US Darts Masters Betting Preview and Picks — 6/27

It’s known as Sport’s Biggest Party.

The 2025 bet365 US Darts Masters returns this Friday and Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

Watching — and subsequently betting on — Darts has a long history at The Action Network. As such, Better Collective’s Benjamin Leander joined our own Chad Millman on The Favorites podcast this week to provide a complete, unfettered betting preview of the two-day championship event.

Read on for our US Darts Masters betting preview and picks, presented by bet365.

Sport's Biggest Party

Why is it called Sport’s Biggest Party?

“Darts is a festival-meets-carinval-meets-sports match type of event,” Leander tells Millman. “It’s pretty rare when you can combine all three things. Darts is the biggest party in sports due to the huge atmosphere and the excellent collaboration between players, organization, and the crowd.”

Darts weren’t always this raucous an event. The watching experience used to be akin to tennis or golf — a rather formal event with occasional clapping, as opposed to a festival-meets-carnival-meets-sports atmosphere.

As Leander explains, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has made a considerable effort to professionalize the sport, specifically by collaborating with major broadcasters such as Sky Sports and ITV. They’ve turned the event into a legitimate production, with camera angles and analysts that could rival any major televised sports event.

Predictably, that has driven an enormous increase in public and betting interest over the last seven or eight years; even better, it has helped money flow toward the players, as the prize pool has increased to $100,000 for the 2025 US Darts Masters, up from $60,000 just last year.

As the interest and money have started flowing, most players have been able to make Darts a full-time profession. Many of our top players earn millions of dollars annually in prize money and sponsorships, and their ability to play full-time has helped further professionalize and market the sport.

It’s also a very accessible event. Ticket prices are typically affordable, and the sport is not overly complicated to understand. You don’t have to be a massive fan to enjoy and wager on the sport.

Many bettors already understand that last point. Darts have gained popularity in the United States due to the increasing interest in betting on the sport.

How To Bet On Darts — Game Format

“Tennis is a good comparison to Darts,” Leander says. “In tennis, you have two players who are shifting between serving, and you’re also ‘serving’ in darts.”

Professional darts players play a variation of the game called 501. Essentially, the object is for one player to be the first to reach zero from a starting total of 501.

The players take turns “serving,” or throwing first — the players decide who throws first by attempting to hit a bullseye before the match begins, and whoever is closer gets the first serve.

Each player throws three darts in each turn, and then subtracts the total scored from the current total until one player hits zero.

The outer ring is worth double points, and the inner ring is worth triple points. So, for example, if on the first turn you hit a triple-20, a double-18, and a 12, you would subtract 108 from 501, and sit at 393.

However, to reach zero, each player must finish by throwing a double. For example, if you have 36 points left, you must hit a double-18 to win the match. If you have 45 points remaining, you must hit a single-five and a double-20, or any other combination of scores, provided the final dart scores on a double.

The US Darts Masters is played in a nine-leg format, which means two players compete in a best-of-nine-game series, wherein each player alternates “serving.” The first to win five legs moves on to the next round.

The event will feature eight of the World’s best players (known as the PDC representatives) and eight of North America’s best players (six Americans and two Canadians). The first round will take place on Friday, while the quarters, semifinals, and finals will take place on Saturday.

Keep the rules and format in mind as you prepare to bet on the event.

The Players To Watch (Bet)

So, who are the faces of the sport? Who are the players that people should be talking about or betting on entering the weekend? What makes them unique or popular?

“It’s impossible not to mention teenage sensation and defending PDC World Champion, Luke Littler,” Leander says. “He is the face of Darts right now.”

Littler was 16 when he participated in his first World Darts Championship and 17 when he first won the event. Nicknamed Luke “The Nuke”, he won 11 titles in his rookie season and has already won all four major televised titles.

Littler is the current betting favorite at bet365, sitting at +175 to win the event. He did well in last year’s event, but couldn’t pull out the overall victory, eventually falling to Gerwyn Price.

Price is another big name to keep your eye on.

“Price is the face of what darts could be,” Leander says. “Due to his skills on the stage.”

Price, nicknamed “The Iceman”, was a former rugby player in his home country of Wales who decided to give professional darts a try. He’s done pretty well, eventually winning the PDC World Championship in 2021 and earning the No. 1 world ranking on three different occasions from 2021 to 2022.

The current World No. 1, Luke Humphries, is priced at +350 to win the US Masters. While Price and Littler are more divisive figures on tour, Humphries is an unbelievably likeable player by opponents and fans alike.

This event is bringing together eight North Americans, seven Europeans and one Australian (Damon Heta, priced at +1200). However, it’s worth mentioning (especially from a betting perspective) that Europeans have typically dominated their North American counterparts.

“Traditionally, the Americans have had a tough time playing at the US Darts Masters,” Leander says. “Canadian Jeff Smith went to the finals in 2023, but he’s the only North American player in this year’s field to have advanced past the second round.”

While the sport has seen enormous growth on this side of the Atlantic, the players are still at a historical disadvantage.

“Compared to Europe, darts has been evolving very slowly on every other continent,” Leander says. “The PDC hasn’t quite succeeded in bringing the game to other continents, although that is changing, especially in North America and Asia.”

One American to root for would be Jules van Dongen.

Van Dongen has been suffering from a psychological condition known as Dartitis, where he’s experienced a sudden inability to release the dart from his hand at the correct time. It’s sometimes referred to as the “yips”, which has affected many sports players, but Dartitis has been a common occurrence among professional players. Notably, fellow competitor Nathan Aspinall (+1200 to win at bet365) had a bout of Dartitis.

He’s been suffering from the condition for over a year. He initially developed a wrist condition, but it only worsened psychologically.

The condition became so intolerable that van Dongen decided to change his strategy — he trained himself to throw with his left hand.

“Imagine doing that in any sport,” Leander says. “Imagine Tom Brady suddenly saying, ‘I can’t release the ball when throwing for my wide receiver, so now I’ll just use my left hand.’”

“Van Dongen actually did that,” he continues. “He’s still playing at a much lower level than before, but he will participate in New York, and everyone is cheering for him to have a good experience on the stage because he’s suffered for the last 18 months.”

It’s unsurprising to see the now left-handed van Dongen priced at +75000 to win the event, the longest odds of any player in the field.

Betting Angles

As mentioned, I’d keep in mind that the Americans have typically struggled in this event.

That said, Leander has a few psychologically-based handicaps to consider.

“I’d very much like to bet against Michael van Gerwen,” the Dutch player who is currently ranked No. 3 in the world.

“The Dutch giant has won many World Championships, but he’s been going through a divorce, and he hasn’t played in a month,” Leander continues. “Has he trained much? Has he played at all? How will he perform traveling without his family? His condition is very questionable.”

Leander also expects the two favorites to be extra motivated for this event.

“[Littler] has this hunger of winning tournaments he hasn’t won yet,” Leander says. “He was defeated in his debut last year, and I think he will be very, very motivated.”

Of note, Littler has drawn van Dongen in the first round.

He also notes that Littler and partner Humphries were upset in the first round of the PDC World Cup, something he describes as a “huge disaster.”

“I think we will see a motivated Littell, a motivated Humphries, and there’s a big question mark surrounding van Gerwen.”

Finally, Leander has one outright futures pick for the 2025 US Darts Masters.

"I'm having a hard time not finding value in Aspinall at +1200," Leander says.

It's tough traveling across the Atlantic. The Europeans in this event are typically dealing with jet lag, illness, and so on. And given that darts is mainly a European sport, these players rarely travel this far West.

"Aspinall obviously enjoys going West," Leander says. "He has played decently in the past two editions of this event, and he won the event at Madison Square Garden in 2019."

"I also like that he is traveling by himself this year, without his girlfriend or two daughters," Leander continues. "He has been talking publicly about having extra time to focus on training and the tournament itself."

It's tough that Aspinall drew Matt Campbell (+8000 at bet365) in the first round, the likely best North American player. However, it's too enticing not to take a shot at these odds.