PDC Darts World Championship  2013.

Betvictor offer means you can back Van Gerwen and refund if Taylor wins.

The 2013 PDC World Darts Championship begins on the 14th December and we have a superb offer from BetVictor for this tournament – money back if Phil "The Power" Taylor wins for the 16th time!

Phil Taylor is going to be the man to beat that is for sure. 15 titles is some achievement and he is still rattling up the victories with a recent win in the player's championship finals. His trophy cabinet must be absolutely bulging at the seams!

Taylor has however failed to reach the last two championship finals so there is a chink of light shining through our window of betting opportunity. His staying power at the longer tournaments is coming into question and at 52 does he still have the magic powers to be able to see through one of the longest tournaments on the calendar?

That doesn't matter for us though because betting against Taylor is the way forward and make sure you take advantage of Betvictor's offer to be able to do it. This is a free hit and we need to try and maximise the opportunity.

So this means that we should be putting the spotlight on the other likely contenders to see if we can find some value here.

Adrian Lewis is one likely finalist though quite how he managed to win last year still remains a mystery to me. Andy Hamilton had him on the ropes and was about to deliver the last rites when he inexplicably self-destructed and handed the title to Lewis on a silver platter.

As I recall there was a break in play for a "draught" in the Ally Pally and both players refused to continue until after the source of it had been identified and nullified, after which Hamilton never regained his composure with Lewis running out a 7-3 winner.

Hamilton's form has not been so good this year and he is seventeenth in the seeding's so let's rule him out.

James Wade is a real possibility for a punt. He is the second most successful PDC player in darts history and at last year's tournament he was pummelling Adrian Lewis in the semi-final and leading 5 sets to one when he had an opportunity to win the match with a double eighteen.

Wade fluffed it and in one of the most amazing comebacks of all time Adrian Lewis came back from the dead reeling off ten straight legs and winning the match 5-6. Lucky Lewis indeed.

Wade was beaten in a fantastic match by Phil Taylor in the World match play final losing 15-18 but he lost in the first round of the World Grand prix and his form is patchy.

I'm going to rule him out on the basis that he looked decidedly unhappy in the Grand prix and he is known to suffer from Bipolar disorder which could be affecting his game at the moment.

Simon Whitlock is a player who is bang in form having won September's players championship, defeating Andy Hamilton in the final and then following that up with a European championship victory – his first "major" title.

Whitlock v Taylor has been a non-contest in the past with the Aussie failing to raise his game enough to cope with the blistering pace of "the power" but with our money back special this could be the man to back.

The last option is Michael Van Gerwen who has had a fantastic year winning the World Grand prix and runner up in the grand slam of darts losing to Raymond Van Barneveld who himself we shouldn't totally discount but we have to draw a line for the oche somewhere!

So with Phil Taylor out of the betting, of the top seeds we have Hamilton who is in questionable form and is ruled out, James Wade looks unhappy at the moment and so we'll rule him out as well.

That leaves Van Gerwen and Whitlock as the possibilities.

Van Gerwen is a 4/1 shot whilst Whitlock comes in at 12/1. Both players are in the form of their lives but Van Gerwen is unquestionably the bigger talent having won his first titles at just seventeen years of age and he has youth on his side for a long event.

The draw has left Whitlock in the top half with Taylor and these could meet in the semi-final. If someone is going to beat Taylor then it is likely to be Whitlock or Barneveld and they will meet Van Gerwen in the final by seeding.

Van Gerwen is in the bottom half of the draw and will have to defeat both Lewis and Wade on his way to the final so he has arguably the tougher draw.

This is a difficult one and we could conceivably see both of our picks in the final so I'm going to go Dutch and make two bets – one for Whitlock – at 12/1 it's just too good a value to pass up and if he gets beat in the semi by Taylor then we will have a good chance of getting our money back.

And the second for Van Gerwen – I think he has a really good chance of winning and if he meets anyone but Taylor in the final I think he will.

The problem is having just checked the T&C's you can't place multiple bets for the Betvictor offer so let's lump on Van Gerwen at 4/1 as we think he is the only player capable of beating Taylor in the final.

I can make a case for Whitlock but we need another value added offer for that one. I'll let you know if we get one.

Place a single bet on the 2013 PDC World Darts Championship outright market before the start of the second round (December 21) and if Phil Taylor wins the title, your losing stake will be refunded up to £50

Get on Michael Van Gerwen at 4/1 with Betvictor and get your money back if Taylor wins.