Darts Betting Tips: Ricky and Riot form our Monday double

Ricky Evans highest checkout over 110.5 vs Charlie Manby @ 2/5

There’s always fireworks when Rapid Ricky is on the Ally Pally stage and yet again he was involved in another barnstormer of a match when he defeated James Wade 3-2, in a tense, topsy-turvy tussle. Evans looked to have blown his chance to win when he missed seven match darts at one point to wrap up victory, but he continued to plug away and eventually got over the line, winning 6-4 on legs in an enthralling deciding set.

Manby’s second round win was far more routine as he eased past an out-of-sorts Adam Sevada in straight sets. It was another average in the low 90s for Charlie, he’s yet to really hit top gear in the event, so I’m sure the 20 year-old will be keen to take his game up a couple more levels if he’s to keep progressing further in the tournament.

With these two being fast, fluent throwers, it’s bound to be an exciting watch and Evans tends to feed off the fast pace in a match. Rapid took out brilliant checkouts of 144 and 128 against Wade, to back up the 134 he had against Man Lok Leung. That’s now nine of his last twelve matches at the World Championship that Evans has took out a 121+ checkout. So a 111+ checkout looks far more likely than not, especially when you factor in that it’s now first to four sets instead of three.

Callan Rydz +1.5 most 180s handicap vs Josh Rock @ 4/5

Callan continued his impressive record at Ally Pally, as he got the better of Daryl Gurney in a gripping five setter. Rydz was in trouble when he trailed Gurney 2-1 in sets, but dug deep and scored the better of the two to come out on top 5-3 in a deciding set. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for Rydz as he deals with personal issues away from the oche too, but he seems to be channelling his energy in the right way so far. A 96 average, eight maximums and 41% on doubles is going to be tricky for most players to beat.

Rock was much improved from his first round performance as he saw off the Aussie Joe Comito 3-0 in the second round. A 101 average for Josh was a much closer reflection of the level of performance he’s set this year. He hasn’t enjoyed any great success against Rydz though, winning only one of their previous three meetings. Rydz won their most recent encounter 6-5 at a Pro Tour event in October, but Rock’s sole win actually came at the World Championship in 2022, winning 3-0.

I think there’s some value in Rydz to win and the handicaps but arguably just as much in the 180s markets for him. The Riot has won the 180s count in two of his previous meetings against Rock, with the other one finishing a tie.

Rydz has hit twelve 180s in eight sets at the tournament so far, compared to seven 180s in seven sets for Rocky. Rydz is averaging 0.31 180s per leg for the year, compared to 0.40 for Rock, so there isn’t a massive gulf in the numbers. With Rydz tending to save his best stuff for this stage, I think he can match Rock all the way in the 180s and at least avoid defeat on them.