Out with the old, In with the new...........Winmau Blade 5 Board!

Hi Guys

Take a look at this Winmau Masters board: 

No it hasn’t spent a life on the rubbish tip or some ancient social club, a relic of the early 80’s!

This is the board I have been using for about 3 years. It’s served me well but has become utterly unplayable. Now I like to use an old style board as I find it makes you more accurate (thicker wires, staples etc.) however there comes a time when the thing is so wrecked that it’s actually a hindrance to practicing!

The time has truly come to put this thing out to pasture.

Look at that T20. I must have been doing something right!

I there elected to finally trade up to the latest Winmau Blade 5. Now I know there is a lot of debate over the Unicorn HD 2 vs Blade 5.

Now I have owned a HD and I’ll be honest it lasted only a few months. It looked great out of the box (stunning in-fact), but after a few hours play it looked a year old! Admittedly my inaccuracy played a part however 2 numbers on the ring broke in the first 5 minutes, and the spider looked wretched by this point. That I changed it for the Winmau Masters within a few months speaks volumes.

 You only have to see the issues players in the PDC are having at major tournaments (bounce outs and fallouts) to know that something isn’t quite right.

The Blade board is a pub standard and the official board of the BDO. I have had a 2 and a 3, and played my league matches on a 4 and they’re great, and the 5 is no exception. Wafer thin spider, clear as hell and looks great!

I was lucky in that Argos were doing a deal for £35 for both the board and the surround! 

So here you have it, my new setup:

I would truly advise anyone thinking of buying one to invest in one of these.


Take Care

Luke

PDC Players Championship 2017: Summary

Hi Guys

A great Players Championship 2017. came to an end Sunday, with MVG coming out a deserved winner over the 3 days averaging about 104 for the tournament.

There was some upsets along the way with my pick Gary Anderson going out in the first round and  Dave Chisnall bowing out in the second round to William O’Connor.

I must single out a few players who I thought were outstanding:

Justin Pipe: Overcame number 2 seed Darryl Gurney 10-9 in the quarter final to reach his furthest in a major since the Players Championship 2013. Here’s hoping that this will help propel the ‘Force’ back up the rankings.

Rob Cross: My number 2 pick made the quarters for the 3^rd consecutive PDC event, and has come from nowhere to reach number 20 in the OOM in less than 1 year.

Steve Beaton: The ‘Adonis’ reached his furthest in a PD major since the World Matchplay 2016 and if it wasn’t for a very spirited performance from Jonny Clayton (himself reaching his first ever major final) he could have been a  finalist for the first time since the 2009 European Championship.

All in all it was great to see a variety of players showcased that we don’t usually get to see and a  BIG Well Done to MVG who won his 4^th title in 5 years.

PDC Players Championship Final 2017: My View

Hi Guys

Its one of my favourite tournaments of the year this week, the Players Championship final 2017, held at Butlins Minehead.

I love this as it gives a chance of television time to players you won’t usually see on TV events as they are outside of the top 16 and 32.

Now that’s not a knock on the PDC, however some of the tournaments are top xx only, which means that you are seeing the same matches (however fantastic quality) over and over again, whereas I like the idea of floor events where anyone can qualify.

In-fact at £100,000 for the winner, it’s a fantastic opportunity for players lower down the top 64 to rocket up the OOM, crack the top 16 or secure their position.

There is a helluva lot to play for.

This could be a breakthrough tournament for Rob Cross, as he has excelled on the pro tour this year winning 4 events and topping the tour order of merit (oom), is getting better by the month and is arguably the newcomer of the year.

Whilst I’d love for it to be an upset winner it  will be hard to look past MVG who has won this in 3 of the last 4 years, 2014 winner Gary Anderson and Peter Wright (who won the UK Open and has been a finalist in Matchplay, Grandslam and Premier League events this year).

I’m therefore going to cop out and choose 2, 1 from the favourite pile and 1 from the outsider section.

Favourite: Gary Anderson
Outsider: Rob Cross

Lets’ see how it unfolds

Luke

Rob Cross: I said he was one to watch!

Hi Guys

back in March 2017, i did one of my World Watch blogs:

http://mydartinglife.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/world-watch-rob-cross-this-guy-is-gonna.html

on Rob Cross saying he was one to watch in 2017/18 and boy has that come to true.

Since then Cross has won 3 more Player Championship events, made multiple tour finals and qualified for the BIG TV events as well as storming up the rankings (23 at the time of this post)!

Considering that less than 2 years ago he was playing causal darts in the pub, this is an incredible achievement!

If he can keep this up i can see top 10 within the next 12 months.

Rob Cross: You are a MASSIVE inspiration to us all

Luke

3/11/2017: 180!!!

Hi guys

Just hit a 180 with 24g Ton Machines,  short nlyons and 75mn Les Wallace flights