Fallon Sherrock, the Queen of the Palace, is back on the big stage as the PDC's six-event World Series opens up with the bet365 US Darts Masters from New York City.

What: bet365 US Darts Masters
Where: Hulu Theater, New York
When: 12:00am, Saturday 4th June, 2022
How to watch: bet365 Live Stream or ITV4 (delayed coverage)
Odds: M van Gerwen 4/1, G Price 9/2, P Wright 9/2, J Clayton 9/2

Sherrock is one of eight seeds, headed by world champion Peter Wright, who will be taking on eight North American stars in the £60,000 event at the Hulu Theater in the heart of the Big Apple.

This is the first of six events across the globe throughout the summer which culminate in the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam in September.

Can the Queen reign supreme?

Seven of the eight seeds at the bet365 US Masters head there straight from the Premier League and they make the market with Michael van Gerwen at 4/1.

But it's the eighth member of the PDC elite who will be grabbing all the headlines as Fallon Sherrock makes her return to big-time darts to take on the best.

Sherrock, hailed as the Queen of the Palace after her exploits in the World Championship at Alexandra Palace in 2019, is a current 66/1 shot in New York and admits she's not at the level she was three years ago.

However, she's also no one tournament wonder as she proved twice in 2021, famously beating both Gabriel Clemens and Mensur Suljovic to reach the Grand Slam quarter-finals.

A month earlier she had beaten Dimitri van den Bergh among others to reach the final of the Nordic Masters, becoming the only woman in PDC history to reach the final of a televised event.

She'll have the crowd behind her because she always does, wherever she plays, but may need more than that if she's to cause a stir.

MvG needs form booster

Van Gerwen is a contender but knows he'll need to find some magic, having arrived in the US on a poor run and admitting that he's feeling discomfort in his throwing arm. The problem is so acute he will have surgery on it the day after the Premier League Finals night.

Having said that, the Dutchman has still won eight events since the start of March so hasn't lost the winning knack.

However, in recent weeks he has suffered first-hurdle losses at the last two regular-season Premier League events plus the European Grand Prix, where he was humiliated 6-1 by Martin Lukeman.

Sizzling Smith puts Premier pain behind him

Jonny Clayton, who will be defending his Premier League title in Berlin soon, is 9/2 this weekend while Premier League flops Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price are 9/2 and 9/2 respectively.

Then it's Michael Smith at 5/1 and Bully Boy is buzzing after a pretty torrid time.

Smith's Premier League return was something of a shocker with eight first-round losses in the first 11 weeks.

But then it all clicked. In the last five weeks he reached four semis before winning Night 16's finale in Newcastle, too late to earn him a playoff place but a massive positive.

He then took that good form to Zwolle last weekend where he took Dutch Darts Championship honours, pipping Danny Noppert in the final. Four tournament wins since the middle of March make Smith a real threat at the Hulu Theater.

Cameron's already a Master

The eight North Americans going to post won't be taken lightly, especially as four of them are PDC Tour card holders. One of them, 125/1 shot Jeff Smith, is a former Lakeside world finalist.

Of the other four, Danny Lauby Jr has twice been to Ally Pally for the worlds and twice made a good impression, losing 3-2 each time. He is also available at 125/1.

But it's David Cameron who must be feeling on top of the world right now after last week claiming the inaugural World Seniors Darts Masters at the Lakeside, beating class acts like Kevin Painter and Robert Thornton before taking care of Phil 'The Power' Taylor in the final.

The 52-year-old, known as The Excalibur, a prolific winner in his native Canada, was a serial failure at the BDO World Championships back in the day but last weekend's win might just have given the 80/1 hope the belief he needs this weekend.