Players Championship 10: Pro Tour darts preview and betting tips

Written by: Matt Hill

A busy April for darts fans kicks off with the second half of a Pro Tour double header on Tuesday, as 128 of the PDC's best players face off in Leicester for the Players Championship 10 title.

Odds Now's resident arrows expert Matt Hill (@Matt_Hill93) is on hand to guide you through the action and give out his best bets.

From a personal perspective, I'm looking to follow up a hugely enjoyable Monday on the floor, having managed to hit both the winner (Gerwyn Price - 15/1) and runner-up (Ian White - 300/1).

The only way is down, I suppose!

Anderson looks best of the market leaders

It’s rare I play at the top end of the market in these events but thankfully the logic behind Price yesterday came to fruition. Once again, I find a top-end quote standing out as a huge eye-catcher - and I simply have to back Gary Anderson at 16/1 with Star Sports. 

Fourth favourite behind Littler, Humphries and Monday’s winner Price in the betting, you are immediately getting a couple of points extra value solely because Humphries won’t be playing. Cool Hand skipped Monday’s edition but bookies have failed to twig on, so have left him in the market.

Naturally that adds a bit of value onto everyone’s price, but especially those at the top end with strong win equity.

Anderson’s 2025 season has been somewhat of a slow burner but it appears the veteran is now re-finding that delicious form we saw so often in the lower-key events last year. He triumphed at PC5 in early March, before making a Euro Tour semi a couple of weeks ago.

Then, yesterday, a perfect leg en route to a 6-4 R1 win over Krzysztof Ratajski and an electric success over young Niko Springer - posting averages of 115 and 109 respectively. 

He subsequently bowed out to Cameron Menzies in the last 32 yesterday but I saw more than enough to make me think Anderson is in top, top nick. When he is, I’d have him fav in the match betting against anyone bar Littler, which logically makes the 16s on offer look quite a bit too big. Simple.

Nijman and Taylor both overpriced

Onto the bigger prices and I’ll continue to back Wessel Nijman for as long as they price the Dutchman up at 50/1.

Little more needs to be said about his talent and while his sublime scoring is definitely more reliable than his clutch finishing, Nijman is good enough to simply outmuscle most of the Pro Tour circuit in the first 9/12 darts – particularly on the floor.

His frustrating last 16 loss to Ian White yesterday aged quite well after Diamond went on to make the final, while he has now won his board (i.e. made the last 16) in 5/9 floor events this term. I make him no bigger than 33 in a full strength field on the Pro Tour, so 50s with no Humphries or MVG should be taken without hesitation.

Talking of prices which should be taken, any three-figure quotes on offer for Dom Taylor are, at this stage, frankly ludicrous in my eyes. At the time of writing, 100/1 is still available with more than one supplier.

The Tower has been a man reborn since serving a (rather harsh) four month ban from the sport for cocaine use. While I doubt the drugs were having any performance-enhancing effect, you could feasibly think he's turned to something of that ilk judging by his recent numbers (joking, of course).

Taylor is not just hitting new heights, he’s competing with the very best around. On floor averages alone, he’s the third highest on tour outside of the Premier League stars, with only Gian Van Veen and Ryan Searle above him in the last two months.

He’s getting the results, too. A semi-final in February and a semi-final in March. Neither were scaled via en easy route either. Luke Littler, Damon Heta, Ross Smith and Ryan Searle have all been bettered by him at some point in those two outings.

On Monday, he lost a high quality first round clash with Chris Dobey but in reality, that game could have gone either way and the underdog lost nothing in defeat.

Taylor remains by far and away the best bet in this field, at the prices.

Wattimena and Ratajski both merit investment

Jermaine Wattimena is testing my patience and this could possibly prove a final hurrah for the Machine Gun in my betting lineup.

I was actually about ready to swerve him at 80/1 after a 6-0 exit to Brendan Dolan on Monday but Bet365 have hung him out at 100/1 and I reluctantly therefore must take one more bite at this cherry.

Wattimena is another who continues to post astronomical numbers on an unusually consistent basis. I think it’s fair to say he has categorically turned a corner now in his career and while he may not have the mental fortitude to win majors, he’s definitely capable of picking up a floor win at some point.

He was electric on the latest Euro Tour and, while he has a frustrating knack of getting himself beat in gamehe really should be winning, he is another like Nijman who simply has to be backed at what is too big a price relative to his ability.

In jumping to the 100/1 chances, I have skipped over the 66/1 poke who rounds off my main betting card. 

If there was one man more unfortunate than Dom Taylor to exit in round one yesterday, it would undoubtedly be Krzysztof Ratajski. The Polish Eagle averaged north of 106 in a 6-4 loss to Anderson, on the receiving end of a nine-darter and a 116 average. 

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say fair play, which is exactly what the veteran did yesterday. And yet, that loss has probably protected the price of a seven time floor winner, who is playing his best darts in several years. Let’s hope we can take advantage today with the help of a kinder draw.

Most books have Ratajski as low as 40s in the betting, which tells you plenty. I snaffled some 80s last night but the 66 still on offer in a couple of places is more than fair.

For context, 74% of Ratajski’s floor games this term have seen him average over 95, while 40% of them have seen him average over 100. These are Luke Humphries level numbers, we’re talking about. 

Three darts for the back-end of the market

For those who like a speculative long shot, I’ll keep it swift with three names who can outrun their odds in Star Sports’ four-place market. For what it’s worth, I’ll usually split my stake on such players, 75% on the four-place market and 25% on the biggest two-place price available. It can make quite a difference to your returns over a long season.

Both Adam Lipscombe and Patrick Geeraets are in the unusual spot of having put a great run together in a Pro Tour event at huge odds (quite common), before then appearing to back it up next time out (far less common).

On the numbers alone, there’s nothing to suggest either of the pair are elite operators but sometimes, you do get players who are just far better suited to floor tournaments. We don't have enough data on either of these guys to conclude if this is a purple patch (likely) or something more sustained (unlikely), but confidence is a big factor in darts which shouldn't be readily dismissed.

At 325/1 and 350/1 respectively, you are getting an 81/1 and 87.5/1 place bet about them reaching the final four – a feat both achieved in March. For pennies, they could be worth a small investment.

The only other man I’ll chance at a monster price is Neils Zonneveld – a regular on my betting cards over the last 12 months with no reward.

He’s hardly a reliable type but you do have to say, the Dutchman’s floor record far outweighs a quote of 200/1 four places, which basically offers 50/1 on him making the semis.

He was in the last eight yesterday, seeing off Gian van Veen en route, and a similar effort today would give him a fighting chance of a place. 

Matt Hill's Players Championship 10 best bets and staking plan 

Gary Anderson - 1pt EW - 16/1 (4 places)

Wessel Nijman - 0.5pt EW - 50/1 (2 places)

Krzysztof Ratajski - 0.5pt EW - 80/1 (2 places)

Dom Taylor - 1pt EW - 100/1 (4 places)

Jermaine Wattimena - 0.5pt EW - 100/1 (2 places)

Niels Zonneveld - 0.25pt EW - 200/1 (4 places)

Adam Lipscombe - 0.125pt EW - 325/1 (4 places)

Patrick Geeraets - 0.125pt EW - 350/1 (4 places)

Total staked - 8pts

Meet the Author

Matt Hill


Head of Content

Matt has now been operating in the sports content and betting space for the best part of a decade, including extended stints with industry giants Betfred and LiveScore.

A qualified journalist, he began his career reporting on his beloved Carlisle United FC as a teenager and still follows the Blues avidly to this day, as much as life allows.

One of the keenest punters around, Matt is never shy of an opinion and builds the bulk of his betting portfolio around antepost football markets and PDC darts events.

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