posted July 17, 2008 at 13:29 in Other Articles

BetUS Sportsbook bettors who like to wager on stuff that is a little off the beaten path will perhaps appreciate the precision involved in the game of darts. I don't know very much about it, but I remember being in a hotel room in London's Hyde Park, jet-lagged, and waking up after a long nap to discover the choices limited on my TV set. There was "Big Brother," which at the time featured Brigitte Nielsen talking endlessly about Flavor Flav, who was sleeping in the next room (I guess you can bet on stuff like that when the time arises).

Upon switching the channel, I encountered, of all things, a dart tournament. This is a very big thing in Britain, and I must admit that the more I watched it, the more it got me interested. There is a certain precision and hand-eye coordination that makes it very viable as an athletic contest. You can see darts from time to time in the U.S. on Fox SportsNet. And in progress, on the international television network Setanta, is one of the bigger tournament series in the world, the League of Legends, the Grand Final of which will be held at the Circus Tavern in Essex, England, which also hosts the World Darts Championship.

Here are the numbers on the inner of the tournament series, as posted at BetUS:

BetUS Darts Betting Odds

To Win League of Legends

Bob Anderson -140
Keith Deller +650
Bobby George +900
John Lowe +6500
Peter Evison +700
Dave Whitcombe +350
Eric Bristow +6500
Cliff Lazarenko +2500

Here's the way the tournament series works: it is essentially a round robin, with each of the players competing in one match against each of the others. That makes for seven matches, which are contested over the best of 12 "legs." There have been two "league nights" held already, the latest on June 20. The next will take place on Friday night. Here is the remainder of the league night schedule as of today:

July 18 – Frontier Club, Batley
August 1 – Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading
August 8 – The Spa, Bridlington
August 15 – Town Hall, Stoke
August 22 - Grand Final at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, Essex, England

At the conclusion of the round robin, the top four players in the standings (i.e., the ones with the best records) will advance to the Grand Final. The final match is played over the best of 31 legs, which is a marathon of sorts, I guess. Four of the competitors this year have won the World Darts Championship (Lowe, Bristow, Anderson and Deller). The eventual winner will pick up 90,000 British Pounds, which is the rough equivalent of USD $180,000. To see these events, fans pony up 20 Pounds (which is roughly forty bucks). Those are some REAL darts followers!

Thus far the standings in the early going (if I understand them correctly) go like this:

Whitcombe -- 6 pts.

Anderson (who by the way is known as the "Limestone Cowboy") -- 5 pts.
Deller - 4 pts.
Evison -- 3 pts.
George -- 2 pts.
Lazarenko -- 2 pts.
Bristow -- 2 pts.
Lowe - 0 pts.

Whitcombe is at +350, and the guy who trails him by a point - Anderson - is the sizable favorite right now, at -140. The other odds pretty much line up with the standings as of now, but like we said, it's still early. There are a lot of darts to throw, or whatever they say in the U.K.

Should we follow this all the way to the end? Well, as far as I'm concerned, if it ultimately ends up in a tavern, I say "Why the hell not?"

You can bet on just about everything at BetUS Sportsbook, including the major competitions in darts, snooker, soccer, and many other sports that may be more popular "across the pond." With props and matchups, you can see about as much action asif you were competing in it yourself. Come to BetUS.com for the most comprehensive menu of betting opportunities in the sports world and make some cash for yourself!

(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com hits a bullseye every day as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)