July, sees the 2009 World Matchplay Darts competition roll into Blackpool (from Sunday 19th July to Sunday 26th July) and if your wondering just how popular darts has become then consider all tickets were sold out within 3 days of going on sale. The PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) has formed the Matchplay into such a successful event it is now the 2nd largest Darts event in the World.

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On Sunday evening I tuned in, along with over 4 million other UK dart lovers to watch one of the best dart games I have ever witnessed. The venue was The Lakeside, the competition The BDO World Championship, the contenders were Ted Hankey and Tony O’Shea, the prize a nice &pound95,000 pay cheque. Hankey won the game and also the battle with himself as he fought his inner demons to lift the BDO World Championship 7 sets to 6. It was an awesome encounter, with each player showing why they deserved to be in the final. As usual The Lakeside venue crackled with excitement as the crowd upped the wave of noise adding to the nervousness of the players. For me this is why the BDO is darts, it may not be superior to Sky’s offering but for sheer unpredictability, Sky can’t come close.

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With a small overlap, the PDC World Championship ended last night while the BDO Lakeside World Championship began on Saturday. It’s always a shame when a sport divides itself into two or more separate worlds. Boxing did this a few years ago and lost many a casual boxing betting fan who no longer knew who was fighting for what, challenging who or was, in fact, the actual World Champ when another faction was claiming that it was their top man who was the real one. Thankfully, with boxing, all contenders compete in the end and a champion finally emerges from the confusion.

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It’s edging closer to that time of year when the famous Lakeside resort, for 9 days in January, hosts the 2009 Darts World Championship. The prize money for the eventual winner of the Men’s tournament has been increased to a whopping £95,000. As usual the atmosphere will be electric for BDO’s premier competition with ticket allocations for all 9 days of play virtually snapped up.

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