Darts Betting Fans Should Love The PDC World Matchplay 2023!

Ask a darts purist what the second most important tournament in darts is and the answer will be the World Matchplay Championship.

This tournament, famous for its leg-based format rather than sets, has been held in July almost every year at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool.

It is a venue loved by players and fans alike. It is also one of the centrepieces of the summer sporting schedule in the UK.

If you would like a bet on the tournament, on either the men’s or women’s event, then check out bet365 Sport. The site offers a wide range of markets on both tournaments.

This year’s tournament promises to be bigger and better than ever. With a five former World Champions in the qualifiers for the tournament, alongside five more in the seeds for the men’s draw.

That second quintet includes the current men’s world champion, Michael Smith.

Then in the women’s event, we have the top ranked two players in the world in attendance for the first time, while Fallon Sherrock will defend the title she won last year.

Let’s now take a look at both events, starting with the men’s tournament which begins this Saturday.

Men’s World Matchplay Championship 2023

• Dates – 15^th to 23^rd July
• Venue – Winter Gardens, Blackpool
• Competitors – 32 (16 seeds, 16 qualifiers)
• Format – Legs
• Prize Money – £800,000 (£200,000 for the winner)
• 2022 Final – Michael van Gerwen 18-14 Gerwyn Price
• Record Number of Wins – Phil Taylor (16)

Tournament Structure (leg format)

First Round – First to 10 Legs (15^th – 17^th July)

The draw for the first round was made a while back by former PDC star Colin Lloyd and saw the following matches drawn out of the hat.

1. Michael Smith (1) v Steve Beaton
2. James Wade (16) v Chris Dobey
3. Danny Noppert (8) v Martin Schindler
4. Nathan Aspinall (9) v Krzysztof Ratajski
5. Gerwyn Price (4) v Stephen Bunting
6. Joe Cullen (13) v Mike De Decker
7. Rob Cross (5) v Daryl Gurney
8. Dave Chisnall (12) v Gary Anderson
9. Peter Wright (2) v Andrew Gilding
10. Ryan Searle (15) v Raymond van Barneveld
11. Jonny Clayton (7) v Gabriel Clemens
12. Dimitri Van den Bergh (10) v Ross Smith
13. Michael van Gerwen (3) v Brendan Dolan
14. Damon Heta (14) v Josh Rock
15. Luke Humphries (6) v Jose de Sousa
16. Dirk van Duijvenbode (11) v Kim Huybrechts

Second Round – First to 11 Legs (18^th – 19^th July)

1. Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2
2. Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4
3. Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6
4. Winner Match 7 v Winner Match 8
5. Winner Match 9 v Winner Match 10
6. Winner Match 11 v Winner Match 12
7. Winner Match 13 v Winner Match 14
8. Winner Match 15 v Winner Match 16

Quarter Finals – First to 16 Legs (20^th – 21^st July)

• Winner Match 17 v Winner Match 18
• Winner Match 19 v Winner Match 20
• Winner Match 21 v Winner Match 22
• Winner Match 23 v Winner Match 24

Semi Finals – First to 17 Legs (22^nd July)

• Winner Match 25 v Winner Match 26
• Winner Match 27 v Winner Match 28

Final – First to 18 Legs (23^rd July)

• Winner Match 29 v Winner Match 30

Men’s World Matchplay Darts outright winner odds 2023

Bet365 Sport is offering the following outright winner odds on the men’s tournament.

• 4/1 joint favourites – Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen
• 9/2 – Michael Smith
• 14/1 – Luke Humphries
• 16/1 – Josh Rock, Peter Wright
• 18/1 – Jonny Clayton
• 22/1 – Dirk van Duijvenbode, Rob Cross, Dave Chisnall
• 25/1 – Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri van den Bergh
• 28/1 – Danny Noppert
• 40/1 – Damon Heta
• 50/1 – James Wade
• 66/1 – Joe Cullen, Ryan Searle, Ross Smith, Krzysztof Ratajski
• 80/1 – Martin Schindler, Chris Dobey
• 100/1 – Gabriel Clemens, Raymond van Barneveld
• 125/1- Stephen Bunting
• 150/1 – Jose de Sousa, Andrew Gilding, Mike De Decker, Daryl Gurney, Kim Huybrechts
• 200/1 – Brendan Dolan, Steve Beaton

Who to back? – Peter Wright (16/1)

After a very disappointing 2022 season, Peter Wright has bounced back in 2023 and his form is much improved, seeing him move up the rankings once again and he is now second on the order of merit, behind only World Champion Michael Smith.

However, it has been a long time since Wright won one of the PDC Premier Events, that coming back at the start of 2022 when he won the World Championship for a second time.

This year he has won both the Czech Darts Open and the Nordic Darts Masters and was a finalist in the World Cup of Darts.

At 16/1, he is a fantastic price for an outright or each way bet.

Women’s World Matchplay Darts Championship 2023

• Dates – 23^rd July
• Venue – Winter Gardens, Blackpool
• Competitors – 8 (seeded 1-8)
• Format – Legs
• Prize Money – £25,000 (£10,000 for the winner)
• 2022 Final – Fallon Sherrock 6-3 Aileen de Graaf
• Record Number of Wins – Fallon Sherrock (1)

Tournament Structure (leg format)

Quarterfinals – First to 4 legs

1. Beau Greaves (1) v Noa-Lynn van Leiven (8)
2. Robyn Byrne (4) v Rhian O’Sullivan (5)
3. Mikuru Suzuki (2) v Aileen de Graaf (7)
4. Fallon Sherrock (3) v Lisa Ashton (6)

Semifinals – First to 5 legs

• Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2
• Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4

Final – First to 6 legs

• Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6

What are the latest outright odds for the women’s World Matchplay title?

A look at the latest odds on the eight women to win the World Matchplay title reveals the following odds available from bet365 Sport.

• 1/2 favourite – Beau Greaves
• 9/2 – Fallon Sherrock
• 7/1 – Mikuru Suzuki
• 12/1 – Lisa Ashton
• 16/1 – Rhian O’Sullivan
• 25/1 – Aileen De Graaf
• 40/1 – Robyn Byrne
• 80/1 – Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Who to back? – Beau Greaves (1/2 fav)

Beau ‘n Arrow has been the most consistent and successful player over the past two years in the women’s game, landing a succession of Classic and Open titles and a total of 15 PDC Series Women’s Events wins in the past two years.

That remarkable run includes seven wins from the 11 events played this year so far in the series.

Greaves is one of five players making their debut in what is only the second women’s World Matchplay Darts event, but her form is such that it is very difficult to see any of the other seven players having what it takes to beat her.

*All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of publication, but may have changed in the meantime.