Players Championship Finals date, start time & TV info
Date Friday, November 21 to Sunday, November 23
Starts 12.45pm Friday
Venue Butlin’s Minehead Resort
Competition PDC Tour
TV ITV4
Players Championship Finals betting tips & predictions
Best Bets
Gerwyn Price to win Players Championship Finals
3pts each-way 8-1 Coral, Ladbrokes
James Wade to win quarter four
2pts 5-1 Coral, Ladbrokes
Players Championship Finals preview
Luke Littler, fresh from a successful Grand Slam of Darts title defence, returns to the oche on Friday evening in the first round of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals from Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
Littler, who beat Luke Humphries 16-11 in the Grand Slam final in Wolverhampton last Sunday, faces Jeffrey de Graaf on the opening night of the Butlin’s showpiece. Nuke is a best-price 9-4 to come out on top again as a 64-man field compete over three days of action.
Littler officially became world number one in the Grand Slam and is clearly one of the best darts players in the history of the sport, but there are reasons for thinking the young master may come unstuck in Minehead.
The first two rounds of the Players Championship Finals are best-of-11-legs affairs – short-format darts in which favourites can be vulnerable. Littler has lost plenty of first-to-six-legs shootouts in regulation Players Championships to lesser opponentss.
Jeffrey de Graaf, who beat Gary Anderson 3-0 in the last World Championship and won Players Championship 24 in August, is not a straightforward opener for Littler this week. A maximum machine – either Ross Smith or Niko Springer – will be waiting in round two for Littler should he defeat De Graaf, so early banana skins will need negotiating.
Luke Littler has some early banana skins to negotiate in MineheadCredit: Getty Images
Preference at much bigger odds is for Gerwyn Price, who looks well capable of upstaging the two Lukes. Littler and Luke Humphries were cocky after the Grand Slam final, detailing their dominance of darts, but Price can provide a timely reminder of the PDC’s strength in depth.
Price, number one seed this week on the basis of his excellence in Players Championships this year, can be strongly fancied to emerge from his quarter. Stephen Bunting has gone badly off the boil and Price has been vastly superior to everyone else in his section in recent months.
The Iceman, a losing semi-finalist in the Slam last week and a losing finalist at Minehead in 2019, has lost a lot of weight, improved his fitness, and never felt better physically, which could prove decisive given that the quarters, semis and final are all staged on a marathon Minehead Sunday.
James Wade has been a tough opponent for anyone in recent months and the left-hander can progress to the semi-finals at Butlin’sCredit: Getty Images
Coral and Ladbrokes are offering each-way terms of a quarter the odds the first four, which makes Price an even more appealing option. If Littler does survive his early challenges, Price will not have to face him until the semis, meaning the place money can be banked at the last-four stage.
Humphries has a terrible draw, with Gian van Veen first up, then potentially Josh Rock in round three. Quarter three is vastly more competitive than quarter four, where James Wade and Jermaine Wattimena stand out.
There seems every chance that Wade and Wattimena will meet in a Sunday quarter-final. Backing both men to win the quarter could prove sensible. Preference for punters wanting only one quarter investment is for gritty Wade, who has been enjoying a wonderful resurgence in his early 40s.
Players Championship Finals betting odds
Here are the latest odds with bet365 for the Players Championship Finals
OddsLuke Littler15-8Luke Humphries11-2Gerwyn Price9-1Gian van Veen12-1Josh Rock14-1Stephen Bunting22-1Gary Anderson28-1
Odds correct at time of publishing
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Grand Slam of Darts FAQs
When is the Players Championship Finals?
The Players Championship Finals will take place from November 21 to November 23.
Where is the Players Championship Finals being held?
The event will be held at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
Who is the favourite to win the Players Championship Finals?
Luke Littler is 15-8 favourite as he bids to win his sixth Major of the season.
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