A lot of darts fans claim that the PDC players are “miles ahead” of their BDO counterparts! Is this actually true though? We take a look at waht it takes to “make it” in the BDO!

We analysed the 531 legs that had been thrown in the PDC Premier League tournament at the point we investigated and discovered that 69% of the winning legs had been in 15 darts or fewer and if you added the 18 dart legs into the mix then this accounted for 94% of all the winning legs.

There were two key reasons for publishing our findings. One reason was to take into consideration the current set up which allows anyone to turn up, pay a few hundred pounds and compete for the chance to play in the PDC. Perhaps some of these players will save their money next year when they consider the facts and realise they have more work on the practice board to do before it is worth attempting to make it on the Pro tour.

The second reason is to encourage a “pathway” for dart players to follow. The BDO is seen by many as a stepping stone to the PDC. It is not a stepping stone for everyone but it does seem to be a logical progression for dart players to follow for a number of reasons. We will come back to the reasons in a later blog.

To aid the comparison of the Premier League and the BDO we will use the data from the 2012 Lakeside World Championship. Arguably the top PDC players are in the Premier League and the top BDO players show up at Bob Potter`s Lakeside emporium each year.

Our BDO “Reality Test” looks at how many darts the top players need to win a leg. The most important (and only really) criteria are that winning legs will be split as follows:

9 Darts, 12 Darts or fewer, 15 Darts or fewer, 18 Darts or fewer, 21 Darts or fewer, 24 Darts or fewer etc:

2012 LAKESIDE

There were a total of 691 legs of darts during the championships.

Number of Darts           Number of Winning Legs

9                                              There were no 9 dart legs

12 darts or fewer                             38

15 darts or fewer                             254

18 darts or fewer                             272

21 darts or fewer                             104

24 darts or fewer                             18

27 darts or fewer                             3

30 darts or fewer                             1

33 darts or fewer                             1

In our Premier League investigation we described the statistic that 69% of legs were won in 15 darts or fewer as “eye watering” and that adding 18 dart legs took the total of winning legs to a mind boggling 94% . In comparison, the 15 darts or fewer column for The Lakeside accounted for 42% of the winning legs and if you then add the 18 dart legs this takes the tally for Kist and Co to 82% of all winning legs that are taken in 18 darts or fewer. This may stop a few of the “BDO Bashers” in their tracks!

15% of legs were won in 21 darts or fewer at Lakeside and compared to just a little under 6% in the Premier League. A further 18 legs ( 2.6%) still meant a win at Lakeside despite chucking 22,23 or 24 darts  compared to just 2 legs (less than 1%) in the Premier League. Paul Jennings also picked up legs in 26 darts and the “pub darts” award (apologies if we have offended any pub players) in a mammoth 31 darts.  Three others chipped in with 26, 27 and 29 dart wins. These are the exceptions though!

The difference in the 15 dart legs (69% compared to 42%) demonstrates that there is (and this is not really denied) that the PDC (full time) players do have the edge over their BDO counterparts. However, there seems to be only a small difference in the standard when you note that 82% of Lakeside legs were won in 18 darts or fewer (94% in the Premier League). 82% of legs won in under 18 is good quality darts.

In further mitigation of the BDO, only the top 8 of the Premier League are being compared with the top 32 of the BDO. You could argue that the PDC have the advantage statistically and if you had the top 32 PDC players included the margins may get even closer. There is another investigation for us in the near future there then.

It appears whichever code you “dream” of conquering, 18 dart legs is the benchmark to hit to stand any chance of success. This investigation suggests that there is more room for error in the BDO compared to the very best eight of the PDC where 15 dart legs are the norm.

Now you have read this please get back to the practice board!

Official; Martin Adams Resigns BDO Board Position

Well I posted two days ago that there were changes at the BDO board meeting, and it’s finally updated it’s own website.  Surely something quite so important can get up the same day?  It’s just this sort of poor communication which lets the organisation down.  How on earth can the announcement congratulate it’s PR man when it’s another example of terrible press management??

From the BDO website:

Following the recent meeting of the BDO Board of Directors, the resignation of Martin Adams as Players Director was reluctantly accepted.

INCREASED PRIZE MONEY FOR 2012 BDO BRITISH CLASSIC

There are substantial prize money increases for the 2012 Winmau BDO British Classic to be played for the first time at Coventry’s impressive Ricoh Arena on Saturday, July 14th.

Total prize money is being increased by £3,780 to £10,280 with the Women’s Singles Champion seeing prize money doubling from £500 to £1,000, and all other women’s prizes showing 100% increases as follows:
2012 Champion: £1,000; runner-up £400; Semi-Finalists £160 each; Quarter-Finalists £80 each and Jt.9th £40 each.

The Men’s Singles retains its top prize of £3,000 but all other prize money increases as follows:
Runner-up: £1,200; Semi-Finalists £500 each; Q/f: £250 each and Jt 9th £125 each.

The Winmau BDO British Classic will be the BDO’s major event in a ‘Festival of Darts’ that sees a unique collaboration between the BDO and the England Darts Organisation (EDO) to produce an exciting long-weekend of darts from Friday, July 13th to Sunday, July 15th at the Ricoh Arena.

The mouth-watering line-up will combine two major events on the darts calendar – the WINMAU BDO BRITISH CLASSIC and the EDO ENGLAND MASTERS.

Both will feature Men’s and Women’s events carrying valuable ranking points.

In addition, there will be the inaugural Ricoh Arena Open Singles on Friday, July 13th with a guaranteed prize fund of £1,500. It is an exciting curtain-raiser for the weekend and open to players eligible to play in the Winmau World Masters and Lakeside World Professional Championships. The Champion will be invited to this year’s Winmau World Masters and the International Play-Offs for the 2013 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships.

There is a bonus for the general public because spectator entry to all events at the Ricoh Arena will be free!

Schedule of Events

Friday, July 13th: Ricoh Arena Darts Open (Singles) at 8pm. Entry on the day.

£1500 Guaranteed Prize Money. For players eligible to play in the Winmau World Masters and Lakeside World Professional.

Saturday, July 14th:England National Men’s and Women’s Singles at 10am
British Classic Men’s and Women’s Singles at 1pm
Grosvenor Grand Prix of Darts Men’s and Women’s Grand Finals at 7pm

Sunday, July 15th: England Masters Men’s and Women’s Singles at 11am; England Masters Youth at 1PM; England Masters Men’s and Women’s Pairs at 3pm

The Ricoh Arena is situated in the centre of the country and easily accessible by road, rail and air. There are a multitude of hotels within minutes of the venue, adequate parking facilities and excellent catering facilities.

Both the Winmau BDO British Classic and EDO England Masters will be played exclusively on Winmau Blade 4 dartboards.

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES JULY 2ND, 2012 (Entry Form on Events Diary)

Breaking Rumour; Martin Adams Resigns from BDO Board

Martin Adams, no longer with the BDO Board? Rumours flying about

It’s not ‘official’ yet – although if you’re waiting for the BDO to update their official website, don’t hold your breath… but I’m hearing through several sources that Martin Adams, BDO stalwart, has resigned his post from the BDO controlling board.

This comes after Martin was one of the people at the heart of the board take-over which ousted the former chairman Olly Croft MBE.  To leave so soon does seem odd – the reason I am hearing is “personal reasons” – but speculation is that he is leaving before ‘the ship sinks’ .

The new board has yet to really deliver anything solid to the BDO players – and the threat of no televised darts is a real one, with the Lakeside contract with the BDO soon to expire.   Last year’s Lakeside being shown partially on ESPN was hardly a positive, with viewing figures a 10th of those achieved on the BBC.

I am also hearing rumours that the current chairman, Barry Gilbey was on the verge of resigning before today’s full board meeting – if I hear anything on that I will update!

Keep watching the official BDO website www.bdodarts.com/ in case it gets updated.

Target Jersey Festival of Darts; 4 Days of Darts and Beers!

For those of you who are after ranking points, or just love a great weekend away playing darts with others, you will be interested in this!!  The historic ‘Jersey Festival of Darts” has been resurrected, and they are taking bookings right now for the big money tournament in Jersey.

Take a look at their Facebook page (and ‘like’ it to keep up to date with news etc), and also make sure you bookmark their official website here; http://jerseysportsfestivals.co.uk/darts/. There’s also now a twitter account, so you can follow @JerseyDarts

It’s all been organised and put together by Howard Miller, who runs darts (and the other sports) at Rileys Sports Bars.  Howard has already got some of the big names of the BDO going along, including Ladies world champ Anastasia.

You can view a PDF with more info HERE.

WHAT IS THE JERSEY FESTIVAL OF DARTS?

Many years ago the Jersey Festival of darts was once regarded as one of the most important most anticipated events in the BDO calendar. First organised in the early eighties the Festival quickly became an annual pilgrimage for hundreds of darts enthusiasts and all the top players of the day would regularly attend. Household names and legends like Phil Taylor, John Lowe, Jocky Wilson, Bob Anderson, Keith Deller, Eric Bristow, have all taken the short trip over the Channel Islands and after speaking to many of them its so obvious that not only did they have a great time they share many incredible memories.

That’s exactly what as organisers we want to re-create, like the English Pool Festival held in Jersey every Feb/March where the atmosphere and camaraderie reigns supreme, the Festival will be about giving all attendees a memorable few days, not just when on the boards but off them as well and is why we now invite everyone, men ladies serious, casual and supporters alike to become part of the Jersey Festival resurrection.

Events

1 The Target Darts Jersey Classic Channel Islands Championship – £2,000

2 The Darts Corner Jersey Mens Open – £6,200 (CAT B)

3 The Target Darts Jersey Classic Masters – £5,200 (CAT B)

4 The Darts Corner Jersey Ladies Open – £2,000 (CAT B)

5 The Target Darts Jersey Classic  Ladies Masters – £2,000 (CAT B)

6 The Inside Darts Mens Doubles – £1000

7 The Inside Darts Ladies Doubles – £500

8 The Inside Darts Mixed Doubles – £600

9 The Darts Corner Jersey No Hopers and Cabbages – £1,500
(only open to those players who have not picked up any money in the main men’s and ladies singles)

All four main singles are official  BDO invitation events and are open only to those players who are eligible to play in the Winmau World Masters and the Lakeside world professional Championships

Inside Darts Magazine;  Issue 2 Features Kist and Anastasia

The 2nd issue of Inside Darts magazine is out NOW, and again is free to read online.

This issue features both BDO Lakeside world champions, Christian Kist and Anastasia, as well as an interview with the new BDO Chairman.

The magazine covers world darts, including the soft tip game, and how the game is developing across the globe.  Visit the subscription page where you can sign up interest; the magazine will be £10 for a years worth of issues in electronic form, or only £2.50 per printed issue.

Inside Darts April issue - including tribute to Jocky Wilson

Ladies Darts Organisation; Lincoln Open  £1000 Top Prize

Fancy your chances ladies? £1000 top prize on offer! Sponsors also needed to support this event (£100 a board sponsorship)

During the Lakeside (Yes BDO) world championships, a group of darts ladies started up a petition to try and ‘force’ the BBC/ESPN to show more respect to ladies darts, and show some live on their coverage.  The petition did really well, and got a lot of support from many men and women in darts, from both sides of the divide, and in the end the BBC did show the women’s world final on the red button.

Spurred on by that success, the team lead by Julie Lambie (secretary of Lincolnshire darts), as gone on to create a £1000 ladies open darts competition, and are looking for both players to enter, and sponsors to help fund the event and huge (for the ladies game) prize fund.

The ladies Lincoln Open will be on September the 15th at Rileys Croften Rd in Lincoln.  It will feature a very impressive 20 board set up and has a prize-fund of £1000 to the winner.

YOU or your company can help; by sponsoring boards at £100 each (and have your company name printed on the board’s surround during the event), or by sponsoring the website for just £20 (I’ve done this to show a bit of support).

Support is coming in from many areas, including Bob Anderson, who donated a signed shirt for an auction that sold for a staggering £275 I believe, and Winmau, who have provided some boards to be signed and sold/auctioned.

The team behind the event are hoping for entries of between 60 and a hundred, any ladies interested join the ladies darts group on facebook or the ladies darts organisation website.

This weekend should be a treat for darts fans of both the BDO and the PDC. The World Cup starts on Friday 3 February and all the action can be followed on our Darts Beers and Cheers PDC site. For BDO fans the Dutch Open is also on this weekend and is a huge event, literally. This year there are 3500 players registered to play in the singles and the pairs. 3500! Amazing!

The draw has already been made and you can search here for who you or your favourite player will be up against.

We will be at the Dutch Open so we will post up some photos,video and updates over the weekend in between running the video coaching analysis service we are operating at the event!

Yesterday was simply an amazing day of darts ! It kicked off with The Count threatening to withdraw from playing his match unless certain clauses were removed from the contracts the semi final contenders are asked to sign. The offending section apparently related to winnings from the World Champions being withheld if any of the four jumped ship to The PDC.

Christian Kist 2012 lakeside winner, the most consistent player of the tournament, showed some bottle in the final

Wolfie argued on BBC that the players were aware of “the deal” before the tournament began and seemed bemused as to why Ted would bring this up now. On the other hand “The Count” joining the PDC was darts worst kept secret, we all knew months ago.  So it does seem bizarre there had to be this case of last minute brinkmanship from Ted to get what he was entitled to.

Once the legal wrangling was resolved the match itself was equally as fascinating. Hankey and Kist smashed in 96 tons, 57 Ton + scores and 14 180`s. Hankey`s “plan” that he alluded to at the start of the match was working a treat and he appeared to be cruising into the final at 5: 3 up in the race to 6. Kist fought back and forced a last set decider and with it the demise of “The Count”.

It all went wrong for Ted in the last set. The air conditioning started bothering him and he had bounce outs. Kist kept his cool and played out the last set in style to cap a remarkable tournament for the Dutch debutante.

The second semi-final was equally as good but without the legal wrangling! Tony O`Shea finally won through after yet another last set decider. The players actually left the stage for 10 minutes before the last set kicked off as the air conditioning problem returned and Harms insisted on having the board swapped as O’Shea was getting so many bounce outs. This was an incredible act of sportsmanship and for all those out there who for whatever reason don’t get the BDO this camaraderie between the players and of course the skills on display in both matches were a good  demonstration of all that is good about it.

We will use the stats from yesterday’s games as the occasion did seem to have an effect on both players.

Christian Kist

Christian`s fantastic form dipped slightly yesterday under the strain of the occasion and Hankey`s tactics which was understandable. Despite twice losing 4 legs on the bounce during the match Kist stuck to the task and went on his own winning streak by bagging the last 6 legs of the match. Even Hankey’s self inflicted destruction didn’t bother him and we learnt a lot about the Dutch star’s temperament yesterday.

3 dart av 89.72  Ton+ 29  180`s 4 Number of darts needed to win a leg 16.08

V

Tony O’Shea

O’Shea used every ounce of his experience as well as some new “tricks” he has learned in a tense and tight match against “Sparky”. Consistency on the doubles deserted both players for large sections of the game and this is something O’Shea will need to rectify today.

3 dart av 85.35 Ton + 32 180`s 6 Number of darts needed to win a leg 16.75

We Say

Dry ice machine stuck at lakeside - like the old smokey days of darts!

Hey baby, ooh aaah, sorry about that just getting ready for O’Shea’s walk on!

Who is going to manage the occasion the most effectively? Kist is a Lakeside “new boy” and must have smashed through his pre-tournament goals already but to suggest he has nothing to lose is also wrong. There is a £100,000 cheque waiting for the winner and “just” £30,000 to the runner up!  Will this huge payday weigh on the Dutch debutante’s mind? Physically he is in good shape and will have probably recovered from yesterday`s events already.

O’Shea has dreamed of this title. Year after year he has been coming to Lakeside and finally his dream is one match away from happening.  Will this be a motivating factor or actually work against him? He has been developing the mental side of his game and his breathing to assist him; they seem to have worked for him so far. Physically he admitted to being exhausted after the time spent on stage and may not be at his peak come “kick off” today.

This is going to be tight and we are going for Kist to extend the wait for “The Silverback” for another 12 months!

Odds

Kist 10/11 O’Shea 11/10

Result and Stats

Tony O’Shea 5-7 Christian Kist

It was a night of head scratching for some players as well as thoughts of “if only”. Anastasia was crowned World Champion and well done to her; she has been playing some fantastic darts. Deta will though today reflect on what may have been! “The Assassin” fired blanks at “The Count” all night and made our pre-match tip of Atkins progressing look somewhat optimistic.  Maybe it was nerves or maybe it was as the commentary team pointed out that Atkins getting as far as he did was way beyond his aspirations and he simply ran out of steam. Oh well we have Ted in the semi-final now so more entertainment on the way!

“The Count” will play Christian Kist, the latest Dutch sensation. He doesn’t speak much English but does his talking on the oche in the universal dialect of 180`s and clinical finishing. It was another sensational performance last night and “Chuck” had no response to his skills.

UPDATE:  There were rumours from the Lakeside that Ted Hankey turned up this morning and refused to sign the contract the BDO force the semi-finalists to sign – so they cannot swap to the PDC (which is probably close to illegal anyway, breaking restriction in trade rules).  There was some question as to if he would even play this semi final!   Ted stated that he may want to play in the PDC this year…. we shall see!

UPDATE:  After his loss today, Ted has taken the plunge and announced he will no longer play within the BDO, and instead ply his darts in the PDC.  (BBC confirmation)

Match 1 – 2.30 pm

Christian Kist

Christian Kist could make it a debut Lakeside final?

Kist has been simply sensational from the first round to now. He brushed aside “Chuck” last night with an awesome display of darts – 21 tons,   17 ton + scores and  10 180`s. His finishing was excellent too.

Tournament Average

3 Dart Av 95.40 Ton + 59 180`s 21 Average number of darts to win a leg 14.76

V

Ted Hankey

“The Count” thrashed a lacklustre Martin Atkins last night and openly admitted he needs to up his game to get past Kist. He is capable of doing that of course and this should be an intriguing semi-final.

Tournament Average

3 Dart Av 85.74 Ton + 61 180`s 13 Average number of darts to win a leg 16.59

We Say

Is this when Ted’s “luck” runs out? If Kist can hold his nerve and he has shown no signs so far that he won’t, even if it is a semi final then he has the game to send Hankey and the rest of his clan home. Christian Kist for us! We also like the look of the most 180`s market- Kist has been prolific and is 11/10 to hit more than Ted!

Odds

Kist 4/6  Hankey 11/8

Result and Stats

Christian Kist 6-5 Ted Hankey

Ted imploded at the end under the pressure of Kist coming back at him, throwing darts away at the end.  That may be Ted’s last darts in the BDO?

Match 2 – 5.30 pm

Tony O`Shea

“The Silverback” has been getting some help, from a sports psychologist! “A proper one, not one of those funny one`s” he reported back the other night. Well whatever he is doing it seems to be working. O’Shea has been an under-achiever for such a great player and maybe this is the year he delivers on the big stage.

Tournament Average

3 Dart Av 91.83 Ton + 46 180`s 14 Average number of darts to win a leg 15.89

V

Wesley Harms

The gloves will be off today (literally) as Sparky looks to continue the shocks he has been dishing out in the tournament so far.

Tournament Average

3 Dart Av 86.95 Ton + 39 180`s 7 Average number of darts to win a leg 16.97

We Say

It’s first to 6 and surely “The Silverback won’t get a better chance of reaching a major final. “Sparky”  has been brilliant but if O`Shea plays anywhere near to how he performed against “Wolfie” then there can be only one winner, Tony for us!

Odds

O’Shea 4/11 harms 5/2

Results and Stats

Tony O`Shea 6-5 Wesley Harms

A word for the great sportsmanship shown by Harms in that game.  At the point where someone turned the air conditioning on – causing a delay to the game just like in the PDC Semi-finals, Harms suggested to O’Shea that they have the board replaced, due to the number of bounce-outs he’d been having.  I hope Harms goes a long way after that – such good sportsmanship is rare.