Darts Betting Strategies

Flourishing from a game played only in the backrooms of pubs, to a multi-million pound professional sport with live television coverage, darts is fast becoming one of the most popular sports to bet on.

If you’re new to darts betting, or you just want to discover a new darts betting strategy, then dive in to our article below and we’ll walk you through our pro tips.

When trying to create a darts betting strategy, the best place to start is by looking at and learning the different types of darts odds markets and bets you can place. We’ve explained some of the most popular darts bets below:

• Match Winner 

This simple bet is one of the most popular bets placed on darts. You are betting on which player you think will win the match.

• Tournament Outright

Another popular pre-tournament bet. Here you’re betting on which player you think will win a specific darts tournament or competition.

• Most 180s

With this bet, you’ll be predicting which player will hit the most 180s in a match. You can usually find good value in Most 180s odds.

• 170 Checkout

As simple as it sounds, this bet is a yes or no on whether you think a 170 checkout (Triple 20, triple 20, bull) will be achieved in a match.

• 9 Dart Finish

A bet on whether you think a player will win a leg with just 9 darts.

• Leg or Set Handicap 

With a Leg or Set Handicap bet, the players will have a number of legs or sets added or subtracted from their final score. This new score determines how the bet is settled.

For example, if you bet on Luke Humphries to win a match with a -2.5 Leg Handicap, he’d have to win the match by at least three legs for the bet to be successful. In this instance, a 10-7 victory for Humphries would win the bet, but a 9-8 score would lose the bet.

With a darts handicap bet, the player you bet on doesn’t necessarily have to win the match for the bet to be successful – they just need to master the darts betting rules set by the bet. This is also true of Under/Over bets.

• Leg or Set Over/Under 

This is a bet on whether a player will win over or under a certain number of legs or sets in a match. 

For example, if you bet on Gerwyn Price to win Over 4.5 legs in a match, he needs to win at least five legs for the bet to be paid out. If he wins four legs or less, the bet is lost.

Darts accumulator betting is a strategy where you combine multiple match winner bets on one bet slip, with each match winner bet added increasing the odds. Here’s how you do it: 

• Find darts matches where there is a clear favourite (the odds will be relatively low).
• Add multiple match winner favourites to your bet slip to create an accumulator bet.
• Remember, each added selection raises the odds, but also increases the risk.

Hedge betting is a strategy used to reduce potential losses or increase profits. Here’s how it works with darts betting: 

• If you’ve placed a bet on a player to win a tournament and they get to the later stages of that darts tournament, you can hedge your bet by backing their opponents in later matches.
• Whatever happens, you’ll get some money back Assess potential payouts and the odds of your hedged bets to figure out how much to stake.

This involves identifying bets where the odds being offered are higher than the probability of the outcome. To make the most of darts value betting, you should:

• Research player form, match stats, and previous matchups.
• Compare odds from different bookies to find outliers.
• Use an odds margin tool to assess the perceived probability of an outcome and compare it to the odds.
• Place bets where the odds offer value.

It’s best to stick to just a few darts betting markets and bet on those, so you can get used to how your predictions play out and you’ll start to develop an expertise in those markets.

As part of your darts betting strategy, you’ll start to see value in the odds of the markets you specialise in, making it easier for you to shop around for the best odds.

One of the best darts betting strategies we can recommend is using an odds comparison site to maximise the value in the odds your placing, and thus increasing your potential winnings.

Another good way of getting maximum value for your darts betting odds is by taking advantage of In Play betting.

Where darts betting strategies really come into play and get put through the ultimate test is with In Play darts betting.

Betting on a live darts match in real time can put your darts prediction skills to the test, and it’s a great way to hone a darts betting strategy.

For example, if you saw the favourite in a match was playing well and growing into a match but were a couple of legs down, you could back them to win the match with an In Play bet and you’d get better value odds. If they turn the match around, you’re quids in.

Another example of taking advantage of In Play betting is if you can see that a favourite is nervous and not playing as consistently as they usually do. Backing the underdog in this situation with a number of different bets (Match Winner, Most 180s, Highest Checkout) would return better value odds due to their lower ranking. With the crowd backing the underdog and the favourite wobbling, shock results do happen in darts.

Reacting to situations like this in a match and betting In Play accordingly is the sign of a decent darts betting strategy, so watch as many darts matches as you can and hone your predictions.

Darts tournaments vary significantly in format, but most of them are played as a best of X legs or sets format. The more prestigious a tournament is, the more likely the matches will be longer, with some being as long as best of 21 legs.

When thinking about darts betting strategies, take the length of the matches in the tournament into consideration. In longer matches, higher ranked players will have more room to recover from a slow start. On the flip side, shorter formats give underdogs a better chance of causing an upset. 

Using this knowledge to your advantage is the foundation for good darts betting strategies.

• PDC World Championship

Winner’s prize money: £500,000

Date held: December to January

Number of players: 96

Tournament format: Sets (final first to 7 sets)

• Premier League Darts

Winner’s prize money: £275,000

Date held: February to May

Number of players: 8

Tournament format: Best of 11 Legs (final first to 11 Legs)

• World Matchplay

Winner’s prize money: £200,000

Date held: July

Number of players: 32

Tournament format: Legs (final first to 18 Legs)

• Grand Slam of Darts

Winner’s prize money: £150,000

Date held: November

Number of players: 32

Tournament format: Legs (final first to 16 Legs)

• World Grand Prix

Winner’s prize money: £120,000

Date held: October

Number of players: 32

Tournament format: Sets (double in, double out)

• Players Championship

Winner’s prize money: £120,000

Date held: November

Number of players: 64

Tournament format: Legs (final best of 21 legs)

• European Championship

Winner’s prize money: £120,000

Date held: October – November

Number of players: 32

Tournament format: Legs

To sum up, any decent darts betting strategy starts with the willingness to research odds markets, read recent form and practice making bets. 

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to darts betting strategies, but you can utilise all of the data, stats and previous tournament results at your disposal to make informed betting decisions and maximise your potential winnings.

Although you can optimise your chances of profitability with research, darts is a volatile sport and matches can swing either way, so bet responsibly, don’t stake what you can’t afford to lose and set limits for yourself.

With a bit of research, your own darts betting strategy and a healthy bankroll, you can start enjoying the thrill and action of darts betting.