Darts betting tips: Thursday's PDC Home Tour preview and stats featuring Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries

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Second Stage, Group Three: Odds & Tips

Sky Bet odds to top group: Gary Anderson 8/11, Luke Humphries 5/2, Jamie Lewis 5/1, Nick Kenny 12/1

Gary Anderson proved you can teach old dogs new tricks last time out as he finally got his internet working in time to win his first ever three matches of online darts.

From out in the sticks of Somerset, the Flying Scotsman's WiFi problems went viral on social media back in March when he was initially ruled him out of competing on the PDC's Home Tour but, after changing provider, he joined the house party in the nick of time and subsequently topped his group with maximum points.

However, he wasn't really tested by Dirk van Duijvenbode, Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri van den Bergh that night and question marks over his lack of preparations in this unusual format can't be cast aside, especially as the younger players are spending a lot of their practice time on it.

Luke Humphries may have been subject to one of the many first-round group surprises when finishing runner-up to Nick Kenny on night five but he certainly got his act together for his second attempt, as he upset the odds to send Michael Smith packing.

As you'll see from the stats below, he averaged a breathtaking 108.5 in beating Bully Boy 5-2 and was consistently superb all night to win all three of his games and I fancy him to progress into the next round.

Cool Hand also stunned Anderson to become the first Contender to win a Premier League match not long before lockdown so he'll have no fears of taking on the legend.

Jamie Lewis shouldn't be discounted at 5/1 having starred on the opening night of the PDC Home Tour by thrashing Peter Wright 5-1 with an average of 99.7 and although Snakebite was far from his best, this doesn't make the Welshman less of a threat.

Kenny's highest average of 90.8 came against Humphries but his other two wins were low quality affairs against Joe Murnan and Devon Petersen so you can see why he's the big outsider at 12/1. I think it's fair to say he'll need Anderson and Humphries to be below their best if he's to pull off another surprise.

• Chris Hammer's Best Bet: Luke Humphries to top Group 3 at 5/2
• Chris Hammer's Match Bet 1: Humphries v Anderson to have over 9.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 116.5 and over 4.5 total 180s at 9/2
• Chris Hammer's Match Bet 2: Humphries v Lewis to have over 9.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 114.5 and over 4.5 total 180s at 9/2
• Chris Hammer's Double: Humphries to beat Anderson & Lewis to beat Anderson at 8.19/1
• Sky Bet Price Boost: Anderson to win all his matches either 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 or 6-4 at 4/1 (WAS 3/1)

First Group Stage: Player-by-player form & stats

GARY ANDERSON

Topped Group 30 (Report)

• (89.7) Gary Anderson 5-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode (91)
• (92.7) Gary Anderson 5-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh (83.7)
• (87.2) Kim Huybrechts 2-5 Gary Anderson (92.9)

Gary Anderson may well have been late to the Home Tour party and - so he says - playing online darts for the first time, but that didn't stop him cruising into the second round with ease. However, his performances weren't exactly sparkling and you'd expect him to be given a real push by Luke Humphries tonight.

LUKE HUMPHRIES

Runner-Up Group 5 (Report)

• (92.7) Luke Humphries 3-5 Nick Kenny (90.8)
• (86.4) Luke Humphries 5-4 Devon Petersen (84.8)
• (87.7) Joe Murnan 3-5 Luke Humphries (90.6)

Topped Group 28 (Report)

• (100.9) Luke Humphries 5-4 Andy Boulton (98)
• (97.1) Michael Smith 2-5 Luke Humphries (108.5)
• (97.8) Luke Humphries 5-3 Mike van Duivenbode (98.3)

Luke Humphries didn't meet expectations on his first appearance on the PDC Home Tour but he exceeded them when he got a second bite at the cherry with three superb displays - particularly against Michael Smith - and he'll be confident of producing more of the same tonight.

JAMIE LEWIS

Topped Group 1 (Report)

• (95.1) Jamie Lewis 3-5 Niels Zonneveld (96.2)
• (81.5) Peter Wright 1-5 Jamie Lewis (99.7)
• (79.8) Jamie Lewis 5-4 Peter Jacques (84.5)

Jamie Lewis bounced back from losing a tight opener to thrash Peter Wright, but he needed to come through a last-leg decider to ensure his previous work didn't count for nothing. He must average closer to his first two performances if he's to challenge Anderson and Lewis.

NICK KENNY

Topped Group 5 (Report)

• (92.7) Luke Humphries 3-5 Nick Kenny (90.8)
• (81.6) Nick Kenny 5-2 Joe Murnan (76.6)
• (84.4) Devon Petersen 3-5 Nick Kenny (81.8)

A surprise group winner but, without wanting to take too much away from his achievement, none of his opponents produced near their best against him. That said, it proved anything can happen in this format.

PDC Home Tour Darts: Thursday's fixtures

• Click here for Sky Bet odds
• Each night’s action begins at 1930 BST, and will include webcam footage of each player and their dart board, live score graphics and commentary from Dan Dawson. All PDC Home Tour action will be broadcast live on PDCTV for FREE to ALL registered PDCTV users, regardless of whether you have a paid or free membership

Group Three - Thursday May 28

• Gary Anderson v Nick Kenny
• Luke Humphries v Jamie Lewis
• Nick Kenny v Jamie Lewis
• Gary Anderson v Luke Humphries
• Luke Humphries v Nick Kenny
• Jamie Lewis v Gary Anderson

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE MATCH-BY-MATCH SKY BET ODDS

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE TOURNAMENT'S RESULTS, FIXTURES & FORMAT

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