2025 World Masters Thursday Preview

With this being the first proper, ranking, TV tournament since the World Championship ended on the 3rd of January, it is wise to be cautious with our 2025 World Masters Thursday bets. The fact that we have a new format is another reason. Some players have played some competitive darts, including the eight players that came through the preliminary day yesterday.

It will be an interesting exercise to see how those players who are coming in ‘cold’ perform compared to those that have had a few matches under their belt, including those that have played in the World Series events, or indeed both. If you are considering having an outright winner bet, click here for James’ free tips.

Josh Rock vs. Jermaine Wattimena

Josh Rock is one of the players who is coming in cold. He has not played competitively since 28th December 2024. Since then he has got married, just a couple of days ago, and switched his darts supplier. He will be sporting new darts and a new shirt, and he is on his ‘honeymoon’. He ended 2024 playing some good stuff, and some not so good stuff, losing seven of his last ten matches.

Wattimena got his season off to a good start by beating Luke Humphries in last week’s Dutch Darts Masters, before losing to the eventual winner, Rob Cross. He then came through yesterday’s preliminary stage, averaging 96.89 across his three wins, the fifth highest average of the knockout stage. He definitely has got any rust out of his system.

Their H2H record is 3-2 to Wattimena and he won their last match 6-0 in November’s Players Championship finals, their only TV match.

The market is finding them hard to split. The money is coming in for Wattimena and you can back both players at 1.95. Wattimena was around 2.15 last night. We are on Wattimena for the title and that is enough interest for me, tempting as it is to back him to win this.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: No Bet

Luke Humphries vs. Joe Cullen

Joe Cullen is the player who is coming in ‘cold’ here. He has not played since the 27th December, when he lost 3-4 to Gerwyn Price in the World Championship. He had beaten Wessel Nijman 3-0 in the previous round and averaged 98.18 doing so. That was a performance that stood out in terms of his recent form at the time.

Cullen did not have a good 2024. His seasonal average dropped to 90.55, nearly a four point drop, and his win rate was just 45%. He was unhappy that he wasn’t getting shown enough respect by the press and, bizarrely, by the bookmakers. The Rockstar clearly doesn’t know how betting markets work. It is not a conspiracy, just a reflection of his form. He has now made a bit of a rod for his own back. If he wants the respect, he has to play better, a lot better.

Luke Humphries has played in the two World Series events, reaching the semi-final in Bahrain and losing to Stephen Bunting, before losing in the first round in the Netherlands last week to Jermaine Wattimena. He hit two ton plus averages in Bahrain but only managed 91.55 against Wattimena last Friday. That was probably just a blip but is a little concerning.

Close H2H

Their H2H record is 6-5 to Humphries. They didn’t meet last year, but if they had, I suspect Humphries would have won, given the gulf in relative form in 2024.

Cullen was off climbing Kilimanjaro for charity recently, and it is fair to say that he is trying to press the reset button. He believes that he is a top player, he always has. Whether he believes he is as good as Humphries is another matter, but my guess is yes, he does. That is a positive thing, so long as he is playing well. If not, he just gets frustrated and then we get to that press conference where he flounced out in a huff.

It is hard to say where Cullen’s form will be. If he has been putting a shift in, and getting his head sorted out, he could give Humphries a game, especially if Humphries plays like he did last weekend.

Humphries is the 1.25 favourite and Cullen 4.50. I don’t know if that counts as disrespectful, but it is a fair reflection of their form at the end of 2024. Part of me wants to have something on Cullen, maybe a handicap bet, but it would just be a hunch bet and at this time of year, that is too risky. No bet.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: No bet

Damon Heta vs. Ross Smith

Both of these players are coming in cold. Neither had to qualify and neither played in the World Series events. That makes judging form hard.

Both players can be brilliant but both are frustrating, and frustrated. Smith has won a major, but he never kicked on after doing so. He remains a heavy scorer and if he kicks off on the 180s, he is a real handful for any player. He reached the Players Championship finals semi-final and gave Littler a game, but he flopped at the Ally Pally, losing his opening match to Paolo Nebrida, and losing it 0-3. Consistency was not his strong point in 2024.

Heta is a much more consistent player, until he gets to the business end of tournaments. He had a 67% win rate in 2024 but lost ten quarter finals and four semi-finals. He has also had a problem playing Ross Smith. Their H2H record is 10-3 to Smith and Smudger has won their last nine in a row.

Heta is the 1.80 favourite, with Smith the 2.10 outsider. Given that H2H record, I am willing to give Smith my backing.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: 1 point Ross Smith to win @ 2.10 generally available

Rob Cross vs. William O’Connor

Last week’s Dutch Darts Masters winner, Rob Cross, plays one of yesterday’s qualifiers from the preliminary day.

O’Connor didn’t pull up any trees when winning his three matches, averaging just 90.70. Cross is 7-3 vs. O’Connor and given their relative form, I expect Cross to win this. He is the 1.45 favourite but drifting for some reason. Does someone know something about Cross? Is he ill?

We have backed him outright, and that is enough for me. No bet.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: No Bet

Gerwyn Price vs. Florian Hempel

Hempel hit an eye catching 111 average when beating Jose de Sousa in yesterday’s preliminary rounds. He followed that up with less inspiring averages of 92 and 88 when beating Ryan Joyce and Gabriel Clemens.

Hempel is a confidence player, a bit cocky, and not unlike Price, just with less talent. He has played Price five times and lost four. He did beat Price 6-1 last October, but Price had one of those all to frequent bad days on the doubles, hitting just one from ten. Price looks more engaged than he was back then, and he was nearly one of my outright picks.

Price is the 1.40 favourite and he should win, but in a short format like this, the odds are no more than realistic. No bet.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: No Bet

Peter Wright vs. Kevin Doets

Wright is the marginal 1.91 favourite, with Doets 2.00. Wright was a late call up for the Bahrain Masters, where he reached the semi-final, but only averaged 90.33 across his three matches. He reached the quarter final of the World Championship and put in two good performances to beat Wattimena and Humphries, but is that is enough to say he is back? Not for me.

Doets may be a little overrated and lacks consistency, but he is growing in confidence as he gets more experience. Doets played in last week’s Dutch Darts Masters and played well to beat Aspinall 6-4, but subsequently only managed an 85 average when losing 5-6 to Price.

He also had a good run at the World Championship, reaching the last sixteen, but he doesn’t really win a lot of matches. His win rate as a tour card holder has been in the 53%-56% range. Doets played in yesterday’s preliminary rounds and was consistently in the very low 90s in his three wins.

Their H2H record only extends to one match, which Doets won 6-2 in a World Series event about a year ago. Wright was terrible that night, Doets averaged 98, way above his seasonal rate.

Doets is tempting, but his odds are not quite good enough. No bet.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: No Bet

Danny Noppert vs. Michael Smith

An interesting match, but maybe not a great one for betting on. Smith has fallen from grace and now needs a rebuilding year, and he will want to start here. He hasn’t played since going out in his opening round at Ally Pally. That was a 3-4 loss to Kevin Doets and it is fair to say that his form at the end of 2024 was well below par, losing seven of his last ten matches and scoring poorly on the whole.

Noppert returned to action last weekend but lost 2-6 to Gerwyn Price in a very ordinary display. At least it was a competitive match and will have shaken a bit of rust off.

Their H2H record 8-7 to Noppert and he has won their last three, the last two requiring a deciding leg.

Both players are 1.91 shots and it is a hard call without seeing Smith throw a dart for a month. I would lean towards a narrow win for Noppert and will risk a small bet on a correct score.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: 0.5 point Noppert to win 3-2 @ 5.50 with Livescorebet

Stephen Bunting vs. William Borland

Bunting is the form player coming into this event, having won the Bahrain Masters and finishing as the runner up in the Netherlands last weekend. He was a semi-finalist at the World Championship before that, and he is full of beans.

Big Willy Borland came through the group stage yesterday, and then the knockout stage, so he got five wins under his belt. His scoring wasn’t great, with the exception of a 101 average when beating Dirk van Duijvenbode. He will be delighted to have made the first round and pick up at least £5k.

Borland has a puncher’s chance, but it is hard to argue with Bunting’s odds of 1.15. But what about their H2H record, I hear you ask. Well, it is 3-2…to Borland. One was a Home Tour match back in the Covid days, which doesn’t count. Their last meeting was back in 2022, so it is not fresh form, but it is a reminder, that strange things can happen. No bet.

2025 World Masters Thursday Tip: No Bet

-JamesPunt