2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy Betting Preview

We were out of luck in the last Euro Tour event, the German Darts Open. James Punt is hoping to put that right this weekend at the 2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy, his outright betting preview and selections are below.

2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy

The big guns have returned to the Euro Tour this weekend and we have Gerwyn Price, MVG and Michael Smith all taking their places. There is a good line up of qualifiers as well and this looks to be a very competitive tournament.

This will be the third Hungarian Darts Trophy. The first was won by Gerwyn Price who beat Michael Smith and last year Joe Cullen beat the unseeded William O’Connor.

This is the penultimate qualifying event for the 2023 European Championship and there are a few players looking to add money to add to their ranking and confirm their place in the finals.

Battle For Finals Spots

James Wade, Gian van Veen, Keane Barry, Gabriel Clemens, Madars Razma, Brendan Dolan and Ricardo Pietreczko are all here and would like a win or two to improve on their provisional qualification positions. Steve Beaton is the last man in as it stands, but he did not qualify for this event.

There are a few players outside the provisional top 32 playing this weekend, the highest ranked is Mike de Decker who is 37th and £5.75k off the 32nd place. That means he needs a quarter final minimum to move in to the top 32.

Last year’s runner up, William O’Connor, needs to reach the semi-finals to get into the top 32. The top 32 list is already pretty firm by the looks of things.

The Seeds

1 Dave Chisnall

The runner up in PC19 a couple of weeks ago has lost his form since. He has won just one of his last five matches.

2 Damon Heta

Heta is another player who is not in good form. Since returning from the World Series events down under, he has played twelve and lost seven.

3 Luke Humphries

Missed darts to beat MVG in the World Series semi-final on Sunday. It was a frustrating 10-11 defeat in the end, but he remains in good form, winning seven of his last ten matches. Always on the shortlist on the Euro Tour.

4 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Playing well, has won seven of his last ten matches and he can have another good run, but he does look a bit frustrated that he can’t win on stage. He lost another tight match in last weekend’s World Series, going down 5-6 to Danny Noppert for the second time in ten days.

5 Josh Rock

Reached the semi-final in Jena last time out, but lost 4-7 to Ratajski, the eventual winner. He has won seven of his last ten matches and his consistency is looking better. Contender.

6 Rob Cross

Has won six of his last ten matches but he wasn’t firing in Amsterdam last weekend and his form of a few weeks ago seems to have tailed off. Losing three of his last four is enough to make me avoid him this weekend.

7 Gerwyn Price

Our one number 1 pick for last weekend’s World Series Finals lost his opening match, but he did very little wrong. It was a 100+ average but he just caught Keegan Brown playing a worldy. He has won eight of his last ten matches and remains one of the players to beat.

8 Jonny Clayton

Trying to get it all together after the passing of his father. He played better against Rob Cross in the World Series last weekend, but still lost 3-6. He looked closer to his usual game but there is still a lack of match fitness in his game. That accounts for losing five of his last six.

9 Michael van Gerwen

Returned to winning ways in Amsterdam at the weekend, winning the World Series finals. He dodged a couple of bullets, not least three match darts missed by Luke Humphries in the semi.

He has won six of his last ten and while in good form, he’s still not quite at his best. His doubling can go awry under pressure, as it did vs. Humphries, and he was lucky to get away with it.

10 Joe Cullen

The defending champion has had plenty of decent runs in various tournaments this season but has lost five quarter finals and five semi-finals. Is he due a final? Maybe, but half of his last ten matches saw averages under 92 and that may not be enough for a deep run.

11 Peter Wright

His seasonal average remains worryingly low at 92.78, down from 97.42 at the end of 2022. However, he is starting to win matches again, seven of his last ten, and it’s been a while since you could have said that. Has he hit the bottom of his drop in form? It appears so, but that doesn’t mean he is suddenly a proper contender.

12 Michael Smith

The World Champion has been a bit quiet of late. He has won six of his last ten matches but is lacking in consistency and that makes having a long run less likely.

13 Danny Noppert

Does his fair share of winning matches but he has lost his last nine quarter finals in a row. Hard to see him go all the way, but another decent run would be no surprise.

14 Martin Schindler

A lot like Noppert, Schindler wins enough matches to keep his ranking healthy but he hasn’t looked like a winner waiting to happen for some time. He has won seven of his last ten matches but he seems to win a few matches and then throws in a poor match.

15 Nathan Aspinall

The Asp is a player who is enjoying plenty of good runs and he has played three finals from his last five tournaments. He won the big one, the World Matchplay, but lost the other two.

Aspinall struggles against MVG and did so again on Sunday night in the World Series final. He does seem to get tired when playing multiple matches in one day. His confidence is high and he has to be on the shortlist.

16 Ryan Searle

Enjoyed a great start to the season, winning PC1 and was runner up in PC4. He reached the semi-final of ET1 and was runner up in PC6 all before the end of March.

It went a bit quiet for him after that but there was a PC15 semi-final and a World Matchplay quarter final in July. Since then he has played thirteen matches and won nine, so he remains in decent form. He is lacking a little bit of consistency and he is not a Euro Tour specialist.

Notable Non Seeded Players

The last Euro Tour event, the German Darts Open, finally saw an unseeded player reach the final. Stephen Bunting was that player, but he lost 3-8 to Ratajski in the final.

Stephen Bunting

That run to the last final means Bunting has won seven of his last ten matches and while his performances were not earth shattering, he has been in decent form since the summer break.

He has played twenty nine matches since the break and won twenty two. He should be expected to play well again and none of the seeds will want to get drawn against him.

Brendan Dolan

Notable not because of his good from, but because he is one of the players looking to cement his place in the finals. However, he arrives here having lost five of his last six matches. He is just 30th in the European championship OOM with two events to go. There is some pressure on him and that will make things difficult for him.

Gian van Veen

Looked a bit frustrated when going down 3-6 in Jena last time out. It wasn’t his A game, but he can’t be great all the time. He has won seven of his last ten matches and remains a player to follow. His place in the finals looks safe enough but a win or two wouldn’t go amiss.

Daryl Gurney

It was a frustrating 5-6 second round defeat to Martin Schindler in Jena but Superchin remains in good nick. He is safely in the finals but he is at the stage of his return to form where longer runs are expected. One to consider if the draw pans out.

The Draw

1st Quarter

There are question marks about three of the seeded players here. Chizzy is running a bit cold, Searle rarely gets his act together in Europe and Clayton is on the comeback trail after a family bereavement.

MVG, on the other hand, won the World Series final last weekend. While he wasn’t 100% convincing, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him come through this quarter.

He is 50-12 vs. Chizzy (although Chisnall is 3-2 in their last five). He is 5-3 vs. Searle but lost to him 1-6 in their last match, also on the Euro Tour. Jonny Clayton has been a tougher proposition for him with a 20-17 H2H record overall, and in 2023, 3-2.

MVG is the tournament favourite and doesn’t represent any great value. Of the unseeded players in the quarter, only Ross Smith looks to have much potential, and he has been inconsistent of late.

2nd Quarter

Dirk van Duijvenbode is the top seed here but he is drawn to face Danny Noppert in round three, and he has lost twice to him very recently. Noppert loses too many quarter finals for my liking.

Josh Rock is in decent form but he is due to face Michael Smith in the third round and he is 2-5 against the world champion. Rock is 2-0 vs, Smith on the Euro Tour, including a 6-1 win back in May. His odds are a bit tight, but Rock is very much on the radar this weekend.

There are a few interesting unseeded players drawn in this quarter. Daryl Gurney meets Jose de Sousa for the right to play Michael Smith in the second round. Mike de Decker plays Andrew Gilding with the winner facing Josh Rock in the second round.

3rd Quarter

Damon Heta may be the top seed in this quarter but his recent form makes him hard to fancy. Nathan Aspinall is full of beans after winning the Matchplay and reaching two more finals since. He has yet to win a Euro Tour title and given his form, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did so this weekend.

His big stumbling block looks to be Gerwyn Price who he is drawn to meet in the Quarters. He is 2-5 in 202 and has lost their last four matches in a row. On the Euro Tour he is 1-3 vs. the Iceman.

Joe Cullen won this last year and is in reasonable form. He has given Price problems in the past and is 2-0 in 2023.

Interesting Quarter

This is an interesting quarter with Aspinall, Price and Cullen all making some appeal. The odds will decide who, if any, gets a pick. The unseeded players of interest here are Gian van Veen who faces the out of form Brendan Dolan in the first round. He would than play Nathan Aspinall in round two.

German Darts Open runner up, Stephen Bunting plays Nathan Rafferty with Gerwyn Price awaiting the winner. Last year’s runner up William O’Connor faces James Wade, with the winner playing Joe Cullen.

4th Quarter

Luke Humphries is the top seed and in good form. His Euro Tour pedigree makes him hard to ignore. He has a strong 7-3 record vs. Schindler. His record vs. Cross is interesting. It is 5-7 overall but their last three meetings on the Euro Tour have all been finals, with Luke winning two.

Luke does struggle against Peter Wright, 2-5 overall and a surprising 0-2 in 2023. Peter Wright has had a disastrous 2023, but he has won seven of his last ten matches and had a couple of good runs, reaching the semi-final of PC21, and the World Series semi-final. I wouldn’t write off Wright this weekend.

The unseeded players don’t make much appeal in the quarter. Luke Humphries will face the winner of the Gabriel Clemens vs. Keane Barry clash, but neither should present Humphries with too much bother.

2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy: Ante Post Selections

This is a tournament where the form players stand out and are priced accordingly.

Michael van Gerwen hasn’t been entirely convincing but he still won the World Series finals last weekend. He is the 5.50 favourite with Gerwyn Price second favourite at 6.00. The Welshman looks in better form to me and if you want to back a favourite, he’s your man.

Nathan Aspinall is making finals for fun outside of the Euro Tour and odds of 21.00 are quite generous. However, he has a difficult draw. Gian van Veen is his likely second round opponent and he is also drawn to meet Price in the quarter finals. He has lost his last four matches to Price.

ET Banker

Luke Humpries has been a bit of a banker bet on the Euro Tour this year. We were getting odds of 15.00 to 17.00 a few events ago but the bookies finely wised up to his real chances and he is now a 8.50 shot. He remains in good form and his draw is not the worst.

Dirk van Duijvenbode has the game but does he have the nerve? So far, the latter has gotten the better of him. He likely faces his nemesis, Danny Noppert, in the third round which will be tough. Noppert? If he beats Dirk, his trend is to lose in the quarters.

Rock A Decent Price

Josh Rock has been overrated by the bookies of late but his odds are a more realistic level this weekend. The 15.00 shot is in good form and has proven himself capable of reaching the final. He has a tough draw, but not an impossible one. He could be the tenth different player to win a Euro Tour title come Sunday night.

For a completely left field choice, what about Peter Wright? There have been signs of a return to form of late and he has won a Euro Tour title already in 2023, despite having a poor year. His odds are on the large side for a player of his ability and if he gets it all together, there are worse bets.

Just two modest plays for what looks a tricky tournament.

2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy Tip: 0.5 point e/w Josh Rock to win @ 17.00 with Betfred, Betvictor

2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy Tip: 0.5 point e/w Peter Wright to win @ 34.00 with Ladbrokes

The clash with the Japanese GP means round by round betting will not be possible, but there will be some, follow the TXMarkets X (Twitter) feed for notifications.

-JamesPunt