Who will be Darts World Champion 2017? Even bookmakers rely on world-class sport in a party atmosphere

The Darts World Cup 2017 has been held at the Alexandra Palace in London since 15 December. The winner, who is nominated on 2 January, receives 350,000 pounds of prize money (about 417,000 euros). The World Cup has become one of the most popular sporting events on German TV during Christmas holidays. The Sport1 division has been broadcasting live from the “Ally Pally” for 12 years and is recording better and better rates every year. The demand is also huge among the fans. Almost all 66,000 World Cup tickets were sold out in the space of one day. And also among the bookmakers betting on the games of the Darts World Cup are becoming increasingly popular.

Until a few years ago, Darts was still considered a pure pub sport in many countries. But now the darts sport has arrived in the mainstream. Regardless of whether the TV viewers, the visitors of the live events or the sports betting providers. Many of the protagonists still look like they used to be: the thick beer puffs of most players cannot be hidden under strangely cut and designed polo shirts.

Kneipp game celebrates splendid rebirth as a TV and live sport

the triumph of darts began in 1992. At that time, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) was initially founded under the name World Darts Council (WDC). The TV channel Sky Sports, which wanted to include the darts sport in its program, played a significant part in the launch. Since 1994, the PDC has been hosting its World Championship at the turn of the year. The PDC ensured that the pub game could celebrate a splendid rebirth as a TV and live sport. Darts is also so loved because it is so simple. Man vs. man, it does not need a referee.

The variant 501 is played at the World Cup. Each player starts with 501 points and tries to get to 0 with as few throws as possible. The version “Double Out” is also played. This means that the last field must always be a double field. The two opponents alternate after each three throws. The special are on the one hand the exciting matches and on the other the fans, which make the darts tournaments a mixture of carnival and Oktoberfest. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung once wrote that Darts was like four hours of elimination. In addition, 25,000 pints of beer are sold every night during the World Cup at Ally Pally. The fans come in the craziest and most unusual disguises to the games.

Darts is already the second most important sport in England and the Netherlands

In England and the Netherlands, the precision sport behind football is already considered the second most important sport. In the coming year, the prize money will rise from last ten to 11.2 million pounds. In 2006 it had been two million. Darts is still an amateur sport in Germany. The players of the Bundesliga founded in 2005 deserve no or very little money.

More and more bookmakers and weather discover the game for themselves. The betting risk is quite low, as the outsiders almost never win the big tournaments. Nevertheless, bets can count on value, since a group of eight to nine players is a big favorite in tournaments like the World Cup.

Great bookmaker’s favorite is the world’s most elusive Michael Van Gerwen

Also this year was the world’s most elite, the Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen, also known as “Mighty Mike” or “MVG” again the great favorite of bookmakers. He has replaced the legend Phil “The Power” Taylor as the spearhead of darts. Michael van Gerwen won 25 tournaments this year, including nine major events. He has already earned 1.5 million pounds of prize money (about 1.8 million euros). If you bet 10 euros for the bookmakers before the World Cup on a victory of Michael van Gerwen, only 17 euros will be returned. MVG has dominated the tour for several years, but so far it has only been a World Cup victory in 2014.

Behind the Dutch, Gary Anderson, the title defending champion, was among the winners. For that there was with 10 euro employment 75 euro back. For Anderson it would be the third World Cup victory in a row. If Anderson is one day enough, a successor is already in the starting holes: Anderson’s two-and-a-half-year-old son Tai is already infected with dart fever. As soon as he gets up in the morning, he probably plays darts. He, too, had it in his blood. Last year bookmaker William Hill already offered a bet with the odds of 501: 1 that Tai will once again be like his Papa Darts World Champion.