Players Championship 17 Tips

Luke Humphries has found himself on a real hot streak, and I am hopeful he can continue this by winning the Players Championship.

Unlike major televised tournaments, where the pressure from the crowd can be a distracting factor, Players Championship events are played in an atmosphere of absolute concentration. At simultaneous tables and without the noise of the stands, Price's game under these conditions is surgical.

Players Championship 17 looks wide open, but Wessel Nijman appears strongest based on current ProTour form and scoring power. Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price remain major threats if they find consistency early.

Gian van Veen is a player on the up and with no Luke Littler in this tournament, he has a great chance of winning this. Looks a good price here.

Chris Dobey is looking for his 3rd Players Championship title of the season. He already won PC3 and PC9 earlier this season. Notably, both were odd-numbered events, so he comes prepared and ready to go from the first day of these, which are played in back-to-back pairs. He's played 63 matches this season in these events and has won 50 of them, for a slightly better than 79% win rate. He skipped Players Championship 16 last time out, but the day prior in Players Championship 15 he looked in great form again, making a run to the last 16 where he was beaten by the beaten finalist that day, Dirk van Duijvenbode. Over his 4 matches that day Dobey averaged 103.27 for the day, and that was after a poor opening round where he went untested despite averaging below 90.

Doets has been in good form of late, reaching a final and winning PC14. Having lost only four of his last twenty matches, he looks a good bet at the price.

Stephen Bunting enters PC17 with one of the most consistent statistical profiles on the floor circuit. His season average sits above 98, supported by a checkout rate over 40 percent and a 180 frequency of roughly one every 3.5 legs. In the last month he has produced multiple matches above a 100 average and has won more than 70 percent of legs when holding throw. His stability in early rounds and strong mid-match scoring make him a realistic contender for the title.

Will tip Smith for this event. He's generally looked to be playing well recently, nothing stellar, but these Pro Tour events are typically hard to call. However, Smith is a player who is consistent and has good ability, generally hitting 94+ averages in a lot of his matches.

Beau Greaves has had two finals in her last five Players Championships and will be aiming to win her second as she enters today's competition. She has been so consistent of late. If she avoids trouble from top-ranked opponents, she is the best pick.

'Heavy Metal' Ryan Searle seems to have made a new home in Leicester. He has managed to win two of his last seven here, with one other semi-final. He won twice in last year's Players Championship events, and I think he is worth backing at 33/1 for another today.

Dirk is in great form, reaching the final in PC 15. With the form he is in right now, he looks a major candidate to win this event.

6 of the last 9 PCs this year were won by the Dutch, so I'm going to go with the trend. Wattimena was runner-up at PC12, but last year he won two.

I'm going with Luke to have a very good event. He has a good average and can beat any player on a good day, and I fancy he can make the final.

Has been in good form, hitting a nine-darter in his recent quarter-final run in the European Tour event, and lost to eventual winner Rock.

Heta's value in this game for me. He's won a lot of Pro Tour games overall in his career so far, and he does typically pull runs out some days. His form has been ticking upwards, slowly so, in recent weeks.

Martin has had some very good results of late, reaching the semis in PC15 last Tuesday and winning nine of his last thirteen matches. At the price he looks a very good each-way chance.

Niko Springer was beaten in a last-leg decider in the semi-finals of Players Championship 16 by an in-form Jonny Clayton in what was his best run on the floor this season. The signs were there that it had been coming, as he has had some notable wins in recent times on the European Tour, beating Gary Anderson, van Gerwen, and Wessel Nijman. He is a PDC title winner, having won on the European Tour last year. While he has yet to win one of these events, he does know how to get his game and mentality in winning order in different environments, as he is a three-time Development Tour title winner. He beat, on current form, what must be one of the handful of best players in the world, Kevin Doets, on his way to the semi-finals of PC16. I like him to pick up where he left off, full of confidence from that run.

Tom Bissell had very good recent results in this competition with semifinals in PC12 and PC14. Worth a small investment each-way bet at huge odds.