Another week of Icons of Darts action begins on Monday, as the team at Modus Darts have put two more pools of players together for some competitive practice and to keep us all entertained while we wait for the real stuff to return.
Credit must go to the team who put these groups together because they are getting more and more competitive. The two pools this week on the face of it don’t look too much different so we should get another decent week of darts.
The Format
Each day from Monday to Saturday six players will battle it out for a daily title. There are two pools of players, one which plays on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the other which toe the oche on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each day the six players will play each other once over the best of nine legs with two points for a win. The daily winner is the player with the most points. If players are level on points it is determined on leg difference and then the record between the two. The entire event can be watched on various bookmaker websites, dartshop.tv or the Modus YouTube channel.
Saturday Recap
There was a lot of anticipation when it was announced that Keane Barry would be joining the Icons of Darts and once again we saw why on Saturday as he topped the group on leg difference from Mark Webster. Webster posted eight points early in the day so Barry was under pressure throughout but he handled it well to come out on top. They were both four points ahead of Scott Mitchell, Stephen Burton and Paul Nicholson while Mike Warburton went from group winner to finishing last in one clean hit.
It was a profitable day on Saturday but it was an annoying one too. Annoying in the sense that we were on Keane Barry to win all five matches and he was a leg away from doing so, missing two darts at double 8 to beat Nicholson in the match he lost. The profit was provided by Stephen Burton who once again had more than enough to come out on top against Paul Nicholson, beating him 5-3 with another decent enough performance.
Monday Line Up
We have a mixture of regulars and returning players in the first pool of players on Monday. Martin Adams goes into the group as the favourite to come out on top with some firms, although others side with the youngster who has lit up our streams in the last few days in the form of Keane Barry. Boris Koltsov has had a week off and he is back for another week of action and looking to challenge the main two in this pool.
The other three all look a little bit off those main three, although that might be a little harsh on Jarred Cole who is playing better than his results have suggested in recent times. Dave Parletti had a week on the Icons of Darts and then a week off and he is ready to go again too. The pool is made up by the returning Jose Justicia, who will have hoped to have found his best form while he has been away from the scene.
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Outright Betting
As you would expect when you look at the line up for the play on Monday, there are three players who are pretty short prices and three at much bigger prices. I think that is fair enough although I do think the 10/1 on Jarred Cole is a bit on the large side. That said, I’m not convinced that he can overcome all three unless they all beat each other so while it is a big price it isn’t one that tempts me in too much.
Of the other three, I’m a Keane Barry fan I have to admit but I’m not really in a rush to get involved at 9/4. That is probably the right price given the danger that Martin Adams and Boris Koltsov provide. Koltsov is definitely on the short side at 5/2. We saw a group on Friday go down to the final match between Adams and Barry and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is that match which settles this one. Barry is my pick to win the group but the odds just don’t interest me.
Match Betting
There are a couple of match bets that I like though and they involve taking on Dave Parletti, who looks to be rated higher by the bookies in comparison to his opponents and one man in particular is Jarred Cole. These two have been in the same pool for one day in the past and Cole won that match 5-2 at a time where he wasn’t playing particularly well. He is playing a lot better now and I expect him to overcome a Parletti who just has a few too many double woes for my liking. I’m not convinced Parletti will outscore Cole often enough either so it is Cole for me here.
I’ll also take Keane Barry to come through against Parletti and to do so with a fair bit to spare as well. Parletti played 15 matches in his first week in the Icons of Darts and only won four of them and took two more to a deciding leg but it was the averages which were quite damning. That is not something Keane Barry has to worry about. He has won 12 of his 15 matches and the three he lost were all in deciding legs. By and large Barry has been averaging in the 90 and when he doesn’t miss his doubles that is up nearer 100. That sort of standard should be too much for Parletti here.
Tips
WON – Back J.Cole to beat D.Parletti for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
Back him here:
Back K.Barry (-1.5 legs) to beat D.Parletti for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
Back him here:
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