Friday Night European Darts Open Betting Tips – JP
Friday Night European Darts Open Preview
James has already posted his outright preview, see it here. You can check out his Friday Night European Darts Open preview and tip below.
Jim Williams vs. John Henderson
Hendo finally got a PDC singles title under his substantial belt when he won on the Challenge Tour last Saturday. He will be feeling good about that, despite it being at a lower level. He has won eight of his last matches and his seasonal average is 89. That is not going to cut it at this level, but Henderson is capable of upping his game. He averaged 103 in his last game, ironically he lost it 3-6, but the game is still there, just with added confidence.
Heavy Scorer
Jim Williams is a conundrum. One of the highest scorers in the game with a seasonal average of 96.3, but he doesn’t win as many games as he should. He is not a proper full time pro and maybe that is why.
He has won six of his last ten matches but lost the last four in a row. Williams isn’t very experienced in the Euro Tour, having played in six events and lost half of his opening matches, with a highest average of just over 91. He is a much better player than that, but is he a good traveller?
There is no H2H record here, and it is an interesting match. Hendo, confident after winning a title (and a lot of matches) on the Challenge Tour, against a great player who is a bit of an underachiever. Williams is the better player but coming here on the back of four straight losses is not ideal.
The odds are good enough to have a go with Hendo.
Friday Night European Darts Open Tip: 1 point John Henderson to win @ 2.80 with Ladbrokes, Betfred
Ross Smith vs. Pascal Rupprecht
Smith is in great form, winning eight of his last ten matches and he is averaging 95.7 in 2023. He picked up another title in PC5 a few weeks ago and has had two more quarter finals since, including last Monday in PC8.
Rupprecht won his tour card at the European Q school in January and since than he has played 31 matches and won 17. He is not a heavy scorer, with a seasonal average of 90.6. This is a Euro Tour debut for the 22 year old German and while he will have the crowd on his side, he is up against a top class opponent who is in great form. It is a hard draw.
Smith is the short priced 1.20 favourite and can be backed at 1.67 giving up a -2.5 leg handicap. The value is marginal, but just enough.
Friday Night European Darts Open Tip: 1 point Ross Smith to win -2.5 legs @ 1.67 with Ladbrokes
Ryan Meikle vs. Nico Kurz
Nico Kurz is a player I thought would have kicked on to be a more successful player than he is. He won the German Super League in 2020, a Development tour title in 2021, and reached the last 32 in the 2020 World Championship.
However, he has failed to win a tour card and is stuck on the fringes of the game. He has played in five Euro Tour events and won three of his first round matches. He has won seven of his last ten, all Euro Tour qualifiers, but his seasonal average is just 83.1.
Improving Slowly
Meikle is coming on, if not very rapidly. His form in 2023 is not great with a win rate of just 53% and he has lost five of his last ten matches. His average has been under 93 in nine of those last ten and he is not firing on all cylinders. He played in ET1 in Kiel a month ago and was beaten 1-6 by Lucas Wenig. The Barber only averaged 80 in that match. His seasonal average is just 90.5 and he is vulnerable.
Kurz has a quality game in him and up against a player who is struggling. With the home crowd on his side, he is not without a chance. Meikle is an unbackable 1.33 favourite with Kurz 3.60. Meikle is worth taking on, but outright or on the handicap? You might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.
Friday Night European Darts Open Tip: 1 point Nico Kurz to win @ 3.60 with SpreadEx
Maik Kuivenhoven vs. Chris Dobey
Dobey was playing on the big stage in Newcastle 24 hours ago but will have an early start today to get himself over to Leverkusen for an early evening first round match on the Euro Tour. He was playing Euro Tour qualifiers in Germany on Tuesday and lost his luggage enroute.
His head must be in a spin. Last night he beat Michael Smith the second week in a row, but he then averaged 85 when going down 4-6 to Gerwyn Price in the semi-final. He has lost five of his last ten matches.
Journeyman
Kuivenhoven has also lost five of his last ten, but he isn’t playing at Premier League level. He is a journeyman pro who has taken a few big scalps over the years but he is not in the same class as Dobey. That said, he will be a lot fresher than Dobey.
If Dobey is a bit fried, and who could blame him, this could have been a wasted journey. He is the 1.40 favourite, with Kuivenhoven 3.25. I’m not sure that Kuivenhoven is playing well enough to beat Dobey on merit but he could give him a game and he looks a decent handicap bet.
Friday Night European Darts Open Tip: 1 point Maik Kuivenhoven to win +2.5 legs @ 1.73 with Betfair, Boylesports
Gabriel Clemens vs. Ian White
Ian White is playing better after a while in the darting doldrums. He has won eight of his last ten matches and is averaging 94.6 in 2023. If he can get his confidence back, and winning matches will do that, he can start doing things again. Things like beating Clemens, which he has done in all four of their previous meetings, including a 6-4 win a couple of weeks ago.
Clemens has lost five of his last ten matches and is averaging 94.1 in 2023. He doesn’t have a great Euro Tour record, but he is on home soil and the crowd will be on White’s case. Clemens’ last four matches have seen averages of 88, 77, 91 and 88, so he will not be full of confidence. Double trouble has been the problem.
The money has been coming for an Ian White win and he is into 2.25. The value has gone in my opinion. No bet.
Friday Night European Darts Open Tip: No Bet
Stephen Bunting vs. Daryl Gurney
The big match of the day is last up. Bunting is the 1.80 favourite with Superchin a well backed 2.10 shot. Their H2H is 8-4 to Bunting and on the Euro Tour 2-2, three of those matches being quarter finals.
Bunting has won six of his last ten matches and is averaging 93.5 in 2023. Daryl Gurney has been showing much better form this season, hitting more 180s, hitting big combination checkouts and when he strings it all together, is every bit as good as he was a few years ago. Consistency is the last thing to come back and so far, that has been the case for Gurney.
Dangerous Opponent
Stringing a series of wins together has been a problem but he is back as a dangerous opponent again. His win rate is 71% and his seasonal average 95.8. He has won seven of his last ten matches and played really well to beat Gabriel Clemens in the first round of ET1, before going down tamely to Luke Humphries in the second round.
Two players who are closely matched should hopefully produce a good quality, close match.
