Last weekend was another profitable one for followers of James Punt’s darts tips. He was very confident that MVG would win, advising a 4 point bet. Van Gerwen never gave his backers a moment’s worry, bulldozing his way to the title. This weekend the Grand Slam of Darts is the main event. The best of the BDO take on the cream of the PDC and it should be an exciting event. James Punt has gone above and beyond with his preview this week. Check out his 2019 Grand Slam Darts tips below…

2019 Grand Slam Darts Preview

The Grand Slam is an unusual tournament as it features eight BDO players and twenty four PDC players. The first stage is played in eight groups of four with the top two going through to a knockout round. Some of the qualifying criterion means we have players who are currently very much out of form and eight players who came through a qualifying tournament last Monday. In the previous twelve Grand Slams there has been five different winners, Taylor (x6), Van Gerwen (x3) Van Barneveld, Scott Waites and Gerwyn Price.

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group A

Michael van Gerwen is in top form winning fourteen of his last fifteen matches and he has won the World Grand Prix, Champions League of Darts and the World Series of Darts, all in the last month. Only the European Championship escaped his grasp, thanks to him losing to Ross Smith, who is also in this group.

Ross Smith came through the qualifying tournament, averaging 95.6 with two ton plus averages in his last two matches. He has won six of his last ten matches but is lacking consistency. His form does look like it is picking up at the right time of year and he is not without a chance to progress.

Jackpot Hitting Form

Adrian Lewis came through the qualifying tournament on Monday night, averaging 94 over his three matches. He hasn’t been in good form for a while now, but those three wins means he has won six of his last ten matches. Lewis just hasn’t inspired any confidence about his chances in tournaments for some time now and he will struggle to get into the knockout phase.

Jim Williams is the BDO representative in the group. He failed to win a PDC tour card at the start of the year, but he has enjoyed a good season in BDO tournament and won the recent World Darts Trophy and the English Open. He played in this event last year, acquitted himself well but failed to make it to the knock-out stage. His problem is that his scoring is light compared to the PDC boys.

Yes, he can hit ton plus averages and did have a 101 when beating Max Hopp 5-4 last year, but he is more likely to be high 80’s, low 90’s and that won’t do. If he wins one match it could enough to decide which one of Smith or Lewis goes through, but we could see MVG on six points and the other three tied. It happened to Jim Williams last year. He won one match but finished bottom thanks to a worse leg difference.

MVG looks a certainty to qualify and very probably as the group winner. Who will join him? My money is on Ross Smith.

Tip: 1 point Ross Smith to qualify @ 2.75 with Betfred

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group B

James Wade is the seeded player and he could have got a worse draw. His form has been patchy lately and he has won just two of his last eight matches. There have been some poor performances, but he at least averaged 98 in his 5-6 loss to Jonny Clayton last week.

Ian White had to swallow another quarter final defeat in a televised major last weekend. It really is in his head now. He pretty much gave up against Noppert but Noppert got very nervous and missed dart after dart to win the match. White got it back to 9-9 but bottled in the deciding leg. That will have taken a lot out of him mentally, and it will be interesting to see how he copes this weekend. He has never gone beyond the group stage in four attempts.

Steve Lennon qualified as runner up in the World Cup of Darts. That was the only highlight of his season and it must be said that he has taken a backward step in 2019. He has won five of his last ten matches, but he just can’t string a run of more than two wins together. The last time he managed that was back in March when he reached the last 16 in the UK Open. That doesn’t bode well for his chances of getting out of the group stage.

Sparky Could Light Up The Stage

Wesley Harms is the groups BDO player and he has played in this tournament on four previous occasions and making into the knock-out phase twice, including last year when he beat Mark Webster and Keegan Brown. He lost his final group match to Gary Anderson in a match more famously remembered for the ‘fartgate’ incident.

Like all these BDO players, he can hit the heights but just not regularly enough. He is up against three PDC players lacking confidence at the moment and this is a good draw for him. Sparky has won four BDO titles this season and has won eight of his last ten matches, so he may be the most confident player in the group. He has nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

This is a tough group to pick a winner from, but Harms has a decent chance of qualifying and maybe winning the group. Wade is the 2.75 second favourite, Ian White the 2.50 favourite, Lennon 7.50 and Harms 9.00.  If White is drained after another disappointment last week, he could underperform once again and that could let Harms through to the knockout round. He has plenty of experience of the tournament with a 50% qualifying record.

Tip: 1 point Wesley Harms to qualify @ 2.62 with Hills

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group C

Last year’s winner, Gerwyn Price looks like a stick on to win the group. He has lost four of his last ten matches but two of those were deciding leg loses to MVG, a defeat to Rob Cross in the European Championship final and a narrow defeat to an in-form Peter Wright.

Make no mistake, he remains in good form. He will be handicapped by a very hostile crowd. This is the tournament where he clashed with Gary Anderson in the final and he has never been forgiven. Make no mistake, the crowd will be out for his blood and that will make it very difficult for him to defend his title.

Dimitri van den Bergh qualifies as the World Youth Champion, but it must be said that his recent, and medium-term form has been poor. He did reach two players championship finals earlier in the year but recently he has gone off the boil, not even the boil, more of a simmer. He has won just three of his last ten matches and five of his last six matches have seen sub 90 averages.

Robert Thornton came through Mondays qualifying tournament. He occasionally pops up in tournaments to remind us all that he still plays darts, just not as well as he used to. He is now the world number 58 and dropping. The Thorn was always one of those players who beat himself more often than his opponents did and that hasn’t changed. His scoring has picked a little recently and he had a 106 average when beating Max Hopp 5-3 in the qualifier, so he can still play. That said, he has lost his last six stage matches and he is hard to fancy to get out of the group.

The Thorn Could Sneak Through

Mikuru Suzuki is the BDO’s Women’s World Champion. She won the title despite having very little steel tip experience and she didn’t even lose a set in four matches. Her performance peaked in the final with an average of 90 and of course this is her problem. She needs her A+ game and then hope that her opponent has a bad day at the office.

Despite the crowd, Price should win the group but gets through with him? I am actually leaning toward Thornton. It will likely come down to Thornton vs. Van den Bergh to see who goes through with Price. Their H2H record is 2-2 with Van den Bergh winning their only match this year 6-1. The Thorn did play some good stuff in the qualifier and Van den Bergh’s recent form is nothing to write home about.

2019 Grand Slam Darts Tip: 1 point Robert Thornton to qualify @ 2.00 with Betfred

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group D

Gary Anderson was a doubt for this tournament after playing abysmally in the World Series last weekend. He averaged71 in a 1-6 defeat by Danny Noppert. The only mystery about the game was how he managed to win a single leg. His back was said to be the problem and if it wasn’t his back then he really is in trouble.

He is defending semi-final prize money so perhaps he feels compelled to play in his favourite event and one he has never won. He was very hard to fancy before his performance last weekend but now he is unbackable. The Flying Scotsman has won just two of his last ten matches.

Darren Webster is another player who has been on the long-term injury list. Ever since he got tennis elbow early this year his form deserted him. He played through the pain barrier, but it did him no favours. He did win his three matches in the qualifying tournament but averaged just 92.8. There are occasional flashes of what he used to be able to do but the fact is that he has won seven from twenty two matches on the stage in 2019.

William O’Connor gets here as a World Cup of Darts runner up. Having gone full time this year his results did show some improvement. He won his pro tour title back in April and had that great World Cup performance, but his most recent form is dire with just two wins from his last ten matches. He is bang out of form and hard to fancy.

The Group Of Crocks

Dave Parletti represents the BDO and he won the Welsh Classic in May to go with the Romanian Open earlier in the year. He ended the season 4th in the BDO rankings. In keeping with the injury theme, Parletti is still recovering from a serious illness which landed him in hospital abroad and had to undergo multiple surgeries. He has been back playing for over a year now and is getting his rewards.

They might need a doctor on call for this group of crocks. O’Connor is at least fit but out of form. If Anderson is still having back trouble, Webster still struggling, O’Connor right off his game, then Dave Parletti must be considered as a qualifier.

If Anderson is fit, he should walk this group. He is 8-0 up on O’Connor and 6-4 on Webster. We just don’t know if he will be able to play properly or not but there has to be a doubt. Anderson is the 2.00 favourite to win the group which is unbackable given his health concerns. Webster is a 5.50 shot and that is equally unattractive given his injury woes this season. O’Connor is available at 5.00 but just two wins from ten? No thanks.

That leaves Dave Parletti at 13.00 to win the group. That sounds far fetched but we have seen BDO group winners in all but 2018, 2017 and 2007. A total of 216 groups have been played out over the years and we have had 13 BDO group winners. It is pretty big odds against it happening in any given group, certainly bigger than 13.00. Parletti is just 2.68 to qualify for the knockout stage and there just doesn’t seem to be any value in this group of the unfit.

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group E

Rob Cross, winner of the World Matchplay and the recent European Championship. The win was on the back of four consecutive losses and he lost his first-round match in the World Series last weekend. That makes it five wins from his last ten and as ever, it is hard to get a good grip on his form. All I would say is that he loses a lot of matches for the world number 2. He has made the knockout phase in this event in both his previous appearances.

Dave Chisnall has been threatening to win a big one this year but as usual, he has failed to do so. He has had a good season, won the Danish Open and a couple of pro tour events. However, it is his defeats in the latter stages of tournaments which catch the eye. He is winning big bucks but the longer he fails to win a big one, the harder it gets. In the last couple of months, he has lost in three finals, two semi-finals and two quarter finals. You would expect him to be able to reach the knockout phase.

Hughes In Solid Shape

Jamie Hughes came through the qualifying tournament on Monday which is a good sign. He had been suffering with bursitis in his throwing elbow which was making playing very difficult. Hopefully that has improved after treatment, but it is something that can return. He averaged 95.5 and while it was not his top form, it was a marked improvement on one win from five going into the qualifier.

It is hard to be confident that he is fully fit so it will be important to see what his throw is like when he plays his first match vs. Dave Chisnall. He has a winning H2H record over Cross (1-0) and beat Chisnall 5-1 in this event back in 2016 when he was a BDO player. This is also very much a home ground for Hughes, and he will have plenty of support in the crowd.

Ashton Lacks Scoring Power

Lisa Ashton is the second BDO women’s player in the tournament. A four-time world champion she still dominates the women’s game and she had a go at winning a PDC tour card at Q school at the start of the year. Despite a couple of decent runs to the last 16 it wasn’t enough.

She has played in twelve Challenge tour events but her scoring just isn’t good enough against the better players. At least she has tried and gotten experience of playing the men and she also got a taste of the big stage at this years PDC World Championship where she lost 1-3 to Jan Dekker.

Cross and Chisnall are the bookies favourites to qualify but a fully fit Jamie Hughes could rain on their parade. The key to finding the group winner is the Cross vs. Chisnall record. Overall it is 6-4 to Chisnall but in 2019 it is 5-0 to Chizzy, including a 6-4 win last weekend. Cross may have his work cut out just to qualify for the knockout stage.

2019 Grand Slam Darts Tip: 1 point Dave Chisnall to win the group @ 2.75 with Sportingbet

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group F

Peter Wright is the seeded player and he has been playing very well for a while now. He was having plenty of good runs in tournaments but, like Chisnall, he was failing at the latter stages of recent events. Snakebite won players championship 30 last month and reached the final of the champions league of darts but missed darts to win the tournament before losing the MVG 10-11. He has played three matches since and lost them all with 97 averages. Snakebite is still scoring well but has his confidence taken a knock after that defeat in a televised final? Very possibly. He has only won the one major so losing out with one hand on the trophy will have hurt.

Danny Noppert, fresh from his first televised PDC final last weekend, will be feeling good. He was never able to trouble MVG and was mentally drained after very nearly throwing away a big lead to Ian White in the quarter final and the semi-final going to a deciding leg vs. Dave Chisnall.

Noppert In Imperious Form

He has won eight of his last ten matches, none with big averages, but he is a shrewd operator. He lacks a lot of big stage experience however and his nerves were getting the better of him last week. Playing big match underachievers, White and Chisnall helped and the experience will have been invaluable. He played in this event as a BDO player in 2016 when he reached the knockout stage but failed to do so again in 2017.

Ryan Harrington came through the PDC qualifier but averaged just 86.8 over four matches. He got his tour card in 2018 but things haven’t worked out for him. He could only average 87 on the pro tour this year and he is et to lose his card at the end of the year, unless he has a very good run this week.

Wayne Warren, the veteran Welsh BDO player, is making his Grand Slam debut at the grand age of 57. He can hit big averages, but this will be a very new experience in front of such a big crowd.

Wright and Noppert should be able to progress without too much bother. Wright is the 1.57 favourite to win the group, Danny Noppert 4.50. If it goes to form the winner may very well be down to who wins the Wright vs. Noppert match, and would Noppert be a 4.50 shot to win that? Not with the form he is in. Their H2H record is 2-2 and there has to be a bit of value in backing Noppert to top the group.

2019 Grand Slam Darts Tip: 1 point Danny Noppert to win Group F @ 4.50 with Boylesports

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group G

Daryl Gurney heads up the group. He has won four of his last ten matches but is playing better than the raw figures suggest. He reached the semi-final of the European Championship a couple of weeks ago but ran into a very good Ratajski in last weekend’s World Series, losing 4-6. There is no short format opening match to trip up in this week and that gives him the chance to play his way in.

Gurney is joined by fellow Ulsterman, Brendan Dolan, which could be a tricky tie. Dolan has had a bit of a renaissance season, winning two players championship titles. He came through the qualifying tournament on Monday playing some excellent darts. He averaged 111 when beating Arron Monk in his final match, winning 5-1. Superchin also beat Joe Cullen, averaging 99. He has won eight of his last ten matches, beating players like Peter Wright, Ian White and Gerwyn Price along the way. Dolan is a dark horse in the group and perhaps beyond.

Clemens Is One To Watch

Gabriel Clemens also came through the qualifier and hit a couple of ton plus averages. He is a player on the cusp of breaking through into the top level. Clemens is up to 48th in the world rankings. Clemens has reached three players championship finals and the final of this years German Darts Masters World Series event. He lacks experience of big televised events and has only just decided to become a full time pro.

He is a heavy scorer and hits a lot of ton plus averages. Clemens has won seven of his last ten matches. More experience in these big events is what he needs, playing against top players more regularly. He shouldn’t be underestimated but his record against the top players isn’t great.

Richard Veenstra is the groups BDO player. He is the BDO number 2 with three tournament wins this year. He was runner up in the recent BDO World Trophy but lost his opening match in the World Masters at the end of last month. This is his Grand Slam debut.

Daryl Gurney is the 2.10 favourite to win the group. He is 7-2 up vs. Dolan but no form with Veenstra or Clemens. Dolan has that losing H2H record vs. Gurney and is 0-4 against Clemens and on that form Dolan is up against it. His recent form is good however and it is a stinker of a group to call. Gurney should do it, but the odds look about right. Clemens is 2.00 to qualify for the next round, Dolan 2.25 and again those are hard to argue with. No bet.

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Group H

Michael Smith was the seed that drew the short straw. The Group of Death? Yes. The BDO representative is actually the PDC number 29. Glen Durrant having banked £166500 in his first eleven months as a PDC player, is still the reigning BDO World Champion.

Smith was a semi-finalist in 2015 but he comes here not in great form with five wins from his last ten matches. He is still searching for that elusive first TV title and three more have just passed him by. A beaten semi-finalist in the Champions League and the European Championship, and then dumped out of the World Series of Darts finals in the first round. The frustration will be mounting.

Aspinall Fulfilling Potential

Nathan Aspinall is arguably the most improved player in the last 12 months or so. He has already achieved what Smith hasn’t, won a major televised title. The Asp added his first World Series title with the US Darts Masters and is up to number 12 in the rankings. He too has only won five of his last ten matches, but he has been unlucky to have come up against opponents who have just been on fire.

He averaged 101 and 103 in his last two matches and lost both. You could see him shaking his head in disbelief when Ratajski got the winning double in the deciding leg at last weekends World Series finals. There is very little wrong with his game.

Martin Schindler qualified as the World Youth Championship runner up. Sadly, since that match nearly a year ago, his form has dropped off. He has not had a good season with a player’s championship quarter final and the German Masters quarter final being the highlights. He too has lost five of his last ten matches but there have been a few decent performances. Six of his last ten matches have seen averages of over 95, which is where he needs to be.

Duzza The Man For The Big Occasion

Glen Durrant makes it a full house of players to have won five of their last ten matches. He has had a great debut season, winning two pro tour titles and reaching the semi-final of the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix. He has adapted to these big stage events very nicely and is a man for the big occasion.

Durrant is not in top form, but he is not that far off it, he has just lacked a bit in some recent performances. His problem is that he is up against opponents here, who will be throwing big numbers back at him, so one of his low 90 averages may not be enough.

Picking the winner of this group is difficult. Aspinall looks like he is playing the best darts. He has had a great season and is enjoying himself which is important. The same can be said for Glen Durrant. Duzza will have been nervous moving to the PDC. There will have been doubts as to whether he could live with the top players, if he could win titles but he has passed the test with flying colours. He belongs at the top level and is better than his ranking suggests.

Bully Boy Has Major Monkey On His Back

Michael Smith is up to number 3 in the world so he should be happy, but I doubt he is. He needs to win a big title. Just getting close isn’t enough. Bully Boy has seen players such as Daryl Gurney win not one but two majors, Aspinall picking up his first, Gerwyn Price winning one, Rob Cross two more this year and of course MVG doesn’t let many get away from his grasp. He is chasing rainbows but that pot of gold is proving hard to find.

Martin Schindler’s long-term form hasn’t been good enough to suggest he can win the group, but if he finds a bit of form, and he has some a bit recently, he could trip at least one of these guys up. He has a losing H2H record with the other three players.

Smith has a winning H2H record over the other three, but not by much with Aspinall or Durrant and the winner looks to be between the big three. All three can be backed at 3.25 to win the group and Aspinall makes the most appeal to me.

2019 Grand Slam Darts: 1 point Nathan Aspinall to win Group H @ 3.25 with Betvictor, Skybet

2019 Grand Slam Darts: Outright Tips

We had a decent bet on MVG to win the World Series last week which came in at 2.50. He had just had to win four matches and only one best of 11 leg match. That was the tricky bit, but he prevailed over Gerwen Price once again, winning 6-5. It was plain sailing after that, and he has now averaged over 100 in nine of his last ten matches. He is in peak form.

To win this title he will have to play seven matches to win, but he can lose a group match and still win. He has won three of the last four Grand Slams, not losing a match in 2015, 2016 or 2017. He lost a group match last year and was put out in the semi-final by Gary Anderson.

No Value In MVG

Van Gerwen’s odds this weekend are just 2.13. He has three first to six matches in the group stage which are the most dangerous for him, but he should be able to win at least two at worst. Possible dangers in the longer knockout matches seem to be few. I suspect he will face Gerwyn Price in the semi-final and that is always a close match between those two nowadays. However, MVG is 19-0 against Price and he will have the crowd 100% behind him, which is crucial.

I find it hard to argue a case as to why MVG will not win the title. Are the odds great value? Not really. He is human, he might get sick for example, but likely he wins.

The value bet in the outrights is looking at who might come through the bottom half of the knockout stage draw.

Chizzy In Decent Form

Dave Chisnall has been enjoying a lot of good runs in tournaments recently, but he can’t win TV tournaments. Peter Wright has shown some excellent form this year. He has lost his last three matches but scored well. His defeat by MVG in the final of the Champions League did knock his confidence however and he needs to regroup and get on with things. He must be considered as a possible finalist although odds of 13.00 are not overly generous for a player who has only ever won one major.

Danny Noppert reached his first big final last week, so he is another possible. However, he was helped along the way by Anderson not turning up, and White and Chisnall bottling it. He may not get the same breaks this week and his low scoring makes him vulnerable.

Gurney Has The Pedigree To Go Far

Daryl Gurney is a proven major winner and while he hasn’t been at his very best recently, he is never far from good form. Once he gets going, he can be hard to stop. He is now vastly experienced in big tournaments and is one of those rare beasts that has beaten Van Gerwen in a major final. He should get through his group, but he plays the runner up in Group H, the group of death, so his first knockout match is likely to be tricky.

Michael Smith has the talent to reach the final, but he has that very hard group H to come through and that is not a given. Does Smith have the belief to actually win a big final, especially if it was against MVG? I doubt it.

Nathan Aspinall has to be on the shortlist. Like Smith, he is in the group of death but he is playing well and he will get a break at some stage.

Hughes A Lively Outsider

For a dark horse, why not local favourite, Jamie Hughes? Yozzer is a world class player at his best. Granted he hasn’t been at his best recently thanks to his elbow trouble. His performance in the qualifying tournament suggests that has improved. He played four matches in a few hours and averaged 96.

This is his debut season in the PDC and he lacks much big event experience but he has played in this event twice before as a BDO player. He topped his group on debut in 2016 before narrowly losing 9-10 to Chris Dobey in the knockout phase. Hughes is a much better player nowadays and he has the advantage of playing at home, staying at home when he isn’t playing, sleeping in his own bed. All pluses.

Outright Selections

2019 Grand Slam Darts Tip: 1 point e/w Daryl Gurney @ 26.00 with Ladbrokes, Coral and SpreadEx

2019 Grand Slam Darts Tip: 0.5 point e/w Jamie Hughes @ 101.00 with BET365

-JamesPunt