Last year, Michael Smith finally ended a long wait to win the big one, the PDC World Darts Championship. His 7-4 defeat of Michael van Gerwen in a pulsating final was one of the highlights of a busy new year period for sport.
And now just under 12 months later, we are back again at the fantastic Alexandra Palace in London from Friday 15th December as we begin the quest to see who will become the 2024 PDC World Darts Champion.
Subsequently, it promises to be a very open championship and there is a surprise name at the forefront of the betting. Luke Humphries has enjoyed a stellar 2023 and he starts as the 3-1 favourite to win the event ahead of Michael van Gerwen (7/2), Gerwyn Price (9/2) and Michael Smith is an 11/1 shot to reclaim the title.
Bet365 Sport is of course ready to fulfil the need for darts fans and bettors over the forthcoming weeks with extensive coverage of every game of the tournament, as well as a huge outright betting market (where you can find the prices above, if you are quick enough!).
Let’s now take a look at the event and some of the stars who will feature in it.
PDC World Darts Championship 2024 Factfile
Key Details
- Dates – Friday 15th December to Wednesday January 3rd 2024
- Venue – Alexandra Palace, London
- Current Champion – Michael Smith
- Competitors – 96
- Broadcasters – Sky Sports, DAZN, Viaplay & PDCTV.
- Prize Money – £2,500,000 in total. Winner receives £500,000.
Tournament Format
The tournament is played in sets format, with each set a best of five contest. Players throw for the bull to decide who throws first and they will alternate between throwing first throughout the game.
The number of sets playable in the tournament increases as you progress through the rounds.
- Round 1 and Round 2 – Best of 5 sets.
- Round 3 and Round 4 – Best of 7 sets.
- Quarter Finals – Best of 9 sets.
- Semi Finals – Best of 11 sets.
- Final – Best of 13 sets.
The players are organised into three groups of seeds. The top 32 (who are all given a Bye through to Round 2), the players ranked 33 to 64 and then 32 qualifiers from tournaments all over the world have been drawn to face one of the players ranked 33 to 64.
Due to the format, there are 32 Round 1 games, and 32 Round 2 games, and as players qualify from Round 1, Round 2 games will also start with both Round 1 and Round 2 games being completed before Christmas.
The tournament breaks for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and also New Years Eve and New Years Day.
This year, there is also a special sponsor’s prize totalling £100,000 awarded to any player that scores TWO nine dart finishes in the tournament. The player will receive £50,000 of the prize, with £25,000 going to Cancer Research UK and the other £25,000 going to a member of the public picked randomly.
PDC World Darts Championship – Draws
Seedings are shown in brackets.
Round 1
- Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz
- Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
- Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida
- Lee Evans v Sandro Eric Sosing
- Connor Scutt v Krzysztof Kciuk
- Jules van Dongen v Darren Penhall
- Jamie Hughes v David Cameron
- Keane Barry v Reynaldo Rivera
- Scott Williams v Haruki Muramatsu
- Ricky Evans v Simon Adams
- Jim Williams v Norman Madhoo
- Matt Campbell v Lourence Ilagan
- Dylan Slevin v Florian Hempel
- Niels Zonneveld v Darren Webster
- Jermaine Wattimena v Fallon Sherrock
- Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole
- Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung
- Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha
- Ian White v Tomoya Goto
- Ritchie Edhouse v Jeffrey de Graaf
- Keegan Brown v Boris Krcmar
- Steve Beaton v Wessel Nijman
- Mike De Decker v Dragutin Horvat
- Ricardo Pietreczko v Mikuru Suzuki
- Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele
- Steve Lennon v Owen Bates
- William O’Connor v Bhav Patel
- Ryan Joyce v Alex Spellman
- Richard Veenstra v Ben Robb
- Christian Kist v Luke Littler
- Mickey Mansell v Zong Xiao Chen
- Luke Woodhouse v Berry van Peer
Round 2
- Michael Smith (1) v Doets or Buntz
- Dave Chisnall (11) v Menzies or Rodriguez
- Gary Anderson (21) v Whitlock or Nebrida
- Joe Cullen (14) v Van Dongen or Penhall
- Luke Humphries (3) v Evans or Sosing
- Gerwyn Price (5) v Scutt or Kciuk
- James Wade (13) v Campbell or Ilagan
- Michael van Gerwen (2) v Barry or Rivera
- Ross Smith (16) v Zonneveld or Webster
- Peter Wright (4) v Williams or Madhoo
- Madars Razma (32) v De Decker or Horvat
- Rob Cross (8) v Vandenbogaerde or Tricole
- Andrew Gilding (20) v Kist or Littler
- Danny Noppert (7) v Williams or Muramatsu
- Gabriel Clemens (22) v Van Veen or Lok Leung
- Damon Heta (10) v Lukeman or Puha
- Brendan Dolan (28) v Mansell or Xiao Chen
- Jose de Sousa (25) v Edhouse or De Graaf
- Kryzstof Rataczyk (24) v Hughes or Cameron
- Dirk van Duijvenbode (12) v Brown or Krcmar
- Dmitri Van den Bergh (15) v Slevin or Hempel
- Martin Schindler (26) v Wattimena or Sherrock
- Raymond Van Barneveld (29) v Szaganski or Kantele
- Chris Dobey (17) v O’Connor or Patel
- Kim Huybrechts (31) v Veenstra or Robb
- Callan Rydz (30) v Pietreczko or Suzuki
- Jonny Clayton (9) v Lennon or Bates
- Daryl Gurney (27) v Beaton or Nijman
- Ryan Searle (19) v White or Goto
- Josh Rock (23) v Woodhouse or Van Peer
- Stephen Bunting (18) v Joyce or Spellman
- Nathan Aspinall (6) v Evans or Adams
Other PDC World Darts Championship Facts
- Phil Taylor has won the trophy 14 times and finished runner up a further 5 times. He is by far and away the most successful player in the history of the tournament.
- Only 11 players have won the title. Taylor, Michael van Gerwen (3 times), Gary Anderson, John Part, Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright (twice), Dennis Priestley, Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price (once).
- A total of 14 nine-dart finishes have been completed at the World Championships up to 2024. Raymond van Barneveld was the first (and second) player to achieve that in 2009 and then again in 2010.
- Adrian Lewis was the first player to throw a nine-dart finish in the final, which happened in 2011. Michael Smith repeated that feat last year in his win over Michael van Gerwen.
- The tournament was held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet from 1994 to 2007, but has been held at Alexandra Palace ever since.
- The very first tournament saw Dennis Priestley crowned the inaugural winner in 1994, as he beat Phil Taylor 6-1 in the final, earning a £16,000 prize. The winner of the 2024 tournament will win approximately 31 times more than that amount (£500,000).
- From 1994 through to 2010 Phil Taylor lost a total of four matches at the tournament in 16 years.
- Just four finals have been taken the full 13 legs, the last in 2015 when Gary Anderson beat Phil Taylor 7-6 to win his first World title.
- Peter Manley has the unenviable record of the most appearances in the final without a win, making three appearances in the final in 1999, 2002 and 2006. He lost to Phil Taylor each time 6-2, 7-0 and 7-0.
- Only three non-British players have won the World title. John Part (Canada) and two Dutchmen Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld.
It is going to be interesting to see how the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship unplays over the festive period. Why not tune in and enjoy some fantastic darts action along with your favourite festive treat!