Paddy Power World Darts Championship-2025/26 Preview
The Paddy Power World Darts Championship will be held between December 11 and January 3 in London. This edition will feature 128 participants with the winner getting £1 million. This will be the final time when the tournament will be held at Alexandra Palace, after this year, the event will move to Great Hall.
Who will win the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship?
The event will be broadcasted through PDCTV as well as Sky Sports.Here we will consider the top contenders, key trends and first matchdays tips.
The top contenders for the Paddy Power World Darts Championship-2025/26
Luke Littler is the tournament’s overwhelming favourite and as rating’s leader continues his successes. Fresh off his recent Grand Slam victory over Luke Humphries (16-11) a few weeks ago, the 18-year-old star is chasing his second consecutive World Championship.
Last year, the situation was identical — after winning the November Grand Slam title, where Luke beat Martin Lukeman (16-3) in the final, the Briton also lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy in January, defeating Michael van Gerwen (7-3).
Luke Humphries could not stop his namesake in the Grand Slam final, but who better than him to hope for a victory over the young ranking leader? It was «Cool Hand Luke» who won the World Championship-2023/24 final, stopping Littler (7-4). 2025 was also a successful year for the 30-year-old — the Premier League, Masters, and European Championship. If anyone has a chance of stopping Littler, it is Humphries.
Unibet offers an interesting line on the so-called «Luke» victory meaning the victory of either Littler or Humphries in the tournament. This year, only World Series Finals and European Championship have been claimed by other players, meaning that 7 out of 9 major international competitions have seen the triumph of either Humphries and Littler.
Besides Lukes, it is worth keeping an eye on two youngsters who could make a difference at Ally Pally. Josh Rock began his rise in 2022 and has cemented his position as one of the tour's leaders in recent years, culminating in winning the World Cup of Darts in 2025 for his native Northern Ireland. He recently stated that the Sid Waddell Trophy remains his ultimate dream.
Gian van Veen is another name in the spotlight. «The Giant» has been on a roll over the past year, reaching the final of the European Tour Event in September and then winning the European Championship at the end of October thanks to a stunning comeback in the final against Humphries, turning a 1-4 into an 11-10 victory. Many are hailing the young Dutchman as the tournament’s dark horse.
Michael van Gerwen also made it into the top five, having reached the final of the World Darts Championship seven times, second only to the legendary Phil Taylor, who has reached the final of the tournament 14 times.
World Darts Championship-2025/26 First Matchday Trends
The tournament starts with the game between Kim Huybrechts and Arno Merk. Three out of four previous championships started with tight matches, seeing more than three sets:
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2024/25: Thibault Tricole — Joe Comito (3:1);
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2022/23: Michael Mansell — Ben Robb (3:1).
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2021/22: Ritchie Edhouse — Peter Hudson (3:2).
This year’s opening fight should not disappoint as well — more than 3.5 sets can be picked at
9/20
The first rounds can produce unexpected results, but this rarely happens to tournament favorites. Humphries, for example, has confidently passed through the first rounds over the past two seasons, not dropping a single set in three games. A 3-0 result in the Humphries vs. Evetts match is available at just
27/100
The opening match of Littler will pit him against Darius Labanauskas. While the victory of the tournament’s favourite is almost inevitable, the attention can be turned to Luke’s 180s. He started the previous tournament with ten 180s, while the 2023-24 edition saw seven 180s from Littler. More than 5.5 180s for Luke can be picked at
5/4
Prize and Format
In the 2025-26 season, the total prize pool will be approximately £5 million, a 100% increase compared to the previous edition. Prizes are distributed as follows:
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Winner — £1 million;
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Runner-up — £400,000;
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Semi-final — £200,000;
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Quarter-final — £100,000.
There are also payouts for reaching each round. Even reaching the second round alone will earn a participant £25,000.
The number of competitors is 128. With the format update last year, increasing the number of players to 128 from 96, the top seeds no longer advance to the second round, but play a match alongside other participants.
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