Ladbrokes UK Open darts: betting preview and tournament tips

Free darts tips, best bets and analysis for the Ladbrokes UK Open at Butlin’s Minehead.

Where to watch

ITV4, midday Friday

Best bets

Nathan Aspinall
1pt each-way 16-1 general

Krzysztof Ratajski
1pt each-way 35-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Dirk van Duijvenbode
1pt each-way 150-1 general

Ladbrokes UK Open tournament preview

The Ladbrokes UK Open, which sees the Who’s Who and the Who’s He? of the darting world meet at the seaside for a long weekend of tungsten fireworks, is upon us – and it’s as wide open as ever.

A field of 160 arrowsmiths should be assembling at Butlin’s Minehead for the mother and father of all sporting bunfights, a three-day slog which darts punters adore.

The top 128 from the PDC’s Order of Merit are joined by the pick of the Challenge Tour and the Development Tour and there are also 16 amateurs who battled their way through Riley’s qualifiers, among them the Queen of Ally Pally, Fallon Sherrock.

Nathan Aspinall is the defending champion after going in at 125-1 last year, making him the ninth finalist at three-figure odds since the competition began in 2003.

He’s a fraction of that price this time after a sensational year in which he reached a second successive world semi-final and qualified for the Premier League, which he has started well.

As a member of the elite top 32, Aspinall doesn’t come into the competition until round four on Friday night and, like everyone else in the tournament, he could get unlucky with the open draws which help to make this tournament unique.

But he’s playing so consistently well that he deserves a place on a shortlist.

Aspinall is fourth in the betting behind Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price, all of whom can win the title.

Van Gerwen and Wright already have while Gezzy is arguably in the best form of the three after dotting up in Belgium on Sunday for his second title of 2020.

But this is a tournament where the vagaries of the draw are a factor – Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld couldn’t seem to avoid each other when they were the sport's dominant powers – and with several firms offering each-way terms of one quarter the odds for the top four, don’t shy away from an outsider or two. We’ve seen them go in before.

Krzysztof Ratajski, for example, has a run to the semis in him. The Pole was one of the game’s most improved players in 2019. Reaching the last 16 in Minehead kick-started a campaign in which he won two Players Championship events and the Gibraltar Trophy, seeing off Ian White, Daryl Gurney and Dave Chisnall to bring the silverware home.

To prove those were no flukes he has already won a Pro Tour event this year and he beat Rob Cross to make the quarters at last weekend’s Belgian Championship where a 97 average and 66 per cent finishing weren’t enough to bring down a majestic Snakebite. He had, however, beaten the Scot a week before on his way to a floor semi-final in Wigan.

At 150-1 – though he was twice that price a week ago – Holland’s Dirk van Duijvenbode is the last name on the list.

The Titan is a great entertainer and also a seriously on-song darter given two Q-School semis and another semi-final appearance on his second outing on the tour. He made the last four again in Belgium last weekend, when he beat White, Jeffrey de Zwaan and Aspinall for his biggest payday.

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