Betting on the 2022 World Darts Championship

A total of 96 players can enter the competition, making it one of the biggest darts tournaments in the world. There are plenty of games to look forward to, especially after the initial rounds when the top 32 players enter the competition. There are then four rounds plus a quarter finals in each of the sections, comprising 16 players each. Once the victor of each section is determined, they advance to the semi-finals, and then the winners of that round advance to the finals.

There is a lot of action in each edition of the World Darts Championship, which is not only great for darts fans but also for punters who want to try their hand at darts betting.

World Darts Championship Betting

Outrights

Before the World Darts Championship even begins, there will be bets offered on which player will win the competition outright. These bets are also called futures, as they relate to the tournament as a whole and will only be resolved when the competition ends.

In addition to betting on which player will win the competition outright, there may also be bets for which player will have the highest checkout across the tournament, and for whether any player will throw a nine-dart finish at any point during the competition.

Match Winner

For each match in the World Darts Championship, there will be a match winner bet where punters can place their money on who they think will win the match. In a match between Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen, for example, a punter can place their money either on Wright to win or on van Gerwen to win.

Leg Spreads

Leg spreads are a useful tool that can be used to increase the odds of betting on one player, or of reducing the risk of betting on a player, depending on what spread is given. These are basically handicaps, which will either add legs or subtract legs from a player's leg score at the end of a game.

The spreads on offer will depend on the match: matches played to a best of 11 legs will have fewer options than a match that is played to a best of 21 legs.

When using leg spreads to increase odds, punters can pick a spread such as -2.5, -3.5, -4.5, and so on, and these will be added to the player’s score at the end of the match. The bet will require the player to cover the spread and win the game. The bigger the spread, the longer the odds will be.

Alternatively, punters can choose to use spreads of +2.5, +3.5, +4.5, and upwards, which will make it safer to back the player, as the number chosen will be added to the score at the end of the match, giving the player an advantage. Here, the spreads will reduce the odds of betting on that player, but in turn, they will be safer to place.

Leg Totals

This bet relates only to how many legs will be played in the match. This bet uses the over/under format, where a bettor will pick one of the betting lines available and bet on whether the match will end with over that number of legs, or under that number of legs.

The betting lines will depend on how many legs the match is played to a best of. In matches that are played to a best of 11 legs, the match will have at least 6 legs. The following betting lines may be available in this case: over/under 7.5, 8.5, 9.5. The range may be far larger for matches that are played to a best of 19 legs or 21 legs.

Game Props

When it comes to betting on darts, there is no shortage of game props. Punters can find all types of props, ranging from those that are simple two-way bets on specific events or statistics in a game, to those that have multiple possible outcomes.

There may be bets that relate to legs, such as exact number of legs in the match, will there be an even or odd number of legs in the match, which player will win the first leg, which player will win the second leg, and many more.

Some game props create certain scenarios, such as will a player win after going behind by X legs, will a player win in straight legs, will the match go down to the last leg (for example in a best of 11 legs match, this would mean that the match would be decided in the 11th leg), and other similar types of bets.

Bets on certain details in a match may also be found. The quickest way a player can win a leg of darts is by throwing a nine-dart finish. This is extremely difficult to do and rarely happens, but there still may be bets on whether the match will feature a nine-dart finish or not. There also may be bets for whether a player will make a bullseye finish, total triple 20s, totals for how big the highest checkout will be, and more.

Certain props may pit the statistics of both players against each other. Which player will have the higher checkout, which player will throw more triple 20s, which player will have a higher average score at the end of a match (they may not necessarily be the match winner in darts), and a lot more.

There may be bets with many possible outcomes, such as the correct score at the end of the match, or what will the exact winning margin be.

Live Betting

Live bets will be made available as soon as a match begins. These comprise all the same bets as the pregame betting market, only they will be offered with live odds. The bets that relate to the match as a whole, such as match winner, leg spreads, total legs, and more, will usually have preferable odds at the beginning of a match.

There may also be a selection of live bets on offer that relate to what will happen next in a match. These may include bets such as which player will win the next leg, will a player win the next two legs, which leg will have the highest checkout, will the checkout in the current leg be over/under 120, how many triple 20s will be thrown in the following leg, and many more bets.

These types of bets will be made available for brief moments of time, as they are concluded relatively quickly. For punters to take full advantage of these types of live bets, it is worth keeping an eye on what bets are on offer at certain periods during a match. At the end or beginning of legs is when most new bets will pop up, and bettors can quickly place their money on these bets before the odds change or the bets are replaced with bets for the following event in a game.

How to Research Darts Bets

When researching individual players in the World Darts Championship, there will be no shortage of statistical information on the players’ records in the competition, head-to-head records against their opponents, and statistics showing what form they are in.

Whilst a player’s match result and score average can be a good reference when looking into how they may perform in a match, it is also worth researching more detailed information such as how often they throw triple 20s, what their average checkouts are, do they usually start matches by winning early or do they start slower, and more.

In addition to helping to punters place better-informed bets on the match as a whole, it can also help punters when deciding which game prop they want to place their money on.