PDC Home Tour Darts Betting Odds, Preview and Picks for Day 28 (Thursday, May 14)

If you've been following along with our PDC Home Tour Darts coverage, you know what our basic strategy is for the group stages of this first-of-its-kind event. Given the unfamiliar environment and format for this tournament– the players are at home, play is sometimes interrupted by phone calls and the matches are short — it seems unwise to back big favorites. 

The last five nights of Round 1 of the PDC Home Tour should be full of darting drama. Some of the world's best players will be back in action after falling short in their first go-round in this unique tournament. Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson and Michael Smith will all be in action over the next five nights so there could be some big prices on the board.

Let's dive into Group 28, which is headlined by Smith and up-and-comer Luke Humphries.

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PDC Home Tour Night 28 Betting Odds and Picks

Thursday, May 14 at 2:30 p.m. ET

• No. 5 Michael Smith (-125)
• No. 34 Luke Humphries (+225)
• No. 68 Andy Boulton (+500)
• No. 98 Mike van Duivenbode (+750)

• Michael Smith (-335) vs. Mike van Duivenbode (+240)
• Luke Humphries (-200) vs. Andy Boulton (+150)
• Mike van Duivenbode (-106) vs. Andy Boulton (-125)
• Michael Smith (-190) vs. Luke Humphries (+140)
• Luke Humphries (-190) vs. Mike van Duivenbode (+140)
• Andy Boulton (+250) vs. Michael Smith (-360)

After falling just short in Group 9, Michael "Bully Boy" Smith is once again an odds-on favorite to advance to Round 2. Smith was unlucky not to win his first group, as he posted the best scoring average on that night by a considerable margin. Smith will need to navigate a more competitive group on Thursday if he wants to stay in the PDC Home Tour.

"Cool Hand" Luke Humphries figures to be Smith's stiffest competition but the 25-year-old wasn't able to put it all together and win Group 5. Like Smith, Humphries posted the best scoring average in his set but Humphries' performance was far less impressive than Bully Boy's.

If this was a standard tournament with longer matches, Smith vs. Humphries would be a splendid matchup and I'd probably be tempted to back Humphries at a decent price, but the PDC Home Tour is anything but standard and I'm going to look for bigger prices since the margins for error in this tournament are just so thin.

I will back Mike van Duivenbode in his showdown with Smith — the number is just too high in this format — but I'm especially interested in Boulton, especially after his impressive performance in Group 6. Boulton's 95.49 scoring average on that night is the second-best mark in this group:

• Michael Smith, 97.50
• Andy Boulton, 95.49
• Mike van Duivenbode, 93.82
• Luke Humphries, 89.67

Smith may run through these two underdogs, but I'll take a couple of shots and hope that one of the also-rans gets hot enough to put Bully Boy on the run.

PDC Home Tour Night 28 Betting Picks

• Mike van Duivenbode (+250) over Michael Smith
• Andy Boulton (+250) over Michael Smith
• Andy Boulton (+500) to win Group 28

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PDC Home Tour Betting Record: 26-60, -10.67 units

PDC Home Tour Group Winners

• Group 1: Jamie Lewis (+600)
• Group 2: Luke Woodhouse (+600)
• Group 3: Dave Chisnall (-134)
• Group 4: Geert Nentjes (+250)
• Group 5: Nick Kenny (+450)
• Group 6: Ryan Searle (+180)
• Group 7: Jelle Klaasen (+200)
• Group 8: Jonny Clayton (+130)
• Group 9: Martijn Kleermaker (+350)
• Group 10: Nathan Aspinall (-177)
• Group 11: Mike van Duivenbode (+300)
• Group 12: Max Hopp (+175)
• Group 13: Carl Wilkinson (+450)
• Group 14: Chris Dobey (-118)
• Group 15: Darren Webster (+175)
• Group 16: Jeff Smith (+225)
• Group 17: Damon Heta (+163)
• Group 18: Stephen Bunting (+100)
• Group 19: Glen Durrant (-121)
• Group 20: Ryan Murray (+500)
• Group 21: Rob Cross (-150)
• Group 22: Jesus Noguera (+800)
• Group 23: Daniel Larsson (+800)
• Group 24: Jamie Hughes (+240)
• Group 25: Jose De Sousa (+120)
• Group 26: Mike de Decker (+110)
• Group 27: Scott Waites (+250)

PDC Home Tour Darts Tournament Rules and Format

• If you're unfamiliar with the rules of darts, click here.
• The tournament will feature 32 groups of four players who will play a round robin to determine a group winner.
• One group plays per day, for 32 days in a row. Yes, 32 days in a row.
• All group-stage matches are best-of-9 legs and two points will be awarded for a win. If there is a tie at the top of standings, the first tiebreaker will be leg difference.
• After the 32-day group stage, the winners will advance to the second phase of the competition. I'm assuming that means a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. But, the PDC website didn't go any further than that.
• The action will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local time) each night and stream on PDC.tv, free of charge.
• The first 20 groups have been announced, along with the order of play, though the PDC has yet to confirm the remaining competitors.