2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts Preview & Tips – JP
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts Preview & Tips
James Punt continued his excellent run of form on Sunday. Four winners from six bets at odds ranging from 1.78 to 6.50 and he is back in action tonight. Check out his 2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tips below.
Gerwyn Price vs. Gian van Veen
Van Veen got a little taste of what to expect this evening when he played Gerwyn Price twelve days ago. He lost 1-6 and that was his fourth loss to the Welshman. They have played two Players Championship finals, Price winning both 8-4 and 8-1 and it is fair to say that Van Veen has not got to grips with this particular opponent.
Price is already through to the next round and has won the group so this is a dead rubber as far as he is concerned. Van Veen has lost both his matches so far and can’t qualify for the knockout stages but if he were to win, he may be able to finish third in the group and pick up another £3000 of ranking money.
Similar Position
Price was in a similar position in 2021, winning his first two matches but then losing the third match 4-5 to Martin Schindler. He went on to win the title that year. He lost his final match to Simon Whitlock in 2018 after winning his first two and went on to win the title. However, on two other occasions he did the clean sweep of group match wins.
Can Van Veen ‘do a Schindler’? He has the ability, but he has been battered in three of their four matches so far. Price means business and I suspect he isn’t going to take his foot off the gas. He is a competitor and likes to win.
Price is the 1.37 favourite, Van Veen 3.25. In a best of nine leg match, Van Veen’s chances have to be respected, but it is hard to bet against Price given his form. The odds are about right. Under 7.5 legs at 2.00 makes some appeal but there must be better bets around. No bet.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: No Bet
Josh Rock vs. Perry van Peer
Rock is through to the next round, and very likely as group winner regardless of what happens here. There is a mathematical chance that he could be relegated to second place, so he will want to win the match and pick up the group win bonus of £3500. Every penny counts.
Van Peer is winless after his first two matches. He took Chris Dobey to a deciding leg yesterday and he has played OK so far with averages of 92 and 93. That is much the same as Rock, who has averaged 92 in both his matches.
The reality is that Van Peer has lost eight of his last ten matches but he has won one of their two previous matches. Both those matches ended 6-3.
Rock is the 1.38 favourite, Van Peer 3.25. This is much like the first match of the night. The odds are hard to disagree with. No bet.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: No Bet
Gary Anderson vs. Steve Lennon
Anderson has been far from impressive so far, but a win here and it is very likely that he goes through to the knockout stages. His problem has been on the doubles. Last night his checkout rate was 25%, in the first match 22%. In his last two Players Championships matches his checkout rates were 25% and 15%. More of that and Lennon could take advantage.
That said, Lennon was really poor against Van Duijvenbode last night. Dirk was there for the taking, averaging 84, but Lennon contrived not to take his chances, missing twelve of his fourteen attempts at a double. Actually worse than Gary Anderson.
This is a match where Anderson can be as rubbish on the doubles as he has been, and still get the win.
Amazingly, these two have only met once before. That was another very short format match in the 2019 World Cup and it was Lennon who won that match 4-2. Not a lot to go on in terms of H2H form.
Anderson is the 1.30 favourite, Lennon 3.60. I cannot find a good reason to back either player. No bet.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: No Bet
Luke Humphries vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk can barely throw a dart but sits second in the group thanks to his win against Lennon last night. He has averaged 84 and 85 in his first two group matches and that is about as good as he can be right now.
Humphries, along with Price, has looked like one of the likely tournament winners so far. He has dropped just three legs and averaged over the ton in both matches.
It would seem that this is just a matter of the margin Humphries wins by.
Dirk is one of the 180 beasts, only Ross Smith has hit them at a higher rate as Van Duijvenbode in the last 12 months, but in his last three matches he has hit one maximum.
Luke Humphries has only hit four maximums in his first two matches, which is poor by his standards. He is ranked 9th for 180s per leg in the last 12 months and he looks decent value to hit the most 180s tonight.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: 2 points Luke Humphries to win -1.5 legs @ 1.70 With Ladbrokes
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: 1 point Luke Humphries to hit the most 180s @ 1.70 with Ladbrokes
Ryan Searle vs. Nathan Rafferty
This is a straight knockout match to see who progresses to the next phase.
Nathan Rafferty has been the better player so far, averaging 95 against Price and 103 against Van Veen yesterday. He is scrapping to save his tour card and he needs to win this and a second round match to move above Mickey Mansell and into that all important 64th place in the OOM. He is very highly motivated and maybe under a quite a bit of pressure.
Rafferty is in good form, having won seven of his last ten matches, but his 103 average yesterday was his highest for some 58 matches, so we shouldn’t expect a repeat of quite that high a standard.
Unconvincing Searle
Ryan Searle’s TV form remains unconvincing and he hasn’t fired up here so far. He didn’t stand a chance against Gerwyn Price last night and he struggled to beat an underperforming Gian van Veen in the first group match. Searle has won seven of his last ten matches but on TV he has lost six of his ten matches in 2023.
Their H2H record is scant with just one Players Championship match in 2022 which Searle won 6-1.
Ryan Searle is the 1.44 favourite with Rafferty 3.10.
We had a nice win on Rafferty yesterday when he beat Van Veen at 3.75 and while the odds are tempting for another win, the fact that he is under the cosh ranking wise is just enough to take the cautious approach and leave this alone. No bet.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: No Bet
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Nathan Girvan
Ratajski averaged 12 points more than Michael Smith last night, but he still lost 4-5. The Polish Eagle averaged 99 in his first match, a 5-4 win against James Wade, and exactly 100 in last night’s match.
That is a good standard of play and he should be rewarded with a win tonight and progress to the knockout stage. He is on a good run of form, consistently scoring 94+ for his last eleven matches and winning six of his last ten.
Nathan Girvan was the rank outsider coming into this event and he has lost his first two matches, both 2-5. His seasonal average of 84.77 didn’t look good enough to be competitive at this level and so it has proved.
Ratajski is the 1.25 favourite and his good scoring should be too much for Girvan once more.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: 1 point under 7.5 legs @ 1.75 with Fitzdares
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: 0.5 point Ratajski to win 5-2 @ 4.50 with Fitzdares
Michael Smith vs. James Wade
Smith was far from happy with his performance last night. He got the match win but an 89 average set the alarm bells ringing. He tops the group but is still not sure of qualifying, never mind winning the group.
James Wade only averaged 84 in his 5-2 win over Nathan Girvan but it was sufficient to get a comfortable win. He will need to do better tonight and I expect that he will. Wade has only failed to get out of the group stage once in his fifteen Grand Slams. With Ratajski looking very likely to win his match, Wade will need nothing less than a win here.
Machine Dominates H2H
Their H2H record is 19-7 to Wade and he has won five of their last ten meetings. They have only met five times in the last two years, which is a surprise, and Smith is 3-2 in those five.
Smith is not in his best form, but he should be able to raise his game above what we saw last night, as will Wade. Smith is the 1.62 favourite with Wade a 2.60 shot. We have a two point bet on Smith to win the group and I am tempted to hedge with a Wade win, but I’ll let it ride and hope that Smith finds something more like his A-game.
2023 Monday Grand Slam of Darts tip: No Bet
Jonny Clayton vs. Chris Dobey
Our each way bet on Dobey for the tournament hangs by a thread and his chances of landing the group bet win are slimmer still, but still possible. He would need a 5-0 win and hope that Van Peer did something similar to Josh Rock in the earlier match.
Dobey needs to beat Clayton and by two clear legs if he is to carry on in the tournament. Hollywood has not been close to the kind of form he was in coming into the event and he could do with finding that form pronto.
Off Colour Ferret
Jonny Clayton has also been far from his best and he suffered a heavy defeat to Josh Rock yesterday, going down 1-5 and averaging just 82.6. He has now lost six of his last ten matches and he is clearly struggling with his game.
Their H2H record makes for grim reading for Dobey (and us) as Clayton is 8-4 up and has won their last five, including four in 2023. They have not played since July and since then Clayton suffered the loss of his father and it must be said that his form has dropped off as a result. He said that he is still finding it hard to get used to, but he is trying to get on with things.
The market is struggling to separate them with most firms going 1.91 for each player. I think we have invested enough on Dobey and hopefully he can rediscover his form and get the win he needs to progress. I think he will but this is a no bet match.
