second half of the second league phase expecting plenty more of the same on what could be a special night of darts on Thursday evening.
We have had some scintillating action and some tight matches throughout the first three nights of this week and with the overall table hotting up nicely there is no reason to think anything is going to change from here on in.
The Format
Each night from Monday to Saturday five men will battle it out in a round robin group with the overall champion being determined on Saturday May 2. Matches will see the players compete over the best of 9 legs with each of them at home in front of a webcam throwing at their own individual dartboards. Scores can be found on Dart Connect and the tournament will be streamed on the bookmaker live streaming consoles and for free on Dartslive.tv.
Here’s how the overall @reddragondarts #ANightAtTheDarts Live League table shapes up following Night Three ??? pic.twitter.com/H6YgcLLtsq
— MODUS Sports (@ModusDarts180) April 22, 2020
Wednesday Recap
For the second night in succession it was all about Martin Adams on Wednesday evening. He once again won all four matches to soar to the top of the overall rankings, a position he’ll be out to consolidate from here on in. It was David Evans and Wessel Nijman who were his closest challengers. They both registered two wins each while Scott Mitchell and Boris Koltsov came out on top in one game apiece, although Mitchell continues to lose a bunch of matches 5-4.
We placed our faith in Boris Koltsov and Wessel Nijman registering four 180s in their contest and having done that before the end of the fourth leg they proceeded to go on and land 11 of them in their match in total to bring us one of the most emphatic winners we’ve ever had in a 180s market. That topped up the profit for the week nicely and we’ll hope to build on that as we go along.
Thursday Line Up
It is the turn of David Evans to have the night off on Thursday so Martin Adams has the chance to take an enormous stranglehold on the overall table as he is in action. Boris Koltsov has the chance to move into a good position throughout the night as well while the returning Jason Askew will be hoping for a big night. The other two players on show could do with a few wins to their name. They are Wessel Nijman and Scott Mitchell.
We also have a very special guest making an appearance on Thursday evening as 16 time world champion Philip Douglas Taylor has got the practice board out and is giving it a go. He will take on all five men in best of seven leg matches giving us even more action to enjoy. Results of those matches do not count against the league phase but Taylor against Adams will bring back memories of their World Matchplay semi-final a full 19 years ago. It remains to be seen whether this is a one-off appearance for The Power, or whether it is the start of this comeback of his, the rumours of which aren’t going away.
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Outright Betting
With David Evans out of the picture it is Wessel Nijman who is an overwhelming favourite with the bookmakers to come away with the glory on Thursday night. I’m not so sure he is convincing enough to be backed at fairly restricted odds though I have to say. Jason Askew could be fair value if he gets straight back on it after his night off but we are guessing there. Given that he is on an eight match winning streak Martin Adams looks perfectly good value but whether the longer night will help him remains to be seen.
You can make a case for all five men but the Phil Taylor appearance does bring a different dynamic into play and we shouldn’t really ignore that. Firstly it means a much longer night and even now and in this strange setup beating Taylor will still have an influence on players as it did in the past, especially the youngsters in this field. I’m really looking forward to this night of action but I’ll leave the group betting alone.
Match Betting
With an extra five matches on the card there is plenty to get stuck into throughout the course of the evening. In the main league I’ll take a couple which I’ve already had success with this week. The first of those is the 180s between Boris Koltsov and Jason Askew where the line is that 3.5 mark once again. Koltsov has won both their matches this week 5-1 so they haven’t been particularly close but they have delivered four 180s and seven so there is no reason why this line won’t be covered whether it is another 5-1 beating or something much closer giving us even more legs to get the required maximums.
Of course Boris Koltsov went even better in the 180 department with Wessel Nijman on Wednesday night. Between them they hit a crazy 11 180s in nine legs and the Dutchman registered a 177 score as well so the 3.5 180 line in their rematch on Thursday does look something of a gift it has to be said. Although we would be foolish to expect to see 11 again in this match, the fact that their first meeting contained seven 180s suggests we should expect a load more, and certainly more than 3.5. I’ll take the over here once again.
My gut feeling is Phil Taylor won’t have things all his own way on Thursday. I don’t think there is any doubt he won’t take it seriously and want to win all five matches, he’ll still be as competitive now as he was in his pomp, but the men he is playing have been doing this for a couple of weeks and are into a groove. I suspect the longer the night goes the more Taylor could fade with the novelty wearing off and the arm beginning to ache. That makes me think there could be value on Boris Koltsov beating him at 13/8. The Russian has already ploughed in four ton plus averages this week and a load more of 95 and above and if he has another here then over seven legs he’s no 13/8 shot. Koltsov stays on after playing Scott Mitchell for this match which is another advantage he has. The price just looks too big.
Tips
Back B.Koltsov vs J.Askew – Over 3.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
WON – Back B.Koltsov vs W.Nijman – Over 3.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back it here:
WON – Back B.Koltsov to beat P.Taylor for a 3/10 stake at 2.63 with Betway
Back him here:
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