Ready for the 2024 edition of World Matchplay, held at Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from July 13-21? Dive into World Matchplay darts betting with our comprehensive guide, and find out how to hit the bullseye with our expert predictions, the latest odds, popular bet types, and more!
- 1 Best Bookies for World Matchplay Betting
- 2 Tournament Structure for the World Matchplay Darts Betting
- 3 Prize Money
- 4 World Matchplay Darts Betting Odds, Tips, Promotions & Predictions
- 5 5 Reasons To Bet on the World Matchplay
- 6 Betting Sites With World Matchplay Darts Betting Livestreaming
- 7 Popular World Matchplay Betting Markets
- 8 History of the World Matchplay
- 9 Similar Tournaments to the World Matchplay Darts Betting
- 10 ThePuntersPage Final Say
- 11 World Matchplay FAQs
Best Bookies for World Matchplay Betting
UK Gambling Commission
This bookmaker is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), ensuring compliance with strict regulations designed to promote fairness, transparency, and the safety of players. The UKGC license is a mark of trust, safeguarding your funds and personal information while encouraging responsible gambling. Learn more about the UKGC here
Payment methods (7):
    18+ New customers only. Register with BETFRED50. Deposit £10+ via Debit Card and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply. Bet Responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad |
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UK Gambling Commission
This bookmaker is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), ensuring compliance with strict regulations designed to promote fairness, transparency, and the safety of players. The UKGC license is a mark of trust, safeguarding your funds and personal information while encouraging responsible gambling. Learn more about the UKGC here
Payment methods (9):
  18+ New UK+IRE Customers only. Certain deposit methods & bet types excl. Min first 5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4x 5 free bets. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. No cashout, restrictions + Full T&Cs apply. Bet Responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad |
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UK Gambling Commission
This bookmaker is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), ensuring compliance with strict regulations designed to promote fairness, transparency, and the safety of players. The UKGC license is a mark of trust, safeguarding your funds and personal information while encouraging responsible gambling. Learn more about the UKGC here
Payment methods (5):
 18+ New customers only. Opt in, bet £10 or more on any football market at minimum 1/1 odds within 7 days of registration. No cash out. Get £30 in Free Football Bets, selected markets. Free Bets expire in 7 days. Full T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad |
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UK Gambling Commission
This bookmaker is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), ensuring compliance with strict regulations designed to promote fairness, transparency, and the safety of players. The UKGC license is a mark of trust, safeguarding your funds and personal information while encouraging responsible gambling. Learn more about the UKGC here
Payment methods (7):
18+ New Customers only. Certain deposit methods & bet types excl. Min first £/€5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 to get 4 x £5 free bets. Free bet available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. Restrictions + Full T&Cs apply. Bet Responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad |
Upcoming Darts Events
Tournament Structure for the World Matchplay Darts Betting
The event will consist of 32 darts professionals competing for the Phil Taylor Trophy and a substantial prize payout. Here is how it works:
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How to qualify: The best 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit by July 7th receive seeded spots. An additional 16 players chosen from the ProTour Order of Merit (excluding those who have already qualified) complete the 32-player bracket.
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Match structure: Every match requires a two-leg victory to win. If the score hits a specific point (for example, 12-12 in the first round), the game is extended by a max of six extra legs until a tie-breaking leg determines the victor. The number of legs required to win grows over the tournament, needing 18 legs to determine the champion in the final.
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Duration: The World Matchplay begins on July 13th and lasts until the 21st. It is a single-elimination tournament.
Prize Money
The overall prize pool for the 2024 World Matchplay darts in Blackpool is a whopping £800,000, shared among the contestants depending on how far they advance in the competition. The champion receives the biggest portion: £200,000.
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Winner: £200,000
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Second place: £100,000
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Semifinalists (2): £50,000
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Quarter-finalists (4): £30,000
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Second round (8): £15,000
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First round (16): £10,000
World Matchplay Darts Betting Odds, Tips, Promotions & Predictions
The odds for the event have already been announced. Below you can see the odds coming from the biggest bookies like Ladbrokes, BetVictor, and Coral.
Ladbrokes Odds
Ladbrokes is one of the best options for World Matchplay. You can select the match you want, place your bet on one of the existing markets, and try to predict scores. Choose from main, specials, legs, checkouts, 180, or many other markets.
BetVictor Odds
BetVictor has also published odds for World Matchplay. You can access them and sort them out by popularity or time. The operator doesn’t have so many markets available, but you can choose the main such as legs, 180s, total 180s, and similar.
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World Matchplay Darts Betting Tips & Predictions 2024
32 players will line up for the highly-anticipated World Matchplay tournament soon, the most promising of which we describe in this section.
The 2024 World Matchplay is expected to present plenty of fireworks. The spotlight will be on the top-ranked player in the world, Englishman Luke Humphries, who is the second betting favorite at 7/2. Household name Michael van Gerwen (No. 2 in the world) cannot be overlooked at 7/1, and will be determined to add another World Matchplay championship to his trophy cabinet.
Reigning champion Nathan Aspinall (25-1) is attempting to defend his title. At the same time, the darts world will be eager to observe Premier League champion Luke Littler (the favorite, 5/2) and how he performs on the historic Blackpool stage.
World Matchplay Darts Betting Promotions 2024
Ladbrokes is offering new UK and Ireland members (18+) free bets for any sport, including the World Matchplay. You can earn £/€20 in free bets by creating an account and placing a qualifying bet (at least £/€5 on any sport with minimum 1/2 odds). Ladbrokes will then provide four £/€5 free bets, which expire in one week.
5 Reasons To Bet on the World Matchplay
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It is one of the biggest events of the PDC.
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It is part of Darts Triple Crown.
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Total prize pool for the World Matchplay darts stands at £800,000.
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The winner will collect a cheque for £200,000.
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It will be a good form guide for the second half of darts season.
Betting Sites With World Matchplay Darts Betting Livestreaming
Using the following bookmakers to livestream the World Matchplay allows you to follow the action while you wager or stream it for free if you don’t pay for cable.
Popular World Matchplay Betting Markets
There are lots of great ways you can enjoy betting on darts. Below, we have listed a small selection of the most popular markets.
This market requires you to bet on the player you believe will win the World Matchplay. If your player wins, your bet will pay out.
An each-way bet is very similar to the outright winning bet above, only it allows your player to at least reach the final and lose. If they win, so much the better, as you will get paid on the win and the place. But if they lose in the final, you at least get a return back for the place portion of the bet.
Darts games are made up of legs, which in turn win sets. The norm, not the rule, is that each set is played over the best of five legs, but this does vary between tournaments. In the World Matchplay, games are played for the best number of legs, which rises as the tournament progresses. Many bookmakers allow punters to bet on which player will win a certain leg.
Although this won’t decide the match, darters’ averages are recorded, with bookies using these averages for over/under bets. So, if you think that the 2019 champion (who averaged 95.16 in his winning final) will throw higher than 100 in a match (known as a ton plus), then you can place a bet predicting exactly that. If he manages to post a high enough average, you win.
Like most other majors, the World Matchplay darts is no different when it comes to heavy scoring. The triple 20 will take a bit of a battering from the likes of Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen, who usually make their visits to the oche count. Although you can bet on a player to produce a nine-dart leg, the 180s will usually stir up a lot of interest, and it certainly gets the crowd on their feet flashing ‘180’ cards when a player pops up with one.
History of the World Matchplay
The second-longest running event on the PDC Tour, the World Darts Matchplay, was the first staged in 1994. It is held in high regard, as it is the third of seven ranked majors during the calendar year. And in 1994, Larry Butler shocked the darting community when he won the inaugural event, stunning Dennis ‘The Menace’ Priestly in the final.
Although the Winter Gardens used to stage the opera when it first opened its doors in 1878, it has become a haven for darts fans who make the pilgrimage up north annually to see the stars in action. In the early 1990s, the then PDC Tournament director and co-founder of the World Darts Matchplay, Tommy Cox, put forward the idea of a summer tournament, and the organisers haven’t looked back.
Since its inception, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool has had the privilege of hosting the World Darts Matchplay event. The field of 32 will feature 16 of the world’s top players based on their ranking in the PDC Order of Merit. The format has changed very little over the years, as the first round consists of a race to 10 legs, the semi-final is a first-to-17-leg affair, and the final is a first-to-18-leg affair.
Many majestic moments have been captured over the years, including Phil Taylor’s raft of records. Aside from claiming 16 World Matchplay titles, Taylor, the undisputed king of the oche, produced the first nine-darter in 2002. Another memorable moment was during the 2013 semi-final between Adrian Lewis and Van Gerwen, when the Dutchman missed a double 13 for a 146 finish before Lewis sealed the victory and dropped to his knees in pure ecstasy.
Today, the World Matchplay has grown into the second-biggest PDC Tournament in terms of status and prestige. American Larry Butler beat Dennis Priestley 16–12 to win the inaugural event. Following the retirement of 16-time champion Phil Taylor in 2017, the PDC announced that from 2018 onwards, the World Matchplay trophy would be named after him.
In the most recent 2023 World Matchplay, Nathan Aspinall conquered the title by routing Jonny Clayton 18-6. Aspinall went on an incredible run midway through the match, winning 11 consecutive legs to claim his first World Matchplay title and a £200,000 prize.
Recent World Matchplay Darts Betting
| Year | Champion | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Nathan Aspinali | England |
| 2022 | Michael van Gerwen | The Netherlands |
| 2021 | Peter Wright | Scotland |
| 2019 | Rob Cross | Belgium |
| 2018 | Gary Anderson | Scotland |
| 2017 | Phil Taylor | England |
| 2016 | Michael van Gerwen | The Netherlands |
| 2015 | Michael van Gerwen | The Netherlands |
| 2014 | Phil Taylor | England |
| 2013 | Phil Taylor | England |
| 2012 | Phil Taylor | England |
| 2011 | Phil Taylor | England |
World Matchplay Darts Betting Key Stats
| Established | 1994 |
| Length | 18 legs in the final |
| Sponsor | Betfred |
| Prize Pool | £800,000 |
| Date | July 13-21, 2024 |
| Location | Winter Gardens, Blackpool |
World Matchplay Interesting Stats
Nobody has won the Darts World Matchplay more than Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, who has claimed this event 16 times, equalling his record of 16 wins in the World Championships.
Taylor also enjoyed an incredible 38-game unbeaten run from 2008-2015.
There have only been 10 different Matchplay champions: Phil Taylor, Rod Harrington, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Larry Butler, Rob Cross, Peter Evison, Colin Lloyd, James Wade, and Peter Wright.
Dennis Priestley finished runner-up in three consecutive years.
There are only five nationalities to have won this tournament: players from the USA, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and England.
Three finals have gone to sudden death, the most recent of them being in 2018, when Gary Anderson beat Mensur Suljovic 21-19 in what is considered the best World Matchplay final.
The total prize pot has risen over the past few years, as it now stands at £800,000.
Adrian Lewis holds the records for most 180s in a World Matchplay darts tournament (56), a match (19).
Similar Tournaments to the World Matchplay Darts Betting
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World Grand Prix: The next major after the World Matchplay, this event takes place in Leicester and lasts a week.
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Grand Slam of Darts: A month before the World Championship begins, the Grand Slam of Darts is held in Wolverhampton. This tournament features the winners and finalists of all the big events in the last 12 months to form the likes of a ‘champion of champions.’
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World Darts Championship: The World Championship begins in December and takes place over the festive period in London. It is the biggest darts event of the year.
ThePuntersPage Final Say
The 2024 World Matchplay will provide plenty of betting opportunities for punters. Watching the world’s best competing for the £200,000 top prize should be highly entertaining. Remember to wager responsibly, stick to a designated bankroll, and never bet more than you can afford.
World Matchplay FAQs
The best darts World Matchplay betting sites are Ladbrokes, BetVictor, Coral, and Betfred.
The 2024 World Matchplay darts tournament is available to watch on Sky Sports.
The World Matchplay is showcased at the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Phil Taylor dominated the World Matchplay event, lifting the title on a whopping 16 occasions.
The 2024 edition runs from July 13-21.
The prize pool for the tournament in 2024 is £800,000, with £200,000 reserved for the winner.
Of course, this is known as World Matchplay darts outright betting. It can also be considered a futures wager.
You can indeed. In 2018, Gary Anderson landed a nine-darter in his World Matchplay game against Joe Cullen, so that year, you would have won this bet.
Yes, the bonus for new users at Ladbrokes can be used for the World Matchplay.