Latest: World Matchplay 2026

July 18-19 — Round One: The 2026 World Matchplay opened at the Winter Gardens with the full 32-player field in action across two sessions. Defending champion Luke Littler eased past Niko Springer 10-6, averaging 109. Notable results elsewhere: Josh Rock beat Luke Woodhouse 10-4, Gary Anderson thrashed Ryan Joyce 10-2, and Dirk van Duijvenbode edged Chris Dobey 13-11 in one of the round’s tighter contests.

July 22 — Round Two (Day 5): Littler produced one of the standout individual performances of the tournament so far, beating Nathan Aspinall 11-8 with a nine-dart finish and a 113.68 average — the second-highest average ever recorded at the World Matchplay, behind only Phil Taylor. Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price impressed with a dominant win over Rob Cross, van Duijvenbode edged out Michael van Gerwen 14-12, and Gary Anderson continued his run through to the last eight.

July 23 — Quarter-Finals, Session One: Dirk van Duijvenbode faces Gary Anderson (20:05), followed by Luke Littler against Josh Rock (21:45) — a rematch of last year’s semi-final, which Littler won 16-7.

July 24 — Quarter-Finals, Session Two: Ross Smith meets Gerwyn Price, and Gian van Veen faces James Wade, completing the last eight.

Still to come: Semi-finals on July 25, with the final and the Women’s World Matchplay both on July 26.

OddsMint take: Littler hasn’t lost a televised major since the 2025 European Championship, and his form this week — averages north of 110, a nine-darter, dropping legs sparingly — suggests the field is playing for second place. The more interesting betting angles right now sit in the 180s and checkout markets rather than the outright match winner, where his prices are close to unbacked.

How PDC Darts Works

Professional darts is played on a standard dartboard. Players stand at a throw line 7ft 10in from the board and alternate throwing three darts per turn. The objective in most formats is to count down from 501 to exactly zero — finishing on a double.

Professional matches are played in either legs format (first to reach a set number of legs wins) or sets format (each set is first to three legs, first to reach a set number of sets wins). The World Championship uses sets. Most other TV events use legs.

Three-dart average is the headline performance statistic — the average score across each three-dart visit to the board. Top professional players average 95-105+ on a consistent basis. Luke Littler has pushed that ceiling significantly higher in 2025-26, regularly posting averages of 105-115 in major matches.

The Players Worth Knowing in 2026

Luke Littler — the story of modern darts. Won the World Championship in January 2026, defeating Gian van Veen 7-1 in the final. His second world title at 18. Won the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals in 2025. Matchplay 2026 is currently underway, check our coverage here. Currently the number one player in the world and the pre-tournament favourite for virtually every event he enters. The challenge for bettors: his prices are consistently compressed to the point where backing him outright rarely represents value. The real question with Littler is always whether his opening round odds are appropriately priced — he occasionally drifts when tournament structures make early upsets possible.

Luke Humphries — defending Premier League champion. Won the Premier League in 2025 by defeating Littler in the final — the one major format where he’s consistently matched the world number one. Known for extraordinary consistency in long-format matches. Still the second-best player in the world and frequently worth backing against the field in events where Littler is absent or struggling.

Gian van Veen — World Championship finalist in January 2026, making his Premier League debut this season. The Dutch 22-year-old is now established as a genuine top-four player. His prices as a tournament underdog are frequently softer than his actual probability of running deep justifies.

Michael van Gerwen — three-time world champion, now in the veteran phase of a remarkable career. Still dangerous, still capable of posting exceptional averages, but inconsistency has crept into his game. At long prices in tournaments he can offer value — books still price his name heavily.

Josh Rock — Northern Ireland’s next superstar. Premier League debut this season. Averaging consistently over 100 and improving rapidly. At any price above 10/1 in major events he represents genuine value given his trajectory.

Gerwyn Price — former world champion, wildcard pick for the 2026 Premier League. Experienced, physically imposing, and capable of tournament runs at extended prices.

The PDC Tournament Calendar

Premier League Darts (February – May)

The flagship weekly event. Eight players compete in a nightly mini-tournament every Thursday across 17 weeks, visiting venues across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium (Antwerp is new for 2026). Total prize fund: £1.25 million. The winner of Finals Night at the O2 Arena in London takes £350,000.

The 2026 lineup: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen (automatic qualifiers), plus wildcards Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price.

Littler leads the table after Night 8 in Berlin. Remaining nights run through to Finals Night on 28 May.

Read our PDC Premier League Darts 2026 season guide ➡

World Matchplay (July) 18-26 July, Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The oldest major on the PDC circuit. Straight knockout, legs format. The Blackpool crowd is among the most partisan in darts — home crowd effects are real here. Littler won this in 2025.

World Grand Prix (September/October) 28 September – 4 October, Mattioli Arena, Leicester (new venue for 2026, replacing Citywest in Dublin). The unique double-start format — players must begin their count-down on a double — requires a different skill set to standard events. This format distinction is frequently underpriced by the market, creating value on players with exceptional double-starting ability regardless of their general ranking.

Grand Slam of Darts (November) 14-22 November, WV Active Aldersley, Wolverhampton. Features the widest field of any PDC major — top PDC tour players joined by international qualifiers. More variance than other majors. Longer outsider prices are worth attention here specifically because the expanded field creates genuine upset potential.

PDC World Darts Championship (December/January) The biggest event in darts. December 11 2026 – January 3 2027, Alexandra Palace, London. £5 million prize fund. Winner takes £1 million. Littler won in January 2026 for his second consecutive title. The World Championship is the single biggest betting event in darts — equivalent to the World Cup in football in terms of public engagement and betting volume.

The Darts Betting Markets

Match winner: Which player wins a specific match. The most straightforward market. In knockout events, early round matches against significantly weaker opponents produce heavily compressed favourite prices — the value in these rounds is almost always on the underdog covering rather than the favourite winning.

Tournament outright: Who wins the entire event. Most liquid market, most heavily bet. Littler’s prices at major events are typically 2.00-3.50 as outright favourite – rarely value at those prices against a full field. The outright market rewards backing second-tier contenders at 8-15/1 who have specific format advantages.

Handicap (sets or legs): Betting on a player to win by a certain number of sets or legs, or to cover a spread. In lopsided first-round matches at the World Championship, the handicap market frequently offers better value than the outright match winner — a top-10 player at -3.5 legs against a qualifier is often a more precise way to express your opinion than the compressed match winner price.

180s markets: Most 180s in a match, or over/under on total 180s. Specific to individual players’ throwing styles and scoring patterns. Littler and van Gerwen consistently post high 180 counts. 180 markets reward statistical research — players’ historical 180 rates per visit to the treble 20 are trackable and the market doesn’t always reflect them accurately.

Checkout markets: Highest checkout in a match, first player to hit a specific double. More specialist, higher variance. Worth exploring if you have strong knowledge of individual players’ finishing patterns.

Nine-dart finish specials: Insurance market against the perfect leg. At major events with large fields, the probability of at least one nine-darter during the week is significant. Nine-darter specials at 2.50-3.50 to happen at all during a major tournament are frequently offered and frequently represent value.

Where the Value Sits in Darts Betting

Format edges: Different events use different formats and different formats favour different players. The World Grand Prix’s double-start requirement genuinely advantages players with excellent starting doubles. The World Championship’s extended sets format favours consistent, deep-match players over flashy scorers. Identifying which players are format specialists is underpriced by a market that prices primarily on general ranking.

Venue and crowd dynamics: Darts crowds are uniquely influential. A hostile crowd in a player’s home region creates a measurable pressure dynamic. Gerwyn Price has historically underperformed in front of hostile UK crowds. Players who feed off crowd energy — Littler is the obvious current example — outperform their averages in packed arenas. The market prices ranking; it doesn’t always price crowd psychology.

Early tournament pricing: The first round of the World Championship typically sees top seeds priced at 1.05-1.15 against qualifiers. That level of compression makes backing the favourite mechanically unrewarding. The value in these rounds is systematically on the qualifier either winning outright (rare but it happens) or covering the handicap — qualifiers who’ve won through multiple rounds of qualifying are not the same as qualifier-level players.

Live betting on momentum shifts: Darts has one of the most dramatic live betting markets of any sport. A player who loses the first three legs of a match — in any format — sees their live odds move sharply. The question is whether that move is accurate. In shorter formats (best of 11 legs), losing the first three legs is significant. In longer formats (best of 13 sets at the World Championship) it’s almost routine. The market frequently overreacts to early deficits in long-format matches. A top player down 0-2 in sets at the World Championship is not in serious trouble — but their live odds will often tell a different story.

Where to Bet on Darts in Europe

Most major European sportsbooks cover PDC darts betting with reasonable market depth on TV events. For Premier League nightly markets and World Championship match-by-match betting, GGBet (read the full review here), BetSafe and Betsson both offer competitive coverage for European bettors.

For the best odds comparison across operators on specific darts matches, Oddsportal tracks multiple bookmakers simultaneously — essential for a sport where handicap and 180 market prices can vary significantly between books. 

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