The big names keep on coming back on the PDC Home Tour and we have another of the leading lights in the world on show on Sunday when Group 31 of the competition takes place inside the homes of the four men involved.
This is the penultimate group in the first round of the competition and with plenty of decent names through, and a few outsiders joining them, a place in the next round of the tournament could present an opportunity to go very deep.
The Format
Each night four players will battle it out in a round robin format with the group winner progressing to the next stage of the tournament. All six matches in each group will be the best of nine legs with two points awarded for a win. If players finish level on points then leg difference will decide the outcome. If that cannot separate players then the head to head will settle the group winner. Were three players to be tied on points and leg difference the player with the highest overall average goes through. The entire tournament is being streamed live on PDC.tv, the Sky Sports App and various bookmaker sites.
Saturday Recap
It might have been his first appearance in the competition but it was a perfect night for Gary Anderson, with the ‘Flying Dutchman’ winning all three matches and not needing to go anywhere near a deciding leg in the process either. Kim Huybrechts provided the sternest challenge to the Scot, picking up a couple of wins while his Belgian compatriot Dimitri Van den Bergh finished third with a single victory. Dirk van Duijvenbode failed to get a win.
It was a disastrous night for the Dutchman and it was a terrible one for us betting wise as well. It didn’t actually look too bad for us initially as at the halfway mark in the night we sat on 13 180s of the 22 we needed but Dimitri Van den Bergh couldn’t buy a treble in his last two matches and we ended up four short. Unfortunately that also put paid to the 180s in the match between the Belgian and Dirk van Duijvenbode too. If that wasn’t enough van Duijvenbode piled up the missed doubles in losing 5-3 to Kim Huybrechts. A night to forget all round.
Group 31 Line Up
After walking head first into a 9 dart finish on the second night of the competition, world number three Gerwyn Price gets another chance to make it through to the next stage when he heads up Group 31. Price actually didn’t do a whole lot wrong in his first quest to qualify but Luke Woodhouse was insanely good against him. Price won his other two matches against Rowby-John Rodriguez and Ted Evetts and averaged more than 98 on the night. You would think a repeat of that performance will be enough for him to come out on top but this is a tougher group on paper.
Members of the top 16 come thick and fast in this competition at the minute and we have another one in this group in the form of Joe Cullen. I didn’t know what to expect from Cullen in his first group but actually he threw ok. I wouldn’t say it was any better than that but he did reach double figures in 180s and that highlights the potential he has. If he can pin the doubles and be consistent all night then he is entitled to be a contender in this group at a more than fair 7/2.
Keegan Brown gets a third official shot at coming through the first group stage although really it is only his second because his first one was aborted by a useless internet connection. His second effort was much better in that regard but he didn’t really trouble winning that section and he’ll need to raise his game dramatically to compete here I fancy. A 98.05 average in his final group match against Robert Thornton shows us that he has the game to do that but his 5/1 price looks fair.
The final member of the penultimate first stage group of the tournament is the rank outsider Bradley Brooks, the youngster who took an age to get going in his first group but courtesy of walloping Scott Baker in his final game managed to come second on leg difference. He could only manage an overall average of 87.02 on the night, although a series of missed doubles affected that, so he is going to need a significant improvement on that if he is to be competitive. I’ve seen a bit of ‘online darts controversy’ in a tournament involving him so he has been active since his last group. Whether that counts for anything remains to be seen.
Special Offer
BET ON THE PDC HOME TOUR AT BOYLESPORTS AND GET DOUBLE WINNINGS AS A FREE BET IF THE FINAL CHECKOUT OF THE MATCH IS 100 OR MORE! ALL MARKETS. ALL CUSTOMERS! CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO BET. 18+ T&Cs APPLY. GAMBLE RESPONSIBLY.
Outright Betting
It is hard to oppose Gerwyn Price in this group even though he has failed once before. He looks the real class act in the field and you would think he would pick up two wins over the outsiders at the very least. I can’t say that I’m particularly rushing to get involved at 8/13 however as we’ve seen plenty of odds on ‘good things’ get turned over in the first 30 nights of this competition and the format does allow for that to happen.
If I was to take him on then the obvious man to do it with would be Joe Cullen. If the group comes down to the match between the two then the 7/2 on Cullen to win the group is better value than the 2/1 on the Bradford man winning that match but it is still probably only the right price for me given that Price has the throw. Brooks has been playing these online competitions but if Facebook is to be believed he’s been losing to random players in them so I can’t be having him and I’ve not seen anything to suggest Brown is a runner. I’ll sit this out.
Match Betting
Given that he has the throw in his opening match against Bradley Brooks, I was hoping we would get a decent price on Gerwyn Price to cover a 2.5 leg handicap against him but sadly that isn’t the case. I think it will cover but 4/6 on an opening match of the night is probably a quote I can leave alone and focus my attentions elsewhere. The match in question is the one between Joe Cullen and Keegan Brown, the second game of the evening.
It is Cullen who has the throw in that match but I’m not convinced that will be needed because I fancy the world number 16 will prove too good for ‘The Needle’. Brown has made it quite clear on the two times we have seen him so far that he doesn’t get time for practice at the minute and I fancy that will show here. Brown actually has a decent record against Cullen having won four of their five previous meetings but this is all about the here and now. It was only a deciding leg loss to Jermaine Wattimena that denied Cullen top spot first time round. I think he’ll start this one with a win and cover a 1.5 leg handicap in doing so.
Tips
WON – Back J.Cullen (-1.5 legs) to beat K.Brown for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Betfair
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
