2025 Dutch Darts Masters R2 Tips

James Punt got off to a shaky start in R1 but he finished with two winners from his five tips. Check out his 2025 Dutch Darts Masters R2 Tips below.

Stephen Bunting vs. Raymond van Barneveld

Bunting’s great run of form continues. There can’t be many more confident players around at the moment and at this time of year, is worth more than usual. The players have had some time off, put the darts away for a week or three, and it takes them a while to find their mojo again.

Bunting carried his good form at the World Championship into Bahrain and won that title (and Bunting is not a prolific title winner), and he started off with another strong performance last night. It was a 102 average and just about enough to beat Gian van Veen 6-5, with the Dutchman averaging 105.

It is hard to find a fault in Bunting’s game right now. Nine of his last ten matches have seen 95+ averages, his doubling is great with eight of his last ten seeing 40%+ checkout rates, and five 50%+, and five 180 per leg rates of 0.38 or more. He hasn’t had many off days. His last sub 90 average was in early October.

Crowd On Barney’s Side

Barney will have the crowd on his side, and he will need it. He beat Chris Dobey 6-5 last night and Dobey was getting the full treatment from the crowd. Barney is still seen as a God like figure in the Netherlands and any opponent will get booed and have the whistlers on his throw.

However, Barney no longer plays darts like a God. Yes, he will have his moments, but he is now just an above average tour player. His average over the last 12 months is 93.98, which is top 30 stuff, but Bunting is on 96.94. Not a huge difference, but that tells us that Bunting is better, more often. Barney has won five of his last ten matches, he has had four 95+ averages, but also three sub 90’s. He lacks the outright scoring power of Bunting, and he lacks the consistency of Bunting.

H2H

Their H2H record is 8-6 to RVB, but these two have been around for a long time and their first match was back in 2014. Barney won their first five matches but has lost four of their last five. Bunting’s game right now is as good, if not better than it has ever been. You can’t say the same about Barney’s.

However, this is a short, best of eleven leg match and that gives the underdog a reasonable shot. Bunting is the 1.40 favourite, which is a little generous in my book, but not by a lot. Barney is 3.25 and I’d need to see something nearer 4.00 before backing him to beat Bunting right now.

The home advantage does improve his chances, but Bunting is a very experienced player, and strangely popular, so he rarely gets the full treatment, even in a hostile environment. If he gets ahead, the crowd will back off him.

Best Of Eleven

Of their last five matches, three were best of eleven legs, and all were after Barney returned from his brief retirement. One of the three went to a decider, the other two were 6-2 and 6-3, with all three won by Bunting.

The other two matches were slightly longer. One was a Players Championship final, and that was the only one that Barney won (8-1 last March). Finals and semi-finals are where Bunting has traditionally struggled. Bunting won their last match 7-6 and that was a Players Championship semi-final. That one went to a decider, once again underlining that Bunting gets tight at the sharp end of tournaments.

This match is a low profile, non-ranking quarter final. It is not important. What is important is for Bunting to win and then go on to win another title. That is the final bit of the jigsaw for The Bullet. If he can get comfortable with winning titles, not matches, titles, he can than go on to realise his true potential.

No.5 In The World

Bunting is number five in the world rankings, but his PDC CV is not packed with titles. He has won one TV title, the 2024 Masters. He has won two Players Championship titles, a UK Open qualifier and last week’s Bahrain Masters. That really isn’t what I expect to see on the CV of the fifth best player in the World Rankings. Winning titles is what is the difference between the greats and the goods.

Anyway, Bunting is the very likely winner, but can he do it in style, shut the crowd up and win with plenty in hand? Barney took MVG to a deciding leg here in last year’s quarter final, so Bunting could have to work for his win and this doesn’t make much appeal as a betting opportunity. Bunting -1.5 legs is a 1.67 shot, which is OK, but not great. Going for -2.5 legs gets you a 2.25 shot, but too risky for me.

Their last two matches played last year yielded twelve 180s between them at 0.54 per leg. Last night, they both hit two 180s each, despite both matches going the full distance. I think there is enough value in going for an unders bet on the 180s tonight.

2025 Dutch Darts Masters R2 Tip: 1 point under 5.5 180s @ 1.73 with Boylesports, Betfred, BET365

Luke Littler vs. Michael van Gerwen

A repeat of the World Championship final a few weeks ago. That was a 7-3 win for Littler. He has won twenty one of his last twenty five matches and his twelve month average is a touch below 100.

He did lose four legs to Dimitri van den Bergh last night, and the Belgian was hardly on fire, averaging just 89. It is fair to say that Littler has started 2025 like many new world champions do, and that is by being a bit off their A-game. That said he did average 101 last night, so his B game is very tasty.

Home Advantage MVG

MVG is looking to defending his title on what is very much home ground. He lives a few miles away from the venue and needless to say, 99% of the audience are going to be on his side. It is very rare for Littler not to be the crowd favourite.

Van Gerwen had a very good World Championship, that loss in the final excepted. He didn’t play badly in the final, averaged 100.69, but was simply outclassed by Littler and that will have hurt. He knows that he is no longer the top dog, he is just another member of the pack.

Lots Of Maximums

Their H2H record is 7-6 to Littler but Littler has won their last three and won them well. Their last four matches have produced sixty maximums at a rate of 0.78 per leg. Very tasty. They are like two rutting stags and the younger one is getting the better of the older one. The order is changing, but the old stag is on his home patch and I expect this to be a full on match.

Littler is the 1.55 favourite, MVG 2.63. They have played eight best of eleven leg matches and it is 4-4. Two, their first two, went to a deciding leg, but the last six have been under 9.5 legs.

MVG beat Littler 8-6 in the final here last year, and I expect this to be a close one. That means plenty of legs to hit maximums. Littler hit five last night, MVG none, but I expect he will get a few tonight.

2025 Dutch Darts Masters R2 Tip: 1 point over 7.5 180s @ 2.10 generally available

Jermaine Wattimena vs. Rob Cross

I thought we were going to start off with a winner last night. Veenstra broke Cross in the first leg but missed two doubles to make it 2-0. He did get it to 3-2, but Cross picked up the pace and Veenstra wilted. Cross said afterwards that he had not practiced since the World Championships and that he was still a bit rusty.

Jermaine Wattimena was one of the most improved players of 2024 and he got 2025 off to a flying start with a 6-3 win over Luke Humphries. It was a poor performance from Humphries, but Wattimena played very well, hitting four 180s, a 98.86 average and checked out at 43%. A strong performance and it is the kind of thing he does these days.

Closely Matched

Over the last twelve months there is little between these two scoring wise, 95.79 for Cross and 95.22 for Wattimena. The difference is that Cross is going downwards. Wattimena is ascending. The Dutchman improved his three dart average by three points in 2024, Cross has been around the 96 mark for years but his has crept ever so slightly downwards. He averaged 95.27 in his 6-3 win over Veenstra last night.

Their H2H record is 2-1 to Cross, but Wattimena won their last match 6-5 last September. The other two were both 6-2 wins for Cross, but they were in 2022 and 2021. Wattimena is a significantly better player right now.

Cross is usually a steady, high level performer. He may not win as many titles as he could, but his trademark is a lot of mid 90 averages. He was off his normal standard in the latter half of 2024, with seven sub 90 averages from his last twenty five matches, and he lost twelve of them. Voltage will need to get his finger out and get on the practice board, or his start to the upcoming Premier League could be a slow one.

Cross is likely to be hard to beat, but I like Wattimena version 2.0.

2025 Dutch Darts Masters R2 Tip: 1 point Jermaine Wattimena to win @ 1.90 with SpreadEx

Gerwyn Price vs. Kevin Doets

These two met in this tournament, at this stage last year, and it was a 6-3 win for Price. The Iceman beat Danny Noppert 6-2 last night, averaged 101.85, hit three maximums and was good on the doubles, checking out at 50%, and that is where his game has been struggling in the last few months. If he can keep that up, he is likely to be too good for Doets.

Doets beat Aspinall 6-1 last night in a low quality match. It transpired that Aspinall has another arm problem. The most fragile player in the game has bursitis in his elbow. That is not that serious but it is not ideal and his confidence will have taken a hit. The one thing Aspinall does not need is another injury. Doets averaged 94.79 and he stuck to his task nicely.

All About Price

This is all about Price and the outer ring, and that has been the case with him for a while now. If Price gets back to hitting the doubles well, he will win a lot of matches, and titles. Doets doesn’t have the firepower to match Price. He has hit one ton plus average in his last thirty matches but hit twelve sub 90 averages. That said, he is an effective player, a bit like Jeffrey de Graaf, who wins matches without hitting massive averages.

Their H2H record is 2-1 to Price and two have required a deciding leg. Will Doets make Price work hard for a win? Price is the 1.30 favourite, which looks too short to me. Kevin Doets is 3.70 which is tempting, but I’ll have a play on the handicap.

2025 Dutch Darts Masters R2 Tip: Kevin Doets to win +2.5 legs @ 1.85 with Fitzdares

-JamesPunt