Darts - League of Legends

[GazBlades]

The League of Legends starts tomorrow night, and is basically a copy of the Premier League, but with players who were big names in the past. It is being shown on Setanta.

The competitors and their best outright prices are:

Bob Anderson (6/4)
Bobby George (6/1)
Keith Deller (7/1)
John Lowe (8/1)
Peter Evison (8/1)
Dave Whitcombe (12/1)
Cliff Lazarenko (16/1)
Eric Bristow (20/1)

Bob Anderson was on the PDC circuit as little as 3 months ago, so is rightly favourite for this. However his form had started to dip in the last 12 months, so is no certainty in my eyes.

I will be writing off the chances of 4 right from the start. I think there could be a significant gap between the 4 semi-finalists and the 4 at the bottom. John Lowe has only entered qualifiers since his run in the UK Open 3 years ago. He’s not done a lot in those, and I’ll be surprised if he figures. Dave Whitcombe had also disappeared from competition. Although he did qualify for the World Championships a couple of years ago, I just don’t see him figuring in this. Cliff Lazarenko has been unwell, and hasn’t played a lot recently. He’ll find it tough. I’d love Eric Bristow to go up there and perform even something that was like the days he used to dominate. However I fear he may embarrass himself in this.

Keith Deller has been practising hard for this, and wants it probably more than anyone. I think he’ll come 4^th and qualify for the semi’s, however I don’t see him winning it.

Peter Evison slipped down the rankings in recent years, and a shoulder injury had a lot to do with that. This seems to be behind him now, and a performance in a recent tournament in Ireland was encouraging.

Bobby George hasn’t played a great deal of competitive darts for years now, but every time he does appear he always puts in a good effort. In a recent open in Holland, he reached the final, and I can certainly see him winning this.

I will be backing both Bobby George and Peter Evison outright to win the tournament.

The first nights matches are as follows:

Keith Deller (8/11) vs Cliff Lazarenko (10/3) Draw (4/1)
Bob Anderson (4/9) vs Peter Evison (9/2) Draw (9/2)
John Lowe (10/11) vs Dave Whitcombe (2/1) Draw (4/1)
Bobby George (8/15) vs Eric Bristow (5/1) Draw (9/2)


I like the price on Deller. He’ll be up for this, and I can see him winning quite comfortably. I can’t see Lazarenko keeping up with Dellar, certainly after a few legs.

Anderson should certainly be favourite for this, but nowhere near as big. I see this being tight, and a 7-5 or 6-6 er. I’ll be having a small bet on Evison.

Lowe vs Whitcombe for me is one to avoid. Anything could happen in this one, as it’s hard to predict exactly how both will play.

Bobby George to beat Eric Bristow is the banker of the week. I’ll be surprised if Brissy can get more than a couple of legs. George has some form, and Bristow has none for years. I’ll be doubling this one up with Dellar at Skybet (best price for both).

[kevshat]

Great insight into the event Gaz. Really looking forward to this. Hopefully the guys can deliver some good arrers for us. I'm not going to bet too much in this, especially early on but I'll have a few quid on George outright after reading your thoughts and I was always going to back Evison as back in the day, he was my favourite player.

Good luck mate

[WoodyTHFC]

Tricky event to assess and hence Im going to halve my match stakes and at times take a watching brief. My one outright is Evision 8/1 2.5 pts e.w. I agree with much of what has been already said. Anderson has the best 'form', after all a few months back was average over 90 on TV and reaching later stages of floor events. He deserevs to be the fav but his price is shrinking and he will be inconcistent at times in this event, Im sure all players in this event will have a night or two when they struggle and that would be natural given the context of the event. for example whilst Anderson has played well in patches in the last couple of years, but he has also had some really average days, remember him beating lloyd in ireland and then playing two really poor matches after that. Evison did have a good run in was one of his last if not his last pdc event in Ireland so has some relatively recent form. Im not sure so dont quote me but I believe he may well be back in some floor events in the bdo so he could have that extra bit of sharpness if thats true. I believe the injury mentioned above is not as much of a problem now. Certainly it affected him towards the end of his majorly ranked pdc days and led to him taking some time of right at the end, on one of his comebacks he actually made it all the way to the pdc world qualifiers only to lose 5-4 in his last game to Tabern who has since gone onto better things. Certainly appeals more to me than the shorter Anderson.

For matches in week 1:
Evison dnb 7/2 5 pts I mentioned above my thoughts on both Evison and Anderson and evison looks to big here, he is 5/1 for the match alone. Looking at the event a fair amount of guesswork is going one for some of these games and the bookies may well have underestimated evison. On his best form of the last year or so Anderson looks the stand out but as I have already mentioned he had some very notable off days as well and if he has one here it is possible evison could take advatage. Evison had some form too if you back to his run in a weakend pdc event in Ireland and he might be worth a nibble in a short match. Winning the bull would be a big help.

Whitcombe 6/4 dnb 5 pts The bookies make Lowe fav but probably on reputation as much as anything, certainly lowe falls into the bracket of little or no recent form, his bolton run a few years back would be his last decent run. Whitcombe also could fall into the category of little or no recent form but he did have a very similar profile a couple of years back, he hadnt played really for years and then suddenly went very close to qualifying for the worlds before losing to hamilton and then a year later he did qualify and ended up taking a set of scholten. He could do something similar here and as the underdog, I will take him dnb.

[stereoman]

Today's Bettingzone Market News:

1235: Betfred have cut Eric Bristow into 9/1 from 16s after his dramatic victory over Bobby George on the opening night of the League of Legends competition.

The Crafty Cockney rolled back the years to beat his old rival 7-5 in the final game of the night at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex, and quickly announced to the crowd: "I will go on and win it now!"

He had been 5/1 to beat George (1/3) but the favourite seemed to succombe to Bristow's wind-up tactics on stage as the crowd got behind the five-times World champion.

"It was a fantastic night and the atmosphere was electric. Eric certainly surprised a few people - inluding us - and with the likelyhood of better to come we had little choice to cut him into 9s," said Betfred spokesman Dave Metcalf.

"On the other hand Bobby, who had been 7/2 second favourite to with the event outright, has been pushed out to 6/1 after failing to dazzle and hit his checkouts."

Pre-tournament favourite Bob Anderson battled back to snatch a 6-6 draw against Peter Evison and has been eased in the betting to 15/8 (from 13/8) by the sponsors who were impressed by Evison's throwing and now make him 9/2 joint second favourite from 7/1.

He shares that spot with Keith Deller, who beat big Cliff Lazarenko 7-5, but the biggest move in the market has been for Dave Whitcombe after he trounced John Lowe 7-3.

"Dave was relatively unconsidered by punters before Friday night, but played a really solid game and is an 11/2 shot from 10/1," said Metcalf.

"He is still attracting support at the revised odds, and is currently the biggest loser in our book. John Lowe was very disappointed with his performance, and that has been reflected in the market as he is now out to 12/1 having been 7s before his opening night defeat."

[stereoman]

Odds and the order of play for tonight's second round of matches from Betfred:

Bobby George 5/4 vs 6/5 Dave Whitcombe (draw 7/2)
Eric Bristow 6/4 vs 11/10 Cliff Lazarenko (draw 3/1)
Keith Deller 11/10 vs 6/4 Peter Evison (draw 10/3)
Bob Anderson 8/15 vs 10/3 John Lowe (draw 10/3)

http://www.thelegendsofdarts.com/news.htm

[WoodyTHFC]

7.5 pts up after the first week. After having a look of all the players in week 1 I will raise the stacks for this week.

George DNB evens 10 pts. If you followed just week 1 you would fancy whitcombe over George, Whitcombe was particularly good on his doubles when beating lowe and George was still phased by Bristow after 27 years and literally talked out of the game seemingly. He performed nowhere near the level he can do on the exhibition circuit and even in the odd competition in Holland lately, BDO qualifiers for the worlds and world masters all in fairly recent times. However I will take it that he will be much better tonight and much more comfortable with the surroundings, I dont see whitcombe physcing out George like Bristow did imo in week one and dnb I take George as a safer option than an outright win.

[GazBlades]

I think Bobby George is a good price to win tonight. Whitcombe suprised me with how he played in week 1, but I think he'll struggle to play consistantly well every time. Bobby George was beaten by Bristow's antics, and tonight should be his first win.

Peter Evison to beat Keith Deller is another one. Evison showed he's got some form against Bob Anderson, but just lost it towards the finishing line. He has a slightly easier game tonight, and if he plays like that I can't see him not winning.

I think it's safe to double either of these up with Bob Anderson to beat John Lowe. Lowe is nowhere near the player he was, and I think Anderson will win pretty convincingly.

[kevshat]

I'm going with a couple tonight.

10pts D.Whitcombe to beat B.George (DNB) Evs Sportingbet

I'd just about make Dave Whitcombe favourite so I'll take sportingbet's offer of Evs on him without the draw. In week 1, Eric Bristow undoubtedly got to Bobby George who can play a lot better than he did but at the same time Dave Whitcombe played really well. Whitcombe had a game good enough to make the PDC World Championships as recently as 2006 so he can play. Bobby George has been going well in tournaments this year but Dave will plod along and play his darts and could well sneak this one.

10pts P.Evison to beat K.Deller (DNB) 6/5 Skybet

I thought Peter Evison was one of the better players on the opening night of the tournament. He's been playing some decent darts in matches in superleagues and things recently and he took that into his match with Bob Anderson. Deller had a tough match with Lazarenko and even taking into account the friendship and 1st game I thought Deller was poor. If Evison plays like he did 3 weeks ago he should have too much for Delboy.

[WoodyTHFC]

Just one point about Deller, Kev. I would not really describe Deller as 'poor' in week 1, he averaged 85+ which is considerably more than anyone else on the opening night. If I also remember correctly he had a stack of bounce outs (which he often has) and also had a stack of 140s. Im not saying he will beat Evison and indeed I hope Evison wins after having a bet on him outright but I wouldnt call Deller 'poor' on the opening night imo.

[kevshat]

Fair do's. It was so long ago I struggle to remember it!! I didn't think Lazarenko was much cop though and he still pushed him all the way which was where I was coming from. Either way, Evison played better for me and I think he'll win tonight .

[kevshat]

Originally Posted by kevshat

I'm going with a couple tonight.
10pts D.Whitcombe to beat B.George (DNB) Evs Sportingbet
10pts P.Evison to beat K.Deller (DNB) 6/5 Skybet

Those will do nicely .

[stereoman]

Updated outright odds from the sponsors and prices for this Friday's third round of matches.

To win the League of Legends:

* Bob Anderson 5/4
* Dave Whitcombe 7/2
* Peter Evison 4/1
* Keith Deller 13/2
* Bobby George 10/1
* Cliff Lazarenko 12/1
* Eric Bristow 18/1
* John Lowe 25/1

Order of play on Friday 27th and match odds from the sponsors:

* Bob Anderson 1/2 vs Cliff Lazarenko 3/1 (draw 4/1)
* Keith Deller 4/6 vs John Lowe 7/2 (draw 4/1)
* Dave Whitcombe 4/11 vs Eric Bristow 9/2 (draw 4/1)
* Peter Evison 4/6 vs Bobby George 9/4 (draw 4/1)

Interesting to read that tomorrow is Dave Whitcombe's 54th birthday (happy birthday Dave!) and he could get 'revenge' for those drubbings he got from Eric Bristow in those two World Championship finals years ago.

[WoodyTHFC]

I like the look of all the favourites tonight and really considered putting them all in an accumulator. Instead I will just settle for Anderson, Deller and Whitcombe in a treble 10 pts @ 3.1 with bluesq, 4/9, 1/2, 4/9 as I am wary that George might start playing from the start of a match at one point although I would take Evison to win that in truth. Anderson played well in the second half of his match against Evison and carried that on against lowe who he beat with ease really. Lazarenko beat a poor Bristow (who didnt even average 70 which even at this level is very poor) and really of the two Anderson is clear fav. Deller I fancy against Lowe who has lost his first two games. Deller played pretty well in the first week and ok last week when he lost a tight one to Evison. Lowe improved his week 1 performance in week 2 but I think Deller might just have too much for him partiocularly if he could get more of his darts to stick in the board. Whitcombe I expect to get his revenge on Eric who has really struggled in this event and worked wonders to pull out a victory in his first match. As long as Dave isnt phased by him, he wins, unless Bristow rolls the clock back 20 yeard all of a sudden which I cant see happening.

[stereoman]

Updated outright odds from the sponsors and prices for today's fourth round of matches.

To win the League of Legends:

* Bob Anderson 4/5
* Dave Whitcombe 7/2
* Keith Deller 6/1
* Peter Evison 13/2
* Bobby George 8/1
* Cliff Lazarenko 20/1
* John Lowe 66/1
* Eric Bristow 80/1

Order of play on Friday 18th and match odds from the sponsors:

* Bob Anderson 8/11 vs Dave Whitcombe 2/1 (draw 4/1)
* Peter Evison 4/7 vs John Lowe 5/2 (draw 4/1)
* Bobby George 4/6 vs Cliff Lazarenko 5/2 (draw 7/2)
* Keith Deller 1/3 vs Eric Bristow 5/1 (draw 4/1)

[GazBlades]

An Evison, George, Deller treble for me tonight. I can't see any of them coming close to losing. Evison 4/7, George 5/6 (), Dellar 4/11 at SkyBet is the way. Almost 3/1, and I've had a bigger than normal bet as I'm ultra confident on this.

I'm really not sure how they get to 5/6 for Bobby George.....

[WoodyTHFC]

My treble worked lto and Im very tempted to do something similar tonight, (George, evison and Dellar) +18.5 so far. However instead Im just going to play it safe and go for George 5/6 sky 10 pts. George should be shorter than this for me. He somehow managed to lose to Bristow on the first night and then paid the price for a slow start against Whitcombe nest time. However he seemed far more comfortable with the surroundings of the event and the stage lto when he beat Evison whom himself has played well in the event. He averaged nearly 83 in that win. Lazarenko has won one match against Bristow so far but in other matches has been pretty ordinary, lto he paid for loads of missed doubles against Anderson when averaging just 75. I consider quite a gap between the two players and George should be a lot shorter than 5/6 to win this match he is expected to do.

[kevshat]

A couple for me tonight. It's another tick for George.

10pts B.George to beat C.Lazarenko 5/6 Skybet

I'm really not sure how Skybet have got Bobby George at 5/6 here. It can only be his poor displays against Bristow and Whitcombe in the 1st two weeks. In fact that 7-4 defeat to Whitcombe doesn't look too bad, especially when we see it was followed by a 7-3 thrashing of Peter Evison. Cliff Lazarenko hasn't played all that well yet and I'm not overly sure there's much potential for improvement either. With Bobby still playing tournament darts and keeping his eye in he's likely to go from strength to strength in this tournamentand should win this one tonight.

10pts K.Deller -2.5 legs to beat E.Bristow 4/5 Bet365

Keith Deller is a very worthy favourite here. Putting it simply Eric Bristow has been woeful in this event. He beat Bobby George on the 1st night but that was as much his histrionics as it was his good darts but in the last 2 events he's lost 7-3 to Whitcombe and to Lazarenko and hasn't even averaged 70 on either occasion. Keith Deller was a bit nervy in week one but his averages have been around and also above the 80 mark. There's a clear different in the standard of these two at present and Deller really should see off the Crafty Cockney 7-4 at worst.

[GazBlades]

I've never liked Bobby George

[stereoman]

Last week's results:

Peter Evison 7-5 Eric Bristow
Bobby George 2-7 John Lowe
Bob Anderson 7-3 Keith Deller
Dave Whitcombe 4-7 Cliff Lazarenko

http://www.thelegendsofdarts.com/results.htm

Order of play for tonight's match night six and odds from the sponsors:

* Bob Anderson 1/6 vs Eric Bristow 9/1 (draw 11/2)
* Peter Evison 11/10 vs Dave Whitcombe 5/4 (draw 4/1)
* Cliff Lazarenko 4/5 vs John Lowe 13/8 (draw 9/2)
* Keith Deller 3/10 vs Bobby George 9/2 (draw 5/1)

[socky1]

Been following this quite keenly, dont think Anderson quite warents the being odds for this. Im quite happy take Evison at 13/2 for outright.