PDC World Darts Championship Betting
This page offers the definitive run-down on the biggest darts competition on the planet in what is a key date in the darts betting diary.
The PDC World Darts Championship is the annual international event that pits the world’s best against each other for the title of the best darts player on the planet, with the winner earning the Sid Waddell Trophy. The 2022 event will take place at darts’ version of Wembley Stadium, Alexandra Palace (or the 'Ally Pally' for short) in Haringey, London.
Here you will learn all there is to know about the competition and we'll also cover the best betting sites at which to place PDC World Darts Championship bets.
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PDC World Darts Championship - Four Quick Facts
- The complete prize fund for the 2022 tournament will be the same as it has been for the past three tournaments – a huge total of £2.5 million. The winner will end the evening of the final £500k richer, with the runner-up pocketing a cool £200k.
- Each tournament starts with 96 competitors. The top 32 on the PDC Tour Order of Merit gain automatic qualification to the second round, with the next 32 joining 32 selected international qualifiers in the first round.
- This tournament is one of the few international sporting events that takes place over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Many a turkey-stuffed darts fan has spent the Christmas-to-New Year week slumped in an armchair willing on their arrow-chucking favourites.
- The PDC World Darts Championship is truly the world cup of darts as it enjoys an international audience of over 25 million. The final itself will be broadcast live in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Ireland and of course, the United Kingdom.
PDC World Championship - World Darts Outright Betting Odds
So, who do you think will triumph in the 2022 PDC World Championship? These tournaments are a lot harder to predict now that 14-time winner Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor has retired. Gerwyn Price became the first Welshman to win the title in 2021 so must be in with a shout, as will 2020 winner Peter Wright. Three-time winner Michael van Gerwen has to be considered a serious contender too.
Below you will find details of the latest odds for the 2022 version of the PDC World Darts Championship.
| Player | Odds* | Bet With |
|---|---|---|
| Gerwyn Price | 7/2 | bet365 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 4/1 | Unibet |
| Peter Wright | 7/1 | Unibet |
| Jonny Clayton | 15/2 | bet365 |
| Dimitri van den Bergh | 16/1 | bet365 |
| Michael Smith | 25/1 | bet365 |
| Rob Cross | 28/1 | bet365 |
| Nathan Aspinall | 28/1 | bet365 |
| Ryan Searle | 33/1 | Unibet |
| Jose de Sousa | 33/1 | Unibet |
*Odds correct as of 17/12/2021
Best Site with the Most Competitive Darts World Championship Odds
Getting the most money possible back from your winning bets is crucial, so you will want to find a site that has the most competitive odds. For this category, we are going to go for bet365. This company constantly checks the odds offered by their competitors and makes appropriate adjustments, so their Darts World Championship odds are the best at the very least!
Bet Types for the World Darts Championship
Naturally, you don’t have to just bet on individual matches at the PDC World Darts Championship as there are several other potential markets too. Here is a quick list of some of the most common.
Outright Winner: A bet on who will win the whole shebang. Will it be one of the favourites, a fancied underdog, or someone even darts experts have never even heard of?
First-Time Winner: A bet on whether the tournament winner will be winning it for the first time. This has happened a few times in the tournament’s history: Dennis Priestley (1994), Phil Taylor (1995), John Part (2003), Raymond van Barneveld (2007), Adrian Lewis (2011), Michael van Gerwen (2014), Gary Anderson (2015), Rob Cross (2018), Peter Wright (2020) and Gerwyn Price (2021).
Nationality of the Winner: Only five countries have produced PDC World Darts Championship winners: England, Canada, the Netherlands, Scotland and Wales. Will you back one of those countries, or perhaps someone from Belgium, Portugal, New Zealand or even Japan?
Finalists: As well as World Darts Championship winners, you can bet on as many players as you want to reach the final, even though only two will actually make it.
Bet on an Unseeded Player to Win: All players who compete in the first round of the competition are considered unseeded. Might an unseeded player actually take home that £250,000 pot? It’s never been done, although Kirk Shepherd was unseeded when he reached the final in 2008.
Handicap Match Bets: You can bet on players who receive a half, one-and-a-half or two-and-a-half deficit or boost for the matched they play.
Player to Win First Set/Leg/Score Most 180s: Before a match you can bet on the player who will win the first set or leg, or who will score the most 180s during the match.
Player Match 180s Under/Over: Whether a player will score under or over a predicted number of 180s during the match.
Highest Match Checkout Over/Under: Like above, whether the highest checkout scored during the match will be over or under a specified total.
PDC World Darts Championship Betting Tips
Here are a few tips that should enable you to get the most out of your PDC World Darts Championship betting strategy.
- Darts is much more a mental than physical game. The mechanics are simple – throw the darts with accuracy – but that accuracy starts to falter once a player loses confidence. Confident players are like metronomes whose muscle memory enables them to do the same thing time after time. Look at the current form of players before the tournament starts, and in particular at those who are currently scoring above their average.
- Once the draw has been made look at head-to-head records. Darts players can be ‘superstitious’ about specific players, and they can struggle against players regarded as crowd favourites or ‘pantomime villains’. For example, defending champion Gerwyn Price always struggles against Michael van Gerwen (three wins, 21 defeats) but has beaten Dirk van Duijvenbode ten times out of ten.
- Since the retirement of Phil Taylor, the winner of the tournament has become harder to predict, with five different PDC World Darts Championship winners in the past six years. Don’t ignore the underdogs – Rob Cross was 14/1 to win at the start of the 2018 tournament. A low-priced, in-form player is always worth an each-way bet at least.
- You may think a darts board is a darts board, but some players struggle when playing in front of the huge audiences that the PDC World Darts Championship attract. Although only a brief PDC member, Ted Hankey was thought of as an exceptional player but always struggled under crowd pressure, although he did win the then-rival BDO tournament in 2000 and 2009. It is always worth wagering on players who enjoy playing in front of raucous crowds like the ones at the 'Ally Pally'.
- Be inventive with your betting. Don’t just try and back the PDC World Championship winners. For example, Danny Noppert is a risky bet for tournament winner, but his checkout percent of 42.64% is better than Michael van Gerwin at 40.60%. Peter Wright struggles to finish off games sometimes, but no one hits more 180s than him. Use such stats to your advantage.
PDC World Darts Championship – A Closer Look
The first PDC World Darts Championship was completed in 1994 after the creation of the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) in 1992 by a group of pros unhappy with the now-defunct British Darts Organisation. Dennis Priestley won the title and took home £16,000 for his efforts – the winner of the 2022 tournament will win £500k from the £2.5 million prize pot.
The early years of the PDC World Darts Championship were dominated by Phil Taylor who appeared in all of the first 14 finals, winning twelve. He holds the record for the most wins (14) and final appearances (19). Only four other players have won the title more than once – Michael van Gerwen (3), Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis and John Part (all 2).
PDC World Darts Championship Eligibility
A total of 96 players compete in the tournament. The top 32 from the PDC order of merit gain automatic qualification into the second round. The next 32 in the order of merit qualify for the first round along with 32 international qualifiers.
PDC World Darts Championship Competition Format
Each round of the tournament is straight knock-out, as follows:
- First round (64 qualifiers, best of five sets)
- Second round (32 seeded players + 32 winners from the first round, best of five sets)
- Third round (32 winners from the second round, best of seven sets)
- Fourth round (16 winners from the third round, best of seven sets)
- Quarterfinals (8 winners from the fourth round, best of nine sets)
- Semi Finals (4 winners from the quarterfinals, best of eleven sets)
- Final (2 winners from the semi-finals, best of 13 sets)
Previous PDC World Darts Championship Winners
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Peter Wright | Michael Van Gerwen | 7-3 |
| 2019 | Michael Van Gerwen | Michael Smith | 7-3 |
| 2018 | Rob Cross | Phil Taylor | 7-2 |
| 2017 | Michael Van Gerwen | Gary Anderson | 7-3 |
| 2016 | Gary Anderson | Adrian Lewis | 7-5 |
| 2015 | Gary Anderson | Phil Taylor | 7-6 |
| 2014 | Michael Van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 7-4 |
| 2013 | Phil Taylor | Michael Van Gerwen | 7-4 |
| 2012 | Adrian Lewis | Andy Hamilton | 7-3 |
| 2011 | Adrian Lewis | Gary Anderson | 7-5 |
| 2010 | Phil Taylor | Simon Whitlock | 7-3 |
PDC World Championship Betting – the Biggest Upsets
When it comes to getting the most money back for your bets, you are going to look for the biggest upsets at the PDC World Darts Championship. Upsets do happen to even the most consistent players, such as Fallon Sherrock beating 11th seed Mensur Suljovic in the second round of the 2021 tournament, or Michael Lewis beating Phil Taylor in 2014.
Our tip is to look for qualifiers who storm through the first two rounds and are then pitted against a seeded player who won their second-round match by the skin of their teeth.
About the PDC
As previously mentioned, the PDC was created in 1992 as the World Darts Council. At the time, the leading players were unhappy about the efforts of the ruling British Darts Organisation to promote the game. The WDC players still competed in BDO events, but in 1994 the organisation changed its name to the PDC and created its own world championship.
For several years professional darts had two world championships, the BDO and the WDC. Leading BDO players such as Raymond van Barneveld would eventually switch to the more prestigious PDC. In 2020, the prize money for the BDO World Championship dropped to £164,000 (its lowest since 1997), compared to the £500,000 won by the PDC champion. The BDO went into liquidation in 2020. Many BDO players then joined the PDC although just as many joined the WDF (World Darts Federation). The WDF has announced a 2022 World Championship to replace the one organised by the BDO.
The PDC remains by far the premier world darts organisation with over 220 members, organising competitions such as the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and the Darts Premier League alongside the PDC World Championship.
Our Verdict
Of course, if you love darts then the PDC World Darts Championship is the highlight of your year. This is the premier darts competition and you’ll be joining a global TV audience of millions if you tune in to watch the arrow-chuckers compete at the oche.
Betting on darts is big business too and can be lucrative if you know your darts. We hope this article has aided you in your darts betting expertise and will enable you to get a little more out of your PDC World Darts Championship betting experience. Please feel free to look at our recommended betting sites and top betting exchanges.
FAQ
What is the World Cup of Darts?
It’s an annual PDC event with players competing for their countries in teams of two. The current holders are Scotland (Peter Wright and John Henderson).
When is the PDC World Darts Championship held?
Traditionally from the third week in December into the new year, with a break over Christmas.
What is the venue for the Darts World Championship?
Alexandra Palace, Haringey, London - also known as the 'Ally Pally'.
What bookmakers have the best Darts World Championship odds?
Several sports bookies offer ‘best odds guaranteed’ including bet365.
Can I bet ante-post on the World Darts Championship?
Yes, prices on the tournament should be available a month or so before the tournament begins.
What is a similar betting sport to darts?
In terms of a player-v-player sport which can ebb and flow, darts is like tennis but matches are much quicker and physical fitness is less important!
What’s the difference between a set and a leg?
Players must win a number of sets to win a match. Usually, a set is made up of five legs, or games. First player to win three legs (or games) wins the set.
Can anyone enter the PDC tournament?
No. You have to be a professional darts player and a member of the PDC. You qualify by gaining a place on the PDC order of merit or excelling in a PDC-recognised international tournament.
Why were the 2018 World Darts Championship results notable?
It was the last year the legendary Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor competed, and he reached the final but was beaten by first-time competitor and number 20 seed Rob Cross.
