Will Hillbilly upset the favorite?
The 2026 World Darts Championship has already produced a few surprises. One of them is certainly James Hurrell, who won two consecutive games at the World Championship for the first time in his career and now faces one of the favorites in the extended circle.
Stephen Bunting reached the semifinals a year ago and wants to go far again at Alexandra Palace this time around. Basically, our tip for Stephen Bunting vs. James Hurrell is that “The Bullet” will advance, even though his challenger has already knocked a well-known opponent out of the tournament in Dirk van Duijvenbode (3:2).
Not only was James Hurrell’s average of 92.83 impressive, but above all the fact that “Hillbilly” has a very high scoring potential and throws a lot of 180s. Against Dirk van Duijvenbode, he threw ten in total – twice as many as the Dutchman.
It is quite possible that the supposed underdog, who has increasingly gotten his double field weakness under control, will also score one or two maximums against Stephen Bunting, which is why we sense the greatest value in betting on a high-scoring game. In our Bunting vs. Hurrell prediction, we therefore recommend betting that both players will throw a combined total of over 13.5 180s.
However, it shouldn’t be an excessively long match. Stephen Bunting’s season was too strong for that, with an annual average of around 99 points on the Pro Tour, one of the best scores on the tour. It’s no coincidence that he was among the top four in the PDC Order of Merit at the end of 2025 and, after a somewhat shaky opening match in the second round, gave Nitan Kumar no chance (3:0) with a relatively low average of 94.11.
Stephen Bunting – James Hurrell Head-to-head record
At the 2023 Players Championship, the two players crossed paths at the oche in the second round. At that time, the favored Stephen Bunting recorded a confident 6:2 victory over James Hurrell, which he would now like to confirm at Alexandra Palace, of course.
Stephen Bunting – James Hurrell Tip
The betting odds from the best darts betting providers clearly and unambiguously favor Stephen Bunting over James Hurrell, based on last year’s semifinalist. “The Bullet” has played a very consistent season at the highest level, has won his only duel against Hurrell so far, and has more composure and a clear routine on the stage at Ally Pally.
His consistently high scoring, coupled with only a few dips in performance, should ultimately give him the edge, although it could get heated if “Hillbilly” unleashes his high-scoring potential. The underdog recently beat Dirk van Duijvenbode, partly because he managed to throw ten 180s.
Accordingly, we believe that Stephen Bunting vs. James Hurrell is a match in which spectators can expect to cheer on many a maximum. We are betting on a total of over 13.5 180s in the course of the game, for which Betano is offering odds of 1.83, which we are betting on with five out of ten units.
