Yesterday the PDC World Darts Championship started with four evening matches. Today will be the first day with a double session, eight matches in total.

I will be aiming to provide daily betting tips on the matches to be played. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer you as soon as possible. The matches of the first and second round are following the best of 5 sets format. A player needs to win 3 legs to win a set. If it's 2-2 in sets and 2-2 in legs, the tie-breaker will be played. Players will need to win by 2 clear legs until it's 5-5 in legs. In that case, players will throw one dart for the bull. The one closest to the bull will start the decisive leg.

These are the matches for today, Friday 14 December 2018:

Michael Barnard (ENG) - José De Sousa (POR)

The first match of the day will be between Michael Barnard (81st in the world) and José De Sousa (122nd). Barnard will be making his second appearance on the World Championship, the previous time being 2009, when he lost in the first round. He will be aiming to do better than that. What a great opportunity he will have against De Sousa, who will also be at his second World Championship (the first time was in 2012, also losing in the first round).

When it comes to experience at World Championship level they are equal, Barnard has the slightly higher ranking and will play in his home country. In darts that doesn't say much, as the crowd can easily decide to support the Portuguese underdog. Barnard is the far more experienced player on the PDC Tour. He is facing high-quality opposition week in, week out. He recorded a 5-1 win over Ted Evetts last month, as well as a 5-0 win over Andy Jenkins. The most remarkable result of De Sousa was a 4-0 win over Tony Demanuele in Malta not so long ago. In my opinion, Barnard will win and will not have a difficult task to beat De Sousa here. They are both not known as very good 180 hitters, so an under bet will do a potentially good job here.

Small bet on no 180s at 80.00

Handicap 180s De Sousa +0.5 at 1.60

Total 180s in the match under 4.5 at 1.95

Michael Barnard to win -1.5 set handicap at 1.65

**Michael Barnard, alias "The Dinosaur", Source: (Darts News)**

Alan Tabern (ENG) - Raymond Smith (AUS)

The match between Alan Tabern and Raymond Smith might be similar to the one above. Tabern is currently 91st in the world, whereas Smith seats at position 131. Tabern is the much more experienced player and reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship once, in 2007. That said, he did not have a great year with his best result a place in the last 16 of the German Open in which he lost against Michael van Gerwen. In that tournament, he won two matches in a row, against Dragutin Horvath and Steve Beaton.

Looking at that Raymond Smith had a better year, or recent spell, despite spending most of his year Down Under in Australia. At the Brisbane Masters, he won 6-1 against Michael Smith and later he won 6-3 against Keegan Brown at the World Series of Darts. He would eventually lose against Raymond van Barneveld, but only after giving him a 6-5 game. The averages of both players are unstable, but in general, they reach the same sort of average range. I see this as a close encounter that the less experienced darter can possibly win. The bookies see Smith as the slight favorite as well, which means backing Tabern might actually offer some value.

Total sets over 4.5 at 2.70

**Raymond Smith, alias "Guru", Source: (Darts News)**

Paul Nicholson (AUS) - Kevin Burness (NIR)

Paul Nicholson was the "bad boy" of darts for a couple of years due to his staged attitude performance on the podium. He has been a bit out of the picture the last few years, which means that imago has tempered a bit down. In 2009 he reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship and he is currently in 64th place in the world. In recent months he recorded wins over Jamie Lewis and James Wade. Burness will make his PDC World Championship debut, currently in 151st position, managed to win against Johnny Clayton and Kim Huybrechts this year, but failed to record any other outstanding results.

Burness has trouble averaging over 90 points per three darts, whereas this seems easily achievable for Nicholson. Besides that Nicholson is a good 180s hitter and will in my opinion easily win this match. Paul Nicholson leads the head to head between the two 3-0 and 17-5 in legs played.

Total sets under 3.5 at 2.65

The first player to throw a 180, Paul Nicholson at 1.70

Most 180s, Paul Nicholson at 1.75

**Paul Nicholson, alias "The Asset", Source: (Live Darts)**

Jamie Lewis (WAL) - Cody Harris (NZL)

Jamie Lewis, number 28 in the world reached the semi-final of the World Championship last year, in which he lost against the record-breaking, history-making, 16-time champion of the world, Phil Taylor. Lewis is someone who can lose against a nobody, but he can then produce magical darts against the best players in the world and beat them. During his world championship campaign last year he produced some of the best darts the world had ever seen, Michael van Gerwen-like darts for long periods during these matches. He has recently been showing that his form is getting back in shape, winning against Dimitri Van den Bergh and Rob Cross, but losing against James Wade, Martin Schindler, and Dave Chisnall. Rasta, who is not having a rasta haircut anymore can average under 90 points but also hit unbelievable averages. In his recent match against Van den Bergh, he threw an average of 109.82 with three darts, in a total of eight legs. Lewis in form can be a massive 180s machine.

Cody Harris played really well against Martin Schindler last night and should be up for a great performance. I believe that in this situation this will not be enough to qualify for the third round. I expect a 3-1 win in sets for Lewis.

Set Handicap Jamie Lewis -1.5 at 2.00

Total 180s over 5.5 at 1.85

**Jamie Lewis, alias "Rasta", Source: (Super Epus)**

Danny Noppert (NED) - Royden Lam (HKG)

Danny Noppert is a potential top 20 player, currently residing in the 47th place, in only his first year on the PDC Pro Tour. Could he potentially be the next Rob Cross? Probably not, as he is missing a bit of consistency in his playing style, which prevents him from booking the results Cross booked last year. Does he have the talent though? Absolutely! In the last couple of months, he has lost and won one against Cross. Two weeks ago at the Players Championship Finals, he reached the semifinals. He won against Mervyn King and Stephen Bunting but lost against Daryl Gurney. Noppert averages over 90 points on average and sometimes even over a 100, besides that he throws a lot of 180s in general.

His opponent, Royden Lam from Hong Kong is only 202nd in the world at the moment. Can the number 202 win against the number 47? Absolutely! It is just not very likely. Lam won 6-5 against Gary Anderson in the Shanghai Masters. When you can do that, you can also beat Noppert. I expect this match to go in Nopperts favor in four or five sets. This means there is plenty of space for a lot of 180s, which both players are capable of throwing.

Handicap 180s Danny Noppert -1.5 at 1.70

Total 180s over 5.5 at 1.75

Set Handicap Royden Lam +1.5 at 2.15

**Danny Noppert, alias "Noppie", Source: (Nederlandse Dartsbond)**

Simon Stevenson (ENG) - Ted Evetts (ENG)

Simon Stevenson is currently 84th in the world and will be starting in his second World Championship after the 2017 tournament. Evetts will also be playing in his second World Championship, as he made his debut last year. Super Ted is in 118th place at the moment. They played each other twice so far in their career's, both in 2016. The first time Stevenson won 5-1, whereas the second time Evetts won 6-3. Stevenson has proven that he is able to beat all players in the world as also he recorded a recent win against Cross. Evetts however mainly plays on the Development Tour, where he almost wins every match. Evetts seems to be averaging the incidental 100+, whereas Stevenson has not done that this year. Probably that is why the bookies favor Super Ted, I do that as well. Stevenson is the better 180 thrower, however, meaning there is value on that market.

Straight win Ted Evetts at 1.70

The first player to throw a 180 Simon Stevenson at 2.15

Most 180s Simon Stevenson at 3.05

**Ted Evetts, alias "Super Ted", Source: (Darts News)**

Chris Dobey (ENG) - Boris Koltsov (RUS)

Chris Dobey is one of those upcoming talents, currently world number 36. He has been rising up the rankings in the past two years and is slowly, but surely becoming one of the big guys. To proof the world that he has the game and the form to perform well on this tournament he won against Dave Chisnall and James Wade, just two weeks ago. He's got all the abilities to be good at this game and will show that in the upcoming years, but perhaps already at this tournament. Koltsov, on the other hand, is currently 168 in the world and has not been in a similar position as Dobey. Normally Koltsov plays his games at a slightly lower level, in which he gathered enough points to earn his spot at these world championships. He probably will be able to win a few legs, maybe even a set, but that would normally be it, I'm expecting 3-1 to Dobey here.

1st Set Leg Handicap Boris Koltsov +1.5 at 1.75

Most 180s Chris Dobey at 1.65

Handicap 180s Chris Dobey -1.5 at 2.25

**Chris Dobey, alias "Hollywood", Source: (PDC Darts)**

Gary Anderson (SCO) - Nicholson/Burness

Gary Anderson, current number 4 in the world, but most likely the second best player in the world currently after Michael van Gerwen will play the winner of the match earlier between Nicholson and Burness. I believe his opponent will be Nicholson, who will be able to win a few legs, but there is not going to be any doubt who will be the winner in three straight sets here.

Total sets under 3.5

Most 180s Gary Anderson

Gary Anderson total 180s over 3.5

Set handicap Gary Anderson -1.5

**Gary Anderson, alias "The Flying Scotsman", Source: (Racing Post)**

Betting / darts betting

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