Christopher Kempf, the statistical analyst of the PDC, takes a look at most likely margins of victory on Night Three of the Unibet Premier League in Dublin.
The Premier League nearly produced a historic display of equity on February 23, 2017, the fourth week of that year's tournament; a night which saw four of the five matches end in a draw.
Incredibly, the one match that did not end in a tie resulted in Jelle Klaasen's only win (7-3 over Dave Chisnall) en route to relegation on Judgement Night.
To date, no week of the Premier League has ever witnessed all ten players draw their opponents - this is an event which would only be expected to occur once every 50 years.
The unique best-of-12 format of the Premier League negates the advantage of winning the opening throw for the bull by guaranteeing each player six legs on throw and six against if the match goes the distance.
Any player can guarantee themselves a point just by holding throw six times, but in practice most players who win or draw will break throw at least twice.
The Premier League's elite field of players are unlikely to defeat each other by lopsided margins, with one notable exception - 64% of all best-of-12 group matches have ended in a draw or a score of 7-5 or 7-4.
Only one break of throw is needed to win by any of these scorelines. However, given that Premier League matches in 2018 averaged nearly four breaks of throw, as many as three or four are needed in practice to secure a win or draw by those margins.
To break three or four times consecutively without allowing one's opponent to even get themselves on the scoreboard is a rare feat; since 2013 it has been accomplished only six times, with Michael Smith's 2018 four-break whitewash of Raymond van Barneveld being the most recent.
Only 1.4% of best-of-12 Premier League matches end in whitewashes, but when considering the subset of matches in which Michael van Gerwen is one of the players on stage, the probability of a match ending in an MvG shutout of his opponent has a probability of 3.2%.
Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and James Wade all have been on the receiving end of a Van Gerwen Premier League whitewash, while the reigning champion has never been defeated by such a score.
In fact, the Dutchman has suffered two losses of 7-3 in his Premier league career, but has never been defeated by a score more lopsided than that.
A scoreline of 7-1 is more than six times likely than a whitewash. Even Van Gerwen, in setting the world record average of 123.40 in 2016, conceded a leg to Smith.
Even the best players, after all, are likely to have one poor leg once in a while, and can't help but allow their opponents to score even if it is not ultimately relevant to the outcome of the match.
It is only once we reach a scoreline of 7-2 that we encounter an outcome that is likely to show up more than once for every two nights of the Premier League.
For Van Gerwen, however, a win by the specific score of 7-1 is more likely for him than a loss by any margin greater than two legs.
So far in the 2019 Premier League, no match has been won by five legs or more. While the high number of close matches (including four draws) undoubtedly benefits the fans, what effect does the scoreline of matches have on the Premier League table?
For one thing, perennial table-topper Van Gerwen will be pleased to see his opponents draw their matches, so that none of his rivals can get the two-point bonus for winning, thereby closing the gap between them and the top of the table more quickly.
Over/Under Legs
Gerwyn Price v James Wade - Over/Under 11.5 Legs
Over - Evens
Under - 8/11
Steve Lennon v Peter Wright - Over/Under 10.5 Legs
Over - 8/13
Under - 6/5
Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross - Over/Under 10.5 Legs
Over - 8/13
Under - 6/5
Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney - Over/Under 11.5 Legs
Over - 21/20
Under - 7/10
Mensur Suljovic v Raymond van Barneveld - Over/Under 11.5 Legs
Over - 23/20
Under - 13/20
All Five Matches To End In A Draw - 2391.36/1
Odds courtesy www.unibet.co.uk and correct at time of writing. Subject to fluctuation.
Follow Christopher Kempf on Twitter @Ochepedia