The Ultimate Darts Betting Guide for Beginners
Are you a fan of darts looking to cash in on your knowledge? Or you are just ready to deviate from betting on standard sports like football and horse racing and wish to explore new horizons but don’t know where to start. Regardless of the reason, you’ve come to the right place.
Our darts betting guide for beginners will show you everything you need to know about betting on darts. To help you get started, we will cover the most popular darts tournaments, betting markets, and more, so let’s dig right in.
Six Quick Facts About Betting on Darts
- The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) organises the biggest darts tournaments.
- Research is the key to making a well-informed bet.
- If you are new to betting on darts, stick to simple betting markets like the match-winner bet or the outright bet.
- The PDC World Championship is the most prestigious darts tournament.
- In some tournaments, players need to hit a double at the start and finish of each leg.
- Handicap bets in darts ensure good odds and exciting games even with one-sided matchups.
Darts Betting Preview
The popularity of darts increased significantly in the past two decades. The sport was most often played in the UK, but it quickly expanded into all corners of the world. Therefore, if you are a punter looking to bet on darts, you’ll be pleased to know that some of the best betting sites in the UK offer betting odds for darts throughout the entire year.
After the liquidation of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) in September 2020, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) started running the most prestigious darts tournaments in the world.
Now that we have that sorted out, here are some of the biggest and most popular darts tournaments you can bet on.
PDC World Championship
The first tournament we will cover in our darts betting guide has to be the most prestigious one, and there is no darts tournament more rewarding than the PDC World Championship. The World Championship begins in December and ends in early January. The tournament is held at the Alexandra Palace in London, and it is continuously stacked with the best darts players in the world.
If you want to bet on darts, you most definitely shouldn’t skip betting on the darts World Championship. Currently, the reigning PDC World Champion is Gerwyn Price from Wales, and previous winners include Peter Wright from Scotland who won in 2020 and the Dutch darts superstar Michael Vplayan Gerwen who won in 2019.
Premier League Darts
As the name suggests, Premier League Darts comes in a league format. Even though it is not ranked, it is undoubtedly one of the most popular events to bet on. The league is played weekly from February to May, and it offers a prize pool of £855,000 in 2021.
Grand Slam of Darts
If you plan on betting on the darts World Championship, then the Grand Slam of Darts is the best time to inspect players’ form. Namely, the Grand Slam of Darts is the last tournament before the PDC World Championship in December.
Before the collapse of BDO, the tournament featured the best players from BDO and PDC. However, even though Grand Slam darts betting is extremely popular among punters in the UK and the tournament itself is considered one of the most prestigious darts events, it is unclear whether future arrangements will include another organisation that will replace BDO’s role in this tournament.
World Grand Prix
Unlike other tournaments we covered in our darts betting guide, the World Grand Prix requires that every player begins and finishes each leg with a double. Because of the format, landing the perfect nine-dart finish is more difficult, making it a lot more interesting when betting on the Nine Dart Finish market.
The most recent winners include Welshman Gerwyn Price who won the tournament in 2020 and van Gerwen who won it in 2018 and 2019.
While we have included only a few tournaments in our darts betting preview, there are many others you can bet on. Some of the most lucrative and popular ones include the World Matchplay, UK Open, Player Championship Finals, and many others.
Before you place a bet, it would be good to learn more about the tournament. For example, information such as the tournament’s format, previous winners, and even the prize money can be useful when placing a bet.
Darts Betting Explained
Now that you know where you can bet, it’s prime time to learn about common betting markets and show you what to expect when betting on darts.
While a lot of these bets will be unfamiliar to you if you are new to betting, chances are most seasoned punters have already encountered these betting markets when betting on other sports.
Match-Winner
The first and the most basic bet we will cover in our darts betting guide is the match-winner bet. This betting market is common across all sports and, as the name suggests, you will have to predict the winner of a match to win the match-winner bet.
Every dart tournament can have only two outcomes, meaning that a player can either win or lose. However, in events like Premier League Darts, it is possible to draw against a player, making match-winner bet slightly more difficult to win.
Handicap Bets
Handicap bets can be tricky, and most new punters often look for a way to have darts handicap betting explained to them in the simplest of fashion. Handicap betting is often used when a major favourite is playing with a significantly weaker player. To make betting more fun and ensure that a bet has any value, bookies introduce a handicap for a favourite player.
For example, the way handicap betting works in darts is that a bookie may give a weaker player a two or three-set advantage. If players play best of seven, the weaker player would have to win only one set to win the match.
Most 180s
Unlike handicap betting in darts, the Most 180s bet is extremely straightforward. Namely, 180 is the highest number a player can score with three darts. With this type of bet, you are betting on the player you think will repeat this feat the biggest number of times.
You can often place the Most 180s bet for a single match or the outright Most 180s bet for the entire tournament. To make things even better, a player doesn’t even have to win the match for you to win the Most 180s bet.
Each-Way Bet
Each-way bets are extremely popular among punters who enjoy betting on horses. Whenever horse race fans transition from betting to darts, they ask how each way betting works in darts. Believe it or not, it’s just as easy as other betting markets we already covered.
An each way bet in darts is technically an outright bet you can place twice on the same event. In this case, you are betting that a player will either win the tournament or place. As far as placing goes, the exact specifics vary from one bookmaker to another.
Some bookies consider placing if the player you bet on finishes in the top two, while others consider placing as finishing in the top four.
Now that we’ve explained each way darts betting, an important thing to know is that you will have to stake double the amount you wish to bet since you are technically placing two bets. But, at the same time, the payout is calculated a bit differently.
If the player you bet on wins the tournament, you will win the full price. However, if the player places, you will win a portion of the price.
Correct Score
Betting odds for darts are usually the highest with the Correct Score bet. Of course, this is only because this bet is one of the hardest to land.
To win the Correct Score bet, you will have to predict the score of the match correctly. The Correct Score bet becomes significantly easier to predict with smaller tournaments where players have to play only a few sets.
Nine-Dart Finish
As we mentioned earlier in our darts betting guide when discussing darts tournaments, the fewest number of darts you need to reach 501 is nine. While there are several combinations for doing that, a nine-dart finish is a rare feat.
With this type of bet, bookies allow you to bet on whether there will be a nine-dart finish in the entire tournament or a match. Additionally, some bookmakers even allow you to try and predict which player will manage to get a nine-dart finish.
No matter if you are betting on the darts World Championship, the Grand Slam, or any other ranked and unranked tournament, chances are you will encounter many betting markets in addition to the ones we mentioned. In fact, you may even encounter a bet you’ve never heard of, and that is unique to a specific bookmaker.
For that reason, one of the best pieces of advice you will find in our darts betting guide for anyone new to darts betting is to always check the specifics of each bet before wagering any money.
At the same time, you should also make sure to explore the In-Play betting markets. Darts is a dynamic and fast-paced game that makes live betting extremely fun and just as rewarding.
Darts Betting Strategy
The last thing you should do before placing your first wager on darts is to create a betting strategy. Betting strategies are essentially short-term or long-term plans you should adhere to when betting.
If you are a recreational punter and just bet for fun, you won’t even need a strategy. However, if you plan on betting long term, you should use a darts betting strategy to ensure you can make a profit in the long run.
The first thing you should always do is research as much as possible about the players’ current form. Check their previous results and how they placed in the tournament the previous year. Additionally, check the players’ head-to-head results. Psychological warfare plays a big part in darts, and quite a few darts players have that one player they can’t seem to win against.
Another advice you can use when creating a darts betting strategy is to start small, especially if you are new to betting. Even if your bankroll allows it, you should avoid betting big until you become more experienced and can confidently place a well-informed bet rather than just rely on luck.
While we explained darts handicap betting earlier in our article, handicap betting and few other bets can be challenging for new punters. Therefore, if you are still new to betting on darts, you should generally stick to simpler bets, such as the match-winner bet, the outright bet, or the each-way bet.
However, as you become more experienced, you will learn how to find the best betting odds for darts matches, so make sure to explore other betting markets as well.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, there is nothing extraordinary when it comes to betting on darts. In fact, it is just like betting on any other sport. Once you learn the basics and get familiar with the betting markets we covered in our darts betting guide, all that’s left to do is find the best online bookmaker for 2021 and place your very first bet.
Whether you plan on betting for fun or wish to rely on a betting strategy to help you make a profit is entirely up to you. However, regardless of what you choose, make sure to bet responsibly and never wager more than you can afford.