Semi-Finals...

An interesting day today which started in bizarre style. On the way to and from work I've been listening to some of the albums I got for Christmas. Well this morning was the turn of "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", the debut album from Pink Floyd.

Well I must say I quite enjoyed it, although requires another couple of listens to rate it properly. But I had to chuckle whilst listening...It was clearly written to be enjoyed whilst under the influence of acid ("I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like"), rather than freezing your bollocks off at 7.20am on a bus.

And there was a big time seethe today also. Having taped UFC last night, eager to watch the Brock Lesnar v Alistair Overeem fight tonight without knowing the result, I thought I'd done everything right. I skipped through the nighttime twitter timeline and everything was looking good. Then what happens? The bloke from Ladbrokes over the road comes in to collect his winning £1 acca on the UFC (the first one he's ever got up after numerous attempts), which showed me that Overeem had been victorious against "The next big thing". He's won £3.40 at the expense of my New Years Eve entertainment ffs.

Andy Hamilton v Simon Whitlock

So here we go...Anyone who took the antepost advice to have a 2pt win bet on Simon Whitlock at 33/1 is sitting very pretty. I thought he could get this far, and was expecting Phil Taylor in the semis. To be 4/9 favourite against Andy Hamilton is a huge bonus, but we're not home and dry yet.

The advice has to be to let the bet ride and then have a decent enough chunk on the opponent in the final, but Hamilton is not without a shout. I honestly think Whitlock will win this match but "The Hammer" must be respected.

He's got here the hard way having beaten a young Alcinas who played out of his skin, a comeback win against the gutsy Van De Voort, a shocking whitewash of the brilliant Chisnall, and a rather easier win against Huybrechts, who to be fair hadn't beaten much to get there.

It's fingers and everything else crossed that The Wizard makes the final...

No Bet

Adrian Lewis v James Wade

Defending champ Lewis is not without a chance here but the prices are plain wrong. With the exception of a couple of ultimately meaningless Championship League Darts fixtures, Lewis is owned by Wade.

Every time they have met in a TV knockout match, Wade hasn't just won, but he's won with plenty in hand. Remember Ady crying after the Grand Prix final, moaning about James' feet being near to the oche?

I get the feeling that James will be hugely confident of victory here, and he can also expect to have the majority of the crowd on his side after Lewis' outburst the other night.

Wade's match averages have never meant a great deal. Lewis has averaged 96.41, 96.24, 95.94, and 92.41 in this tournament. If he plays to that standard tomorrow, I'm on Wade all day long.

Wade to beat Lewis - 3pts @ 5/4 (Stan James, Betfred)