| Rank | Venue | Highest Tournament Strength |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pinches Cue Club, Norwich | 1.350 |
| 2 | Faringdon Football Club | 1.329 |
| 3 | Tipton Sports Academy | 1.297 |
| 4 | Bedlinog Rugby Club | 1.285 |
| 5 | Bagley Sports & Social Club | 1.280 |
| 6 | The Brookside, Syston | 1.278 |
| 7 | The Gardeners Arms, Ipswich | 1.270 |
| 8 | Sartan Club | 1.265 |
| 9 | Hethersett Social Club | 1.260 |
| 10 | Clacton Sports Bar | 1.256 |
One entry per venue, using its highest Tournament Strength recorded through the week ending 3 October.
Pinches Is Still the Benchmark
Three weeks ago, Pinches opened with 1.350.
That immediately became the number everyone else had to chase.
What has made Pinches particularly interesting hasn't simply been that nobody has beaten 1.350. It's what happened afterwards.
Its next two Tournament Strength figures were:
1.340
1.331
So this isn't a venue sitting at the top because of one extraordinary tournament followed by much weaker fields.
Pinches has repeatedly produced Tournament Strength scores above 1.330.
That remains some of the strongest evidence we've seen so far of a genuinely difficult regular Vault 19 venue.
The 1.350 remains the headline number.
The repeat performances are the more interesting story.
Faringdon Is Still the Closest Challenger
Faringdon Football Club remains second with its best Tournament Strength of 1.329.
Originally, I put an important caveat alongside that figure because it came from only eight players.
Since then, Faringdon has provided some useful supporting evidence.
Its subsequent 1.275 from a 24-player field showed that the venue can produce strong numbers with a much bigger entry as well.
That makes Faringdon's second place more interesting than it looked when the 1.329 first appeared.
Pinches remains clear at the top, but Faringdon is still the closest anyone has come.
Tipton Remains Third
Tipton Sports Academy's 1.297 continues to hold third place.
That was one of the figures that particularly caught my attention in an earlier update because it came from a substantial field.
It hasn't been overtaken during the latest week, but there is now a new name immediately behind it.
Bedlinog Arrives in Fourth
The biggest addition to the leading group this week is Bedlinog Rugby Club.
A Tournament Strength of 1.285 puts it straight into fourth place.
That takes it above Bagley's 1.280 and The Brookside's 1.278.
As always, one big Tournament Strength score gives me a reason to notice a venue.
What happens next will tell me considerably more.
Pinches is the perfect example of that.
So Bedlinog now becomes another venue worth watching as Vault 19 continues.
The Established Venues Are Still Hanging Around
The arrival of new challengers hasn't removed many of the venues we've been following throughout the series.
Bagley Sports & Social Club remains fifth with 1.280.
The Brookside in Syston is sixth at 1.278.
The Gardeners Arms in Ipswich, which entered the leading group last week, remains seventh at 1.270.
Then comes a familiar South West name.
Sartan Club remains in the Top 10 with a best of 1.265.
Sartan's individual Tournament Strength has moved around from week to week, but it continues to feature towards the stronger end of the Vault 19 data.
Hethersett Social Club is ninth with 1.260 after the steady improvement I highlighted previously, while Clacton Sports Bar completes this week's Top 10 at 1.256.
The Table Is Becoming Harder to Break Into
That's another thing beginning to emerge after three weeks.
The standard required simply to reach the Top 10 is becoming pretty high.
A venue now needs a Tournament Strength above 1.250 just to get into this particular group.
And there are other established strong venues sitting around that mark.
That means one good tournament can move a venue dramatically, but maintaining a place near the top is becoming more difficult as more results are added.
That's exactly what I hoped would happen with these updates.
WADC Vault 3.0 – Wales Still Controls the Top
The WADC Tournament Strength story has developed considerably over the past three weeks.
Initially, The 9 Darter in Port Talbot led the way at 0.997.
Then Briton Ferry surged to 1.151, while Penybanc joined the leading group.
The latest picture still has a very strong Welsh look.
WADC Vault 3.0 – Strongest Venues After Three Weeks
| Rank | Venue | Highest Tournament Strength |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Briton Ferry Workies | 1.151 |
| 2 | Penybanc RFC, Ammanford | 1.077 |
| 3 | The 9 Darter, Port Talbot | 0.997 |
| 4 | Arrows Darts Venue #2, Resolven | 0.986 |
| 5 | Dereham Cricket Club | 0.980 |
| 6 | Walton WMC | 0.941 |
One entry per venue, using its highest WADC Vault 3.0 Tournament Strength. Penybanc RFC #1 and #2 are treated as one venue.
Briton Ferry Remains No.1
Briton Ferry Workies remains the WADC benchmark at 1.151.
Its progression has been one of the most interesting things I've found during these updates.
Earlier in Vault 3.0 it recorded 0.961, then 0.989, before producing the 1.151 that took it to the top.
That is exactly the sort of development I want to find by revisiting Tournament Strength rather than publishing one table and forgetting about it.
Briton Ferry isn't at the top because of the first tournament I happened to analyse.
Its numbers developed as the series progressed.
Penybanc Strengthens Its Position
Penybanc is another venue where looking beyond a single result helps.
I'm treating the Penybanc RFC #1 and #2 entries as one venue for these rankings.
Its best score is now 1.077, which puts it second overall.
It has also produced 1.049.
So, like Briton Ferry, there is supporting evidence behind the headline figure.
Penybanc hasn't simply appeared in second place through one isolated strong tournament.
It has produced two fields above 1.000.
Wales Holds the Top Four
Behind Briton Ferry and Penybanc come two more Welsh venues.
The 9 Darter, Port Talbot — 0.997
Arrows Darts Venue #2, Resolven — 0.986
Then comes England's strongest venue:
Dereham Cricket Club — 0.980
That means Wales currently occupies the top four positions in the WADC Vault 3.0 Tournament Strength ranking.
Dereham isn't far behind Resolven, so the England-Wales story isn't finished.
But three weeks into the series, Wales unquestionably has the advantage at the top.
A Very Different Picture From Week One
This is why I like revisiting these numbers.
After the opening tournaments, The 9 Darter led the WADC standings.
After two weeks, Briton Ferry had jumped to 1.151.
Now Penybanc has strengthened further to 1.077.
The venues haven't necessarily become weaker when they've dropped positions.
Other venues have simply produced stronger fields.
And we're beginning to get enough repeat events to distinguish between a big one-off number and a venue regularly attracting competitive fields.
Three Weeks In – What Do We Know?
There is still plenty of Vault 19 to come, so I'm not declaring any of these rankings final.
But after three weeks, some trends are becoming difficult to ignore.
In the main Vault 19 series, Pinches remains the benchmark.
Its 1.350 is still the highest Tournament Strength recorded, but the 1.340 and 1.331 that followed are what really make it stand out.
Faringdon remains the closest challenger and has backed up its eight-player 1.329 with evidence from a much larger field.
Tipton remains third.
Bedlinog is this week's big arrival.
And familiar venues including Bagley, Sartan and Hethersett continue to appear towards the top.
In WADC Vault 3.0, the story remains Welsh dominance.
Briton Ferry leads at 1.151, Penybanc has strengthened to 1.077 and Welsh venues occupy the first four positions.
Three weeks ago, I was looking for the biggest Tournament Strength scores.
Now I'm increasingly looking for something more important.
Which venues keep producing them?
That's where the toughest venues of Vault 19 and WADC Vault 3.0 should eventually reveal themselves.
