Reigning British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Champion Martin "Wolfie" Adams is taking an admirable stand by refusing his invitation to the upcoming inter-organisational
Grand Slam of Darts. "Loyalty is not a dirty word in my vocabulary, and I will not be playing in the Grand Slam of Darts," he defiantly announced. Adams is shunning the larger sums of money on offer and choosing to play in the BDO-only
Winmau World Masters, a tournament he's becoming increasingly likely to win as more and more BDO players accept their invitations to the inaugural
Grand Slam of Darts. As the stream of players flowing from the BDO to the rival Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) threatens to develop into a flood, it's obvious that drastic measures are needed.
The
Winmau tournament, the final leg of the grand slam, has been moved from its usual slot at the end of October to the middle of November, and now "coincidentally" clashes with the inaugural
Grand Slam of Darts. The moving of the
Winmau appears to be a none too subtle way of testing the loyalty of its members. Adams is choosing to stand by the organisation that he says made him the player he is today. He looks to be the only one for whom money is a dirty word. If Bob Dylan was right when he said that "money doesn't talk, it swears," then with the
Grand Slam's prize fund of £300,000, which dwarfs
Winmau's £60,000, the PDC is saying a big go to hell to the BDO.
Ever since its inception in 1992, the PDC, or WDC as it was first known, has been battling with the BDO for supremacy. In the eyes of most, it's a battle in which it always has had the upper hand and now it's looking to deliver a killer blow. With more prize money on offer, more television exposure, and consequently better sponsorship deals for the players, the PDC has been successfully tempting top players from the BDO over the past few years.
Step Up to the Oche
Back in the early '90s, the BDO was the only officially recognised darts organisation. However, many of the top players were unhappy with the lack of television coverage, which obviously was affecting their sponsorships and the tournaments' prize money. In 1992, all of the previous BDO world champions set up their own organisation, which the BDO itself refused to recognise. The 1993
Embassy World Championship proved to be the last time the top players from both organisations took part in the one competition. The new organisation eventually would go on to be called the PDC. While tensions have thawed between the two ruling bodies, there's still a very definite divide. The loss of its star players during the split is a blow from which the BDO has never really recovered. Its association with the
BBC means the showpiece
World Championship is viewed by a greater audience, but thanks to
Sky Sports, the PDC has more televised events, offers bigger prizes, and ultimately attracts the best players.
One of the biggest defections was the current PDC World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, though his decision to switch was motivated as much by the desire to take on Phil "The Power" Taylor as bulking up his bank balance. Taylor is the greatest player to ever step up to the oche. Unlike a sport such as boxing, where valid arguments can be made for the likes of Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano to rival Ali as the greatest, Taylor stands alone.
Eric Bristow may have brought darts to the world's attention, but Taylor will be the mark against which all "arrer" throwers are measured for a long time. The absence of The Power undermines the claims of anyone who wins at the Lakeside that he is indeed the true champion of the world. This is probably the biggest, if not sole, reason for van Barneveld's defection to the PDC at the end of 2006. A desire to be the best drove him to go hunting for Taylor in the PDC, and leave the BDO searching for a new top dog.
For a long time, Taylor was the deciding factor in most people's minds as to which was the superior organisation, though many within the BDO did wonder whether standout player Barneveld would be good enough to take on The Power on a consistent basis. Unfortunately for them, the Dutchman harboured the same question, and there was only one way to answer it. Barney switched and immediately proved that he could be a match, but the BDO was left lamenting the loss of the most talented player in their ranks. One of the most interesting things is not just how successful he has been since his switch, but also the improvement in his game. It now appears as though he had been stagnating somewhat, lending further strength to the belief that the PDC is the dominant power in world darts.
As if the loss of Barney wasn't enough, the BDO also had to watch two of its top young stars cross the divide. Dutch pair Jelle Klaasen, who beat Barney in the 2006
Embassy Final, and Michael Van Gerwen, who beat Martin Adams in the final of last year's
Winmau World Masters, were seen as the exciting future of the organisation. With their departures, the future is looking neither bright nor orange for the BDO.
Quality Arrers
The
Winmau World Masters is considered a prestigious event. Ironically, it's the last of four tournaments known as the
Grand Slam. By not taking part, players will be missing out on valuable ranking points. The fact that the last three winners are all playing in the rival competition more than suggests that being highly ranked by the BDO isn't as big a concern as making a living. The £80,000 that goes to the winner of the
Grand Slam of Darts, compared to the £25,000 that the
Winmau World Masters winner will pick up, is of far greater importance in a sport in which most players do well to earn more than the fans.
Phil Taylor may be a multimillionaire and Raymond van Barneveld isn't doing too badly, either, but in a sport that is very much of the working classes, it offers only a few opportunities to make any significant moves up the social strata. So, while Adams sits in the saddle of his high horse with talk of loyalty, can anyone really blame those who have accepted their invitations to a tournament that offers greater financial rewards?
At the time of this writing, Adams remains the only BDO player to have rejected an invitation, with Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, Shaun Greatbatch, Niels de Ruiter, Phil Nixon, and Scott Waites all accepting. Adams claims that "without [him] involved, the
Grand Slam does not deliver what the fans and viewers have been led to expect." That's a bold claim that is not backed up by the stats. Adams won his world title with a three-dart average of 90.3; when Barneveld beat Taylor in the
PDC World Championship in January, both players averaged over 100. The lack of one of the recognised champions is little more than a technicality. The
Winmau World Masters will be televised on
BBC at the same time that the
Grand Slam of Darts is shown on
ITV. If you want to flick between the two, you'll quickly be able to tell the difference in quality.
Bull's-eye Bets
Adams will be a strong favourite in Bridlington, but that's got more to do with whom he won't be playing than whom he will. Had Gary Anderson not accepted his invitation to play in Wolverhampton, he would have been the pick of the bunch. Fresh off his defeat of Phil Taylor in the
Bullit World Darts Trophy, Anderson is one of the BDO's in-form players. In beating The Power, he won his second
Grand Slam event of the year; significantly, the two events were comprised of players from both organisations. Anderson has strangely failed to ever make an impact at the
World Championship, but he has been ranked as high as world number one and his successes this year will mean he's one of the front-runners. As with any tournament hosting these two men, if either Barneveld or Taylor doesn't win, whoever does will almost certainly have to dispatch one, if not both, along the way.
Like Barneveld, Taylor fell into something of a slump over the last few years, but the Dutchman's move to the PDC has sparked him back into life. He doesn't look as infallible as he has in the past, but that is as much due to an all-round improvement in the standard of players around him as it is him becoming complacent.
He'll still be the favourite, though, and unless punters can get him at a decent price, they'll need to lump on to make any money. That's a risk that they may not want to take.
Barneveld won't be far behind in the betting market, but with a better price and an almost equal chance of winning, this is where they may want to put their money.
Michael Van Gerwen is another player worth looking at. He's an incredibly talented player, as his win in last year's
Winmau World Masters proves, but at just 18 years old, his form can be erratic. He has won a tournament this year, though, and if things go his way and he gets a bit of momentum behind him, a small bet at a big price could pay dividends.
Fellow youngster Jelle Klaasen has failed to kick on since winning the
BDO World Championship and should be ignored for this one, though he will come good again. The likes of Priestley, Lloyd, and Manley all will be in or around the final stages, but with so much money at stake, it's hard to look past the trio of Taylor, Barneveld, and Anderson.
As for the
Winmau, this one is Adams' to lose. You get the sense that he's more concerned with being a big fish in a pond that's drying up fast. Adams may not think loyalty is a dirty word, but you have to wonder what he thinks about a combination of the two words - second and rate.
