World Matchplay Darts Betting 2009

Free bets fans with a keen eye for the bull’s eye will be turning their online betting attentions to the forthcoming 2009 PDC Darts World Matchplay this July, as the Professional Darts Corporation bandwagon rolls up in the North West of England. Darts betting has increasingly generated a deal of interest in recent years as the fields become more and more open, not to mention the ramping up of the numbers of professional tournaments out there to gamble on the results of. That's of course if the free betting community look beyond Phil Taylor, where the potential to make free bets money really takes shape.

Sponsored by online bookmaker Stan James, the 2009 PDC Darts World Matchplay takes place from Sunday 19th July to Sunday 26th July, and is this year staged as usual at the world famous Empress Ballroom, Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Much in the same way as it has since its inception in 1994. After the PDC World Darts Championship, the World Matchplay is the second largest event on the darts calendar, its popularity resulting in tickets being sold out within 3 days of going on sale this year.  

In celebration of their association of the PDC Darts World Matchplay, Stan James are amongst the many leading online bookmakers to offer an enticing Free Bets promotion to get punters in the mood for the start of the event, one of the highlights of the traditional darts season, in their case to the tune of £25.

Two Leg Winning Rule At PDC Darts World Matchplay

The PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) runs the World Matchplay tournament, and is contested over a legs format. One player has to win by two clear legs to force a definitive result, something of a unique requirement in professional darts; in essence this negates the need for a deciding leg as such as is more commonplace to settle tournament games. Usually competing over the 10 legs in the first round, should players reach a stalemate situation at 9-9 then play is set to continue until a clear two leg lead is achieved by either competitor.

In both 1998 and a year later in 1999, the two clear leg ruling created the longest darts matches in the history of the event, with both players and fans enduring a massive 36 legs to decide the eventual winners.

Phil Taylor Remains Favourite To Land 2009 World Matchplay Title

Sports books are opened closer to the actual event, however early betting prices around the online markets suggest that Phil Taylor is without exception the man to beat once again. That said, his closest challenge will come from Raymond Barneveld, Gary Anderson, Mervyn King, James Wade and Adrian Lewis according to the tipsters.

Darts legend Phil 'The Power' Taylor is the most decorated PDC Darts World Matchplay competitor in the history of the event, his dominance at the oche resulting in him claiming 9 titles to date, and he goes into this year's competition as defending champion. Taylor boasts an incredible record of only losing six matches in the history of the Matchplay Championship to date as well as being solely responsible for inflicting the heaviest defeat on any player at the tournament, namely his 16-1 destruction of Roland Scholten in the 2007 quarter finals.

Total prize fund in the region of £300,000, with the winner likely to collect a cheque for roughly £60,000 for their endeavours, whilst the runner-up will walk off with a healthy £30,000.

Darts Free Bets Fans Get Behind Their Nicknamed Heroes

Most darts players have their own nicknames, and with them attract something of a cult following among fans who attend the darts circuit on a regular basis to get behind their particular hero. Such as James 'The Machine' Wade, who hails from Aldershot and in 2007 became the youngest player to win the PDC title at the World Matchplay and Raymond 'Barney/The Man' Barneveld, who's record of 5 BDO World Champion hauls brought him level in the record books with legend of the game, Eric Bristow after his exploits in the 2007 final.

Elsewhere and Gary 'The Flying Scotsman' Anderson struts his stuff all the way up to the oche with the musical backdrop of House of Pain's 'Jump Around' ringing in his ears and has been competing on the professional darts scene since 2002, whilst Mervyn 'The King' King emerges from the shadows to the tune of Motorhead's 'King of Kings', originally penned and recorded for professional wrestler, Triple H. aged 43, he's been playing darts since 1979.

Adrian 'Jackpot' Lewis is from Phil Taylor's neck of the Stoke-on-Trent woods and started out as the protege of one of the pottery's most famous sons.

Darts Popularity Thanks To TV's 'Bullseye' Series

Of course, to many of us darts is a byword for shell-suits, Mel B Bo Selecta look-a-likes, speedboats and an irksome cartoon bull. And the reason for this? Famed TV presenter Jim Bowen. Well, not directly. You see back in the 1980s, Lancastrian comedian Jim 'let's have a look at what you could have won' Bowen fronted ITV's hugely popular and over subscribed Sunday evening family-orientated game show that centered around the game of darts.

Running continuously from 1981 to 1995, Bullseye captured average audiences of 15 million viewers when broadcast and was renown for rewarding northerners with a rudimentary standard of general knowledge with a brand new, sub premium family car, a luxury holiday, a caravan or a wholly inappropriate speedboat for working their educated way around an unconventionally laid out darts board. Losers would be presented with a complimentary set of darts, a beer tankard (a silver goblet for the ladies no less) and a rubber 'Bully'; which, before you ask, was a much coveted bendy version of the show's mascot, an aggressive looking, poorly animated bull. Super, smashing, great in the words of light entertainment stalwart Bowen.