World Darts Championship Odds: Michael Van Gerwen Second Favourite At Ally Pally

Michael van Gerwen returns to the Ally Pally this December as second favourite in the World Darts Championship Odds, with the Dutchman seeking to peak over the festive period.

Bookmakers that threw Van Gerwen in as the pre-tournament favourite last year have had a rethink for the 2024 World Darts Championship and have opted to install Mighty Mike as second in command.

It's none other than Luke Humphries who is the frontrunner for this year's World Championships following a trio of major titles in recent weeks.

The Dutchman will no doubt will still view himself as the man to beat, as he prepares for his 17th World Championships.

Van Gerwen has won the title three times – in 2014, 2017 and 2019 – but darts betting fans can never quite rely on him to do the business.

Last year the 34-year-old narrowly missed out on his fourth World Championship title, losing 7-4 to Michael Smith in a memorable final.

Van Gerwen's loss to the Bully Boy means he now has an even record of three wins and three losses in World Championship finals.

His previous runners-up appearances came back in 2013 and 2020, losing to Phil Taylor and Peter Wright.

Although he may not have won the title since 2019, Van Gerwen won’t be too worried of an early exit, as he has made the quarter-final stage in nine of the last 11 editions.

Latest Van Gerwen Odds

Betting sites fluctuated with Van Gerwen's odds this year before finally settling on him as the 2024 World Darts Championship second favourite.

The Dutchman is one of the three main contenders alongside Humphries and Gerwyn Price, and is available at odds of 4/1 to win the biggest prize in darts for a fourth time.

That suggests a 20% likelihood that Van Gerwen will win the title this winter, which is better than his odds last year.

However, it also reflects a big comedown from previous shorter odds in recent years. Back in 2020 Van Gerwen was priced as low as 5/4 to win the World Championship, odds that carried an implied probability of 44%.

Van Gerwen’s Pre-Tournament Odds Down The Years

• 2019: 11/8 – 42% chance of winning
• 2020: 5/4 – 44% chance of winning
• 2021: 9/4 – 31% chance of winning
• 2022: 9/2 – 18% chance of winning
• 2023: 5/2 – 28.6% chance of winning
• 2024: 4/1 - 20% chance of winning

The year 2022 was a low mark for Van Gerwen in terms of his darts odds, but it wasn’t unexpected. 

Covid-19 was still raging and the fact players who contracted the disease needed to withdraw from the Worlds meant that outcome was factored into the betting odds – and, indeed, he withdrew before the third round.

On the whole, most of the top players have shorter odds this year than in 2023 as the field is regarded as more open than ever.

The biggest change is Humphries, who was a 16/1 shot last year, but now finds himself as the 10/3 favourite with betting apps, ahead of the Dutchman.

Van Gerwen’s season, meanwhile, has been a tame one by his standards. He claimed the Premier League Darts trophy for a record-breaking seventh time and won the World Series of Darts Finals on home soil in the Netherlands.

He has also won the Poland Darts Masters title and the Belgian Darts Open, but with no ranked televised tournament win to his name, Mighty Mike is hungrier than ever heading into the Worlds.

The Ally Pally stage is where Van Gerwen thrives and he holds the record for the highest ever average in a World Championship match (114.05) which he achieved in the 2017 semi-final vs Raymond van Barneveld.

A new addition to this year's tournament is the controversial Ballon D'art trophy that has been announced. The player who hits the most 180s throughout the tournament will be the recipient of the trophy in it's inaugural year.

The World No.2 achieved this feat back in 2014 (52), but has some way to go if he wants to eclipse Smith's tally of 66 he accumulated in 2023.

Latest World Darts Championship Betting Odds

It's Humphries name whose name is on everyone's lips ahead of the Worlds, but he is by no means the runaway favourite to win this title. Van Gerwen, for a start, is looking for that fourth title and is the most decorated player partaking in the 2024 edition.

They're joined by Price, Smith and Gary Anderson in the running for the World Darts Championship title.

Price is now 11/2 with the best darts betting sites having previously been 4/1 back in August. 

The shift is a result of Humphries' and Van Gerwen’s surge in form over the past few weeks. Likewise, Smith's odds have floated out to 14/1 as more and more punters pile in on the top two.

Anderson, however, has seen positive movement the other way. He was a 50/1 shot to win last year's tournament, but is just 14/1 to win the 2024 edition.

The Flying Scotsman has shown glimpses of being back to his best recently, most notably with a vintage display in a 10-6 win over Price in the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-final, in which he averaged just shy of 105.

Former World Champions Rob Cross and Peter Wright are next in line with the bookmakers.

Cross famously won the 2018 World Championship, thumping Phil Taylor 7-2 in what was his debut appearance. 

The 33-year-old made the Grand Slam of Darts final last month and seems to be finding form at the right time.

Meanwhile, two-time winner Wright will love his role of the underdog heading into this year's Worlds. Snakebite won the tournament in 2020 and 2022, but has had a relatively quiet 2023.

Although, he claimed the European Championship title back in October and often plays some of his best stuff at Ally Pally, so dont write Snakebite off just yet.

Other notable outsiders include 2022 World Youth Champions Josh Rock (33/1), two-time semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall (33/1) and 2021 semi-finalist Stephen Bunting (40/1).