Odds quoted are from Paddy Power Many are saying it's the end of an era. Phil Taylor, universally accepted to be the greatest darts player of all time, has given his biggest indications yet that his best days are behind him. It might have taken the darts world a little bit longer to notice, but for one huge factor.

Raymond van Barneveld's defection from the other darts association (effectively the BBC one) to the PDC (Sky Sports) means that Taylor's average simply isn't good enough any more. He won Sky Sports' Premier League, but as far as major tournaments go, he's got nothing to show this year while Barney has added all three to his collection. Barney's best seems to have been lifted by the rise in standard since his move from the relatively pedestrian BDO circuit. His comeback performance in beating Taylor in the World Championship final was simply extraordinary and since then he's been consistently averaging well over 100 for three darts, hammering Taylor 11-4 at the UK Open and coasting to the Las Vegas Desert Classic title. Potential banana skins such as Terry Jenkins and Michael van Gerwen are lurking in Taylor's half of the draw and with Barney in such red-hot form, even at just 2-1 he's one of the best bets you'll see this year.

BACK WES NEWTON TO BEAT PHIL TAYLOR TOMORROW IN WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS 7-1 BACK PETER MANLEY TO BEAT MICHAEL VAN GERWEN TOMORROW IN WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS 13-8

Odds quoted are from Paddy Power With eight tournament victories, and entering the competition as defending champion, it might seem an act of lunacy to oppose Phil Taylor winning the tournament, never mind an opening round match against a local favourite. But there's every chance Taylor could slip up in his first effort, just as he did in the opening round in Las Vegas recently. Newton had a good time in Vegas, beating recent world number one Colin Lloyd before losing out in a deciding leg to finalist Terry Jenkins, the best player in the world at the moment outside the top two. Newton has run Taylor close before, and when Taylor was playing far better darts. There are reports that the famously thorough Taylor is now concentrating more on his business interests and less on his practice boards, while his fluctuating weight and constant tinkering point to a lack of focus. He'll probably regroup in time for the next world championships but for now, he's worth opposing. Elsewhere, there's hype about Dutch teenager Michael van Gerwen, but as a quali"er, he faces a seed in round one. Peter Manley is not one of the world's best, but his gamesmanship and slow play might be enough to frustrate the fast-throwing teenager tomorrow night.

WHERE THE MONEY WAS. . .BACK JERRY YANG TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER 19-1

A Laos-born psychologist and absolute unknown on the poker circuit, Jerry Yang won a $225 satellite tournament in Temecula, southern California to qualify for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. After making it to the final eight (out of 6,358 starters), Yang was unsurprisingly the 19-1 outsider on the exchanges. But an aggressive style and a sweet draw on the river (ask your dealer) saw him turn the second smallest chip stack into the biggest, and his $225 win into a $8.25m one. Then he pledged 10% of it to charity. Aw.

(Betfair)