Who Are the Best Bets for the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship?

The PDC World Darts Championship has become a part of Christmas tradition in the UK over the years. This massively popular celebration of darts pits the finest players in the world together to battle it out over Christmas and New Year to decide who will begin the January crowned as the first World Champion of the new year. Last year, it was eccentric Scotsman Peter Wright who won his first world title, beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final.

The 2021 World Championship gets underway on the evening of Tuesday 15^th December with the First and Second Rounds completed from then through to the 23^rd December. There then follows a break until the 27^th December, after which the tournament will restart with the Third Round games, running through until the final on the 3^rd January 2021. It is a tournament that polarises fans and players and which sees plenty of action on the betting markets from excited punters.

One thing that everyone can agree on with the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship is that it is one of the most open tournaments in recent years and that will encourage plenty of punters to have a wager on this extremely popular event. If you would like to join in and need to sign up with a betting provider that offers outstanding darts betting throughout the year, then the place to start is with the £100 worth of bet credits available with the latest bet365 New Customer Welcome Bonus.

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With bet365, not only do you get lots of great pre-match markets, but also extensive In Play betting options and a wealth of other markets too making it a great choice for darts fans in the UK.

If you are based in the United States and follow the action from the Alexandra Palace, then you may want to enjoy a few wagers yourself. In Pennsylvania, this is best achieved by signing up with the latest BetRivers Promo Code to the BetRivers Sportsbook and Casino site. Here you will find a wide range of bets on both the American domestic sports scene as well as events from all over the world.

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Let’s now take a look at how the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship tournament is structured, before we give you the lowdown on some of the players to watch, or maybe even back, at the event itself. Remember, the action gets underway on Tuesday 15^th December, so you’ll have to act quickly to get the odds stated below.

PDC World Darts Championship

With a prize pool of £2,500,000 in total (£500,000 of which goes to the winner), 96 of the best players in the world of darts will compete for the title over the coming three weeks. A total of 32 players have been seeded by the PDC and will be given a bye into the second round. The remaining 64 players will battle it out across 32 First Round games, the winners of which will go into the Second Round to face one of the seeds shown below.

PDC World Championship Seeds & Outright Winner Odds

1. Michael van Gerwen (Holland) – 12/5 favourite
2. Peter Wright (Scotland) – 6/1
3. Gerwyn Price (Wales) – 5/1
4. Michael Smith (England) – 12/1
5. Rob Cross (England) – 55/1
6. Nathan Aspinall (England) – 22/1
7. James Wade (England) – 33/1
8. Dave Chisnall (England) – 50/1
9. Dmitri Van den Bergh (Belgium) – 18/1
10. Ian White (England) – 80/1
11. Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland) – 100/1
12. Glen Durrant (England) – 33/1
13. Gary Anderson (Scotland) – 33/1
14. Jose de Sousa (Portugal) – 16/1
15. Krzysztof Ratajski (Poland) – 40/1
16. Joe Cullen (England) – 80/1
17. Johnny Clayton (Wales) – 100/1
18. Simon Whitlock (Australia) – 50/1
19. Mervyn King (England) – 100/1
20. Mensur Suljovic (Austria) – 80/1
21. Adrian Lewis (England) – 125/1
22. Chris Dobey (England) – 150/1
23. Jeffrey de Zwaan (Holland) – 100/1
24. Jermaine Wattamena (Holland) – 200/1
25. Danny Noppert (Holland) – 200/1
26. Stephen Bunting (England) – 300/1
27. Vincent van der Voort (Holland) – 250/1
28. Jamie Hughes (England) – 250/1
29. Devon Petersen (South Africa) – 33/1
30. Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland) – 300/1
31. Gabriel Clemens (Germany) – 100/1
32. Ricky Evans (England) – 300/1

As the tournament progresses, each game gets progressively longer. Each match is contested over the sets format (a player has to win three games to win a set) and each match is played over a stated number of sets.

• First & Second Rounds – Best of 5 Sets
• Third and Fourth Rounds – Best of 7 Sets
• Quarterfinals – Best of 9 Sets
• Semifinals – Best of 11 Sets
• Final – Best of 13 Sets

The First and Second Rounds are played concurrently from the 15^th December until the 20^th December, after which the First Round will be completed, from then until the 23^rd December, the remaining second round matches will be played so that all first and second round games are completed before the three-day break for Christmas.

Who Are The Players to Back at the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship?

• Michael van Gerwen (12/5 favourite)

Although he has had a relatively quiet year by his standards, his ability and his record at the World Championships mean that you cannot discount van Gerwen from the equation. Unquestionably the most talented player in the world at the moment, his form has been a little up and down this season, but in longer format games, he is extremely difficult to beat and as the tournament goes on, the longer format suits him more.

• Peter Wright (6/1)

Famous for his wacky clothing and head paint designs, the flamboyant Scot is the current Champion, having won last year’s final against van Gerwen. After a slump in form in mid-season, Wright’s form had improved a great deal and you get the feeling he is trying to time his form to coincide with the World Championships. It will be hard for him to repeat his success of last year, but on his day he is incredibly tough to beat.

• Gerwyn Price (5/1)

The spiky Welshman does draw ire from other players at times due to his over-exuberant celebrations and demeanour on the oche, but he is a fierce competitor who will admit that he has not yet shown his best in this tournament. With a number of Major titles in his pocket now though, he needs to show his class and he is many people’s bet to win the title this year and in my view, he is probably the strongest option in terms of value for an outright winner bet.

• Michael Smith (12/1)

Bully is one of the most naturally gifted players on the circuit and he is reckoned by many to be a future World Champion. As yet he hasn’t quite hit the heights in this tournament though and he has suffered a couple of unlucky defeats in recent times, most notably to Rob Cross a couple of years ago. On his day, Smith can beat anybody but his form is also very up and down and he can also lose to anybody too.

• Dmitri van den Bergh (18/1)

For me, van den Bergh is the perfect each way bet for this tournament. Twice a Youth World Champion, he made the breakthrough this year with a huge win at the World Matchplay, a tournament ranked second only to the World Championship. He has reached the quarterfinals here in both 2018 and 2020 and is bang in form at the right time. I think at 18/1, he is an outstanding each way bet to reach the final.

*All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport as of 9.30am GMT on Tuesday 15^th December 2020.