Players Championship 11: Pro Tour darts preview and betting tips

Written by: Matt Hill

After a busy weekend of Euro Tour action, PDC pros return to the floor circuit for a double-header of Pro Tour tournaments across Tuesday and Wednesday.

Our arrows expert Matt Hill (@Matt_Hill93) looks to unearth some value for readers from Tuesday’s 128-strong field, which features Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price.

Players Championship 11 absentees and replacements

Tour Card holders not competing - Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting, Rob Cross, Mike De Decker, Michele Turetta, Jules van Dongen, Tim Wolters

Non-Tour Card holders competing - Darius Labanauskas, Stefan Bellmont, Ted Evetts, Carl Sneyd, Scott Campbell, Kevin Burness, Adam Mould

Players Championship 11 analysis and betting tips

Missing faces and four places key to strategy

These floor tournaments are undoubtedly my strongest stream of profit over a calendar year and after some painful misses, it was great to get a rare double-finalist up at PC9 with Gerywn Price (15/1) beating Ian White (350/1).

PC10 was a blank for me though, so let’s hope it’s more of the former and less of the latter across the next couple of days!

The place to start with these events is always the entry list. Those with busy schedules are always likely to knock a few floor events on the head and that is the case here for the Premier League trio of Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting and Rob Cross – as well as reigning World Grand Prix champ Mike De Decker.

Aspinall and Bunting have both had stellar fortnights, with the Asp winning his first Euro Tour and following it up with another final on Sunday, where he was beaten by Bunting – who also sensationally won his first Premier League night in Berlin last Thursday.

Both that pair will enjoy well-earned breaks, while Cross has ruled himself out for a period having come down with a minor illness. I’m not sure why De Decker is swerving but it’s a slight shame, given he looks in great nick and could’ve been one to take advantage of the slightly reduced field.

Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are both set to turn up here, which always props the market up early – and you can’t be scared to take these two on in floor events.

Littler, for example, played some sumptuous stuff at PC9 but was halted in his tracks by an inspired White at the last 32 stage. The next day, he reached the quarter-final stage but performance levels were mediocre in comparison, with a daily average 93.15 across his five matches.

Meanwhile, Humphries was listed as playing in both events but in the end, didn’t turn up. Given his comments about burnout recently, I wouldn’t be surprised to see similar again – and you can never set your watch on Price and Van Gerwen turning up to these either. 

My overriding message would be, don’t be dettered by the big guns like you would on a big stage. There’ll be seven or eight of these in a calendar year but for the other 20-something, it’s wide open and that comment stretches all the way to the bottom-end of the market.

The other key in these fields is to take four place prices wherever possible. Star Sports are the reliable outfit for this, while I’m pleasantly surprised to see Betfair and Paddy Power also up with those terms this week.

Quarter odds about a player making the semis (i.e. winning five games) does open itself up to some fantastic angles, as I’ll hope to exploit here.

Awesome Anderson still a top-end bet

I’m not a regular player at the top-end of these markets but occasionally, one of the household names sticks their neck out as value – which is exactly what Gary Anderson did last week.

I took a chunky bet at 18/1 on the Flying Scotsman at PC10, having seen him hit a nine-darter and post some ludicrous averages the day before. Sadly, he fell at the lat 16 stage to Martin Schindler, losing 6-5 to the German in the highest-quality affair of the day. Schindler had to produce a 109 average to defy Anderson, who still managed to spurn a match-winning opportunity in the decider.

Anderson was inspired on the floor last year and despite his struggles to convert that form to the TV stage often enough, we can trust him to produce some excellent stuff consistently in these spheres when he’s in the groove.

A frequent pattern I observed last season was being able to take Anderson at around the 16/1 mark, before he was invariably cut to 8/1-ish the next day after some stellar showings. I suspect we are seeing the same thing repeat here.

There’s 18/1 available on the Scot tomorrow, while he’s 16/1 four places. I suggest a win only bet at 18, topped up by a bigger each-way punt at 16s, to start your card.

Capable Taylor worth sticking with

Last week, I declared Dom Taylor the best value runner in the field in these events and while two early exits could make that comment look a bit silly, I won’t be ditching the Tower just yet.

Taylor has been a different beast in the PDC ranks since returning from his three-month drug ban and there’s enough evidence in the numbers to suggest this isn’t just a purple patch. I do think he’s a top-32 player in waiting.

Those defeats last week, to Chris Dobey and Josh Rock, were respectable enough and the fact still remains that he has already made the semis twice this year, beating the likes of Littler, Heta, Searle, Ross Smith, Dave Chisnall and Danny Noppert along the way.

He’s 80/1 in the two-place market on Tuesday but given his lack of experience at the very back-end of PDC events, I prefer a decent wager on him at 66/1 with four places available.

Let’s hope he benefits from a kinder draw this time around and can make good on my lofty expectations.

Rydz, Barney and Clemens offer pedigree value

Beyond Anderson and Taylor, my other fancies are all three figures – and this trio all possess both class and experience, which when coupled with some promising form, can be a real winning formula.

Callan Rydz is the ultimate hot and cold player in the PDC. Having twice reached the World Championship quarter-finals – sent off 500/1 pre-tournament on both occasions – his price should always be monitored closely.

At the start of this term, his Ally Pally exploits meant he was being sent off no bigger than 66s for these floor events but we are now able to take 150/1 four places on the talented Geordie after a lean spell of results.

His performance levels, however, remain strong. In four matches last week, he posted averages of 98. 100, 106 and 92 – losing his head somewhat in the latter of those against Stephen Bunting. 

It’s all about self-belief for Rydz and if he can take the positives from those showings, I think he’s a live chance this week. Most crucially, the price is right for us to strike.

Raymond van Barneveld is clearly in the twilight of a glittering career and is therefore not one to be trusted implicitly. However, it would be remiss to ignore some fantastic recent form from the Dutch icon.

After a 6-5 first-round loss at PC9, Barney muscled his way through to the PC10 quarter-finals – a run which featured an impressive 103 average in dismissing Damon Heta 6-2. 

He franked the form even further in Riesa over the weekend, dismissing a German qualifier 6-1 and Jonny Clayton 6-2, before spurning four match darts in a 6-5 loss to Karel Sedlacek – his opponent averaging 105 to down him.

Barney is still capable of going deep on the floor when in good nick, so at 150/1 four places, he is a bet.

Gabriel Clemens has done next to nothing for a while now, yet the former World Championship semi-finalist showed signs of a much-needed revival last month. 

At PC10, the big German averaged 98 and 107 in disposing of Wessel Nijman and Robert Owen, before losing a tight last-leg decider to Cameron Menzies. Go back a bit further to February, and he made a quarter-final on the floor, where again, the numbers were good.

The need for Clemens to go deep in these type of spheres is ever-increasing, finding himself down in 39th on both the overall and Pro Tour Order of Merit lists. I feel he needs to win one of these this year to inject some positive momentum back into his career and the underlying numbers hint this could be around the corner. 

With 175/1 available four places, I’m happy to get him on side on Tuesday.

Three small tickles at huge prices

With the aforementioned four-place terms available, I’ll round off by backing three from the outsider range at small stakes who all have plausible prospects of a deep run on Tuesday.

Chancing Ian White at 350/1 last week paid dividends and while all these type of bets require a leap of faith, you only need one or two to cop a season for them to be worthwhile.

Jim Williams is always a man on my radar. Still only a part-time player due to other work commitments, the Welshman possesses star quality and is an extremely tricky customer to get rid of when on song. 

I liked what I saw of the Quiff at PC10, producing two stellar efforts to get rid of the explosive Niko Springer and an in-form Madars Razma, before falling foul of Littler in the last 32 in a tight contest.

With the place part of a wager effectively paying 50/1 on him making the semis, he’s another who merits an investment. 

Darius Labanauskas is a familiar face from years gone by but these days, finds himself without a Tour Card. 

The Lithuanian’s Challenge Tour exploits means he earns yet another replacement call-up though and there’s every sign he’s playing well enough to capitalise on such opportunities.

He picked up two impressive wins last week over Joe Cullen and Krzysztof Ratajski and then dismissed Ryan Searle on the Euro Tour, before spurning a 4-2 lead over eventual champion Stephen Bunting.

If he replicates those kind of performances, he’s a real dangerman this week and it makes sense to take some of the 300/1 available on him four places.

Finally, a swing from the very bottom end of the market. Thomas Lovely has not had much luck with draws since earning his PDC Tour Card in January, but I’ve been taken with his performance levels.

On the Pro Tour, his eliminations have generally come via the hands of the game’s big stars, including 6-5 losses to Dirk van Duijvenbode and Mike De Decker. Meanwhile, two Euro Tours have been even less kind - a first round clash with De Decker in front of a rampant Belgian crowd and the same against hometown hero Schindler last weekend.

He’s consistently posting mid-90s averages against these big names though and with a no-nonsense throwing style, I could easily see him enjoying a deep floor run at some point this year.

When you’re getting 500/1 four places, it doesn’t take much convincing to make a small wager and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing on Tuesday.

Matt Hill’s best bets for Players Championship 11 - April 8, 2025

1pt win + 0.5pts EW - Gary Anderson - 18/1 (Bet365)/ 16/1 (Betfair - 4 places)

1pt EW - Dom Taylor - 66/1 (Betfair - 4 places)

0.5pts EW - Callan Rydz - 150/1 (Betfair - 4 places)

0.5pts EW - Raymond van Barneveld - 150//1 (Betfair - 4 places)

0.5pts EW - Gabriel Clemens - 175//1 (Betfair - 4 places)

0.25pts EW - Jim Williams - 200/1 (Betfair - 4 places)

0.25pts EW - Darius Labanauskas - 300/1 (Betfair - 4 places)

0.25pts EW - Thomas Lovely  - 500/1 (Betfair - 4 places)

Total staked - 8.5pts

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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