Queensland Darts Masters predictions and betting tips: Price looks the right bet

Darts tips, best bets and analysis for the Queensland Masters which starts in Townsville, Australia, on Friday.

When to bet

10am Friday

Best bets

G Price to win Queensland Masters
1pt 11-2 bet365

S Whitlock to beat J Wade
1pt 11-10 bet365, Betfred

Tournament preview

Gerwyn Price can emerge from the bottom half of the draw and make a mockery of his odds to land the spoils at the Queensland Masters in Townsville.

The world number one is 11-2 to win the latest World Series event, the first of three being staged in Australia and New Zealand this month.

Seven members of the PDC's elite plus Queen of the Palace Fallon Sherrock are toeing the oche in Queensland with the eight of them taking on an octet of top-notch antipodean arrowsmiths.

And Price has found himself in the toughest part of the draw, needing to see off Damon Heta and either James Wade or Simon Whitlock to make the semis.

Hence he's 11-2 to win the title but this is a player close to his best once again and if he can reproduce what he did at Blackpool last month in the Betfred World Matchplay then he will take some stopping.

Price was the only man to average a shade over 100 throughout the tournament at the Winter Gardens, where he beat Martin Schindler, Dave Chisnall, Jose de Sousa and Danny Noppert before blowing a decent lead in the final against Michael van Gerwen.

The Green Machine is the big noise in the top half of the draw, though if the draw maps out the way it should he'll play Jonny Clayton in the last eight and Dimitri van den Bergh in the semis, so hardly a walk in the park.

If there's an upset in round one – and it's a minor one – then Simon Whitlock to beat James Wade in something of a grudge match gets the vote. Wade has been ill and then became a dad for the second time earlier this week so it's anyone's guess what frame of mind or form he's in.

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