Smith on financial ramifications of Coronavirus pandemic: “I know they’ve said they are going to freeze rankings but that doesn’t help you pay bills”

Smith spoke recently to Colossus Bets about how he is getting his practice in by playing with people online to get him prepared for the first day back on tour.

“I’ve seen all the lads playing each other on n01 Live; so you can have virtual games against other players. I’ll be doing that I think. I might have a game against people I don’t know; but I’m not sure if they’ll cheat.”

“Chris Dobey has asked me to play plus Luke Humphries; so I’ll just FaceTime them and have a game at the same time. The good thing is that it gives you that competition and the proper wait between throws; so it’s proper game play conditions.”

“I was saying to Whitey (Ian White) the other day; our first Pro Tour back if you don’t have a 110 average you are stuffed. Everyone is going to be smashing the board after weeks and weeks of practice!”

Smith also discussed how players will now cope financially with the lack of events; he said that he already knows some players who were struggling when the darts was on so it could be a tough time.

“The only thing I’m worried about is that players are going to go bankrupt. Some of the guys outside the top 32 have quit jobs trying to make it as a player, and they are now on the breadline.”

“I know they’ve said they are going to freeze rankings but that doesn’t help you pay bills. I know a few lads who told me they were struggling at the end of last year, so they are going to be in real trouble now. Not only them but also the staff and officials.”

“We really don’t know how long this could last. Certain experts have been saying that social distancing could last for 12 months. That could be so hard for some.”