Darts Betting Guide

Darts is an international sport with a huge community of fans and championships. The professional players compete against each other, and you have a chance to make predictions, place bets, and do the best you can to get your big winnings. Luckily, we have prepared a guide that will present you with all possible betting types, available markets, the top 10 largest tournaments in the darts arena, and our recommendations for your future betting journey. 

Our team hopes that by the end of the article, you will become a bit more confident in your bets. However, if you are keen on professional sports betting, stay tuned for our comprehensive guide on how to bet. 

How to Place Bets

Darts is a 1v1 game in which 2 players throw darts at a dartboard one by one to score points. Each player starts with 501 points. Whoever lowers their points faster wins the game. Any of the two competitors need to throw three darts at the dartboard one by one. A dartboard has sections with numbers and multipliers. Their goal is to lower the score from 501 to zero, and the last throw must be doubled. From the bettor’s perspective, you have multiple betting markets to choose from. These markets allow bettors to determine what outcomes make the bet to win. The goal of bettors is to pick the right market, evaluate the odds, specify the stake, and check if the potential payout satisfies your betting needs. 

If darts competitions are interesting for betting, it is crucial to know the rules and requirements. In addition, you should know what format the tournament is held in.

• The first one is leg-based. For example, the number of legs is predetermined, and to win, you have to beat your opponent by winning more legs (often 3 or 5). 
• Set-based competitions, where players have to win the set by winning a certain number of legs (often 3). 

Darts Betting Markets 

As we have already mentioned, in order to place your darts bet, you need to select the market. The market determines which outcome will bring you the payout. Fortunately, darts bettors have a wide range of different bet types to initiate the bet. So check out the list of available markets below. 

Winner/Loser

This is the basic money line bet that requires you to pick the winner of the darts game. This is a simple bet that requires knowledge about the players, analytical skills in determining the favorites and underdogs, and the skills to compare the odds. The higher the odds, the lower the chances of winning when betting on that player. The lower the odds, the more likely you are to win.

Handicap Betting in Darts

Similar to other sports, darts allow you to set a handicap, which gives a player an advantage. For example, if you give the first player a handicap of minus 2.5 legs, that player must win the match with an advantage of three or more legs.

Over/Under

Over/Under is a convenient tool for determining score-based options, such as the number of legs or sets. Basically, you can use Over/Under if you want to specify that one of the players gets three legs to win the set, or you can use Under if you want to specify that the player wins only one leg but loses the set. Also, with O/U, you can predict the number of 180s during the set or entire game. 

Correct Score 

For more intense betting, you can predict the correct score of sets by the end of the match. If the match goes to a certain number of sets, you can predict what the final score will be and who will win the match. For example, the final score could be 5-7, 4-7, 6-7 and in order to win the bet, you have to predict the correct score of this match. Yes, the odds are extremely high, but the payouts are also extremely high, so you can make good profits with this risk. 

Number of 180s

Another betting market that you can bet on is the player who will get the biggest number, 180, during the entire tournament. This is a fairly simple bet that has average odds and average payouts. However, to diversify your betting experience and try something new, you can place bets on such game parameters.

Darts Live Betting 

Online betting is evolving by lips and bounds, introducing live betting on almost every sports discipline. Darts is no exception allowing you to watch the live stream and place bets at the same time. The beauty of this format is that you can bet while the match is still in progress, and even if one of the players has an advantage or has won some sets already, you can still place your bet on the winner of the tournament on the O/U of won sets or legs, giving the handicap and so on. However, be aware of the rapidly changing odds, as the odds on different markets change with each dart thrown. 

Top 10 Biggest Darts Tournaments

If you want to succeed in darts betting, then you require the knowledge about what upcoming tournaments are going to take place in the nearest future. The event does not have to be world-renowned. You can choose among some local and known within one region tournaments. Go on reading: we are going to discuss the biggest competitions on the darts in the world. 

1.Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)

After the boom of darts in 1980, the pool of professional darts players in England gathered and founded the WDC (World Darts Council), which then became known as PDC. The championship is broadcast on several world TV channels, YouTube, and some other sources. Bettors can find this event in the sportsbooks in the category of darts. 

2. Premier League Darts 

The organization of darts competitions was made for sponsorship purposes. Premier League was launched in 2005 on Sky Sports to encourage darts fans to take part in competitions. It now features top players competing for a prize pool of over £1,000,000. Punters can show their love by betting on their favorite darts players online.  

3. PDC World Matchplay 

The tournament is run by the Professional Darts Corporation and features a legs format. The prize fund for the title of champion was £800,000 in 2023 and tends to be larger in subsequent years. The current title holder is Michael van Gerwen. 

4, UK Open 

This is a major PDC darts tournament held in England. Over 160 players compete in this event for a prize of £120,000 and a place in the PDC Top 32. The tournament is divided into four rounds. Each round brings you closer to the top. Thanks to such a system, every player can compete to become a champion.  

5. Grand Slam of Darts 

All players who were eliminated from the British Darts Organization tournament had a chance to play in another tournament organized by the PDC. Grand Slam of Darts is a sponsored championship with a big prize pool of over half a million pounds. The previous final winner is Luke Humphries. 

6. European Championship

This tournament was created to give top darts players an opportunity to compete for the chance to be ranked among the best darts players. It is run by the Professional Darts Corporation and the ranking is called the PDC Order of Merit. It is prestigious to get into this ranking of the top 32 darts players in the world.  

7. Championship Finals 

Once players from the top 32 reach the finals, the moment of truth arrives. This event will gather thousands of darts lovers to witness who will be the next top 1 player in the European Darts Championship. Peter Wright is now the highest-ranking player. Finals in 2023 ended up with a score of 11-6, where Peter got rid of James Wade.  

8. World Cup of Darts 

World Cup is one of the youngest darts competitions. Almost all events take place in Germany. The main venues are Sparkassen-Arena and Eissporthalle, where you have a chance to witness the winner of a World Cup and become a winner of almost half a million dollars. You, as a bettor, can make darts predictions in advance or live. 

9. World Series of Darts 

The format is based on winning legs, where top-ranked players from the PDC winners try to knock each other out. World of Series takes place in various locations from May to November. Therefore, we have more opportunities to make darts predictions.  

10. Darts Masters 

The reason behind the 10th place in our review is the fact that this is the youngest tournament from PDC which does not affect the ranking of the players. However, here, the top 24 players are competing. Masters from DPC were established in 2013 and, since then, have provided round-based type of competition for players. 

Darts Betting Strategies

The era of darts betting in English pubs and bars has gone smoothly towards online betting. The number of active online betting users on darts is skyrocketing. Also, the number of darts sportsbooks is getting bigger and bigger, and the standards across the betting options are becoming more convenient and easier to bet with. On top of that, numerous new events are popping up in the darts arena, and bettors can use their knowledge and our strategies to profit from making predictions on darts events. Below is a brief list of the most useful tips on how to bet on darts. 

Consider all Tournaments

If you want to start your betting journey in the darts arena, you have to be aware of all the top tournaments that we have talked about before. Since most of them are related to each other, you should monitor them, taking into account the players’ styles, their performance in different tournaments, and the conditions to participate in future competitions.

Benefit from the Variety of Markets

Darts is one of the oldest professional games with many different outcomes. Of course, it does not offer as many markets as football matches; however, betting on darts, you can diversify your betting tactics by placing bets on absolutely different outcomes. Instead of betting on the winner of the tournament, you can bet on the number of legs won by a certain person, the number of 180s scored during the competition, or use O/U to determine how many rounds this or that player will be able to handle. In addition, you can try your luck and try to guess the correct score for the final game, having an opportunity to get a bigger payout. 

Be Careful with your Budget

The money you have in your balance is the instrument that you use to gain profit. If you want to keep the balance positive, you have to learn the money management techniques. Most of them are dedicated to the ability to accurately divide the budget towards different games and championships. Some of them are dedicated to the fact that you will never go negative.

Keep in Mind the Game Details

When betting on darts, the bettors must know the rules of the current game, including the number of legs and sets to win each match. That is obvious; however, you can benefit from unexpected results on events. In order to find such a contest, you need to find a game with a short-leg contest format. In this case, you can bet on the outsiders and still have a good chance to win the bet.

Follow the News

On the Internet, you can find numerous articles, publications, and other materials about upcoming tournaments. Often they mention very important details about the conditions of each player or the format of the competition that will help you to make the right decision.

Darts Pros and Cons 

If you are choosing the sports discipline to bet on, never choose the one that you are not aware of. Darts is a specific game where you, the bettor, must know the maximum details about the current championship and particular event, as well as all the players and their abilities. Making your decision based on the pros and cons is never a good idea. However, you can check what it takes to bet on darts and why these sports might not be for you.