PDC Darts World Championship 2025: Prize money, full first round draw, format, how to watch - when is Luke Littler playing?
The winner of the tournament will receive a cheque for a jaw-dropping one million pounds.
Starting on Thursday, December 11, the New Year-spanning PDC World Championships is the most sought after trophy in world darts.
This year’s tournament is the 33rd organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the now-defunct British Darts Organisation and is once again taking place at London’s Alexandra Palace, better known to fans as the Ally Pally.
Darts prodigy Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler is the defending champion but he'll have to beat the world's best darters to retain his crown.
And there’s more darts that ever to enjoy, with an expanded 128-player field.
Here's what you need to know about the tournament.
When is the PDC World Darts Championship?
The tournament takes place from Thursday, December 11, 2025, to Saturday, January 3, 2026
What is the prize money?
There is a record £5million prize pot up for grabs, allocated as follows:
- Winner: £1,000,000
- Runner-up: £400,000
- Semi-finalists: £200,000
- Quarter-finalists: £100,000
- Fourth round losers: £60,000
- Third round losers: £35,000
- Second round losers: £25,000
- First round losers: £15,000
- Nine-dart finish: £60,000
What is the first round draw?
Here is the full first round draw:
- (1) Luke Littler v Darius Labanauskas
- Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Davies
- (32) Joe Cullen v Bradley Brooks
- Mensur Suljovic v David Cameron
- (16) Damon Heta v Steve Lennon
- Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont
- (17) Rob Cross v Cor Dekker
- Ian White v Mervyn King
- (8) Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong
- Andrew Gilding v Cam Crabtree
- (25) Luke Woodhouse v Boris Krcmar
- Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp
- (9) Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas
- Lukas Wenig v Wesley Plaisier
- (24) Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates
- Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo
- (4) Stephen Bunting v Sebastian Bialecki
- Richard Veenstra v Nitin Kumar
- (29) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andy Baetens
- James Hurrell v Stowe Buntz
- (13) Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton
- Keane Barry v Tim Pusey
- (20) Ryan Searle v Chris Landman
- Brendan Dolan v Tavis Dudeney
- (5) Jonny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe
- Dom Taylor v Oskar Lukasiak
- (28) Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton
- Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha
- (12) Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson
- Thibault Tricole v Motomu Sakai
- (21) Dave Chisnall v Fallon Sherrock
- Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa
- (2) Luke Humphries v Ted Evetts
- Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim
- (31) Wessel Nijman v Karel Sedlacek
- Gabriel Clemens v Alex Spellman
- (15) Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan
- Mickey Mansell v Leonard Gates
- (18) Mike De Decker v David Munyua
- Kevin Doets v Matthew Dennant
- (7) James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto
- Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung
- (26) Cameron Menzies v Charlie Manby
- Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada
- (10) Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes
- Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju
- (23) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Darren Beveridge
- Madars Razma v Jamai van den Herik
- (3) Michael van Gerwen v Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
- William O'Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk
- (30) Peter Wright v Noa-Lynn van Leuven
- Kim Huybrechts v Arno Merk
- (14) Gary Anderson v Adam Hunt
- Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock
- (19) Jermaine Wattimena v Dominik Gruellich
- Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida
- (6) Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde
- Nick Kenny v Justin Hood
- (27) Ritchie Edhouse v Jonny Tata
- Ryan Meikle v Jesus Salate
- (11) Josh Rock v Gemma Hayter
- Niko Springer v Joe Comito
- (22) Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves
- Callan Rydz v Patrik Kovacs
What is the format of the matches?
Darts matches are made up of legs and sets, with each set being the best of five legs (the first to three legs taking the set).
The first two rounds are the best of five sets (first to three), while the third and fourth rounds are the best of seven sets (first to four).
The quarter-finals are the best of nine sets (first to five), the semi-finals the best of 11 sets (first to six) and the final a marathon best of 13 sets (first to seven).
For all rounds except the first, the deciding set has to be won by two clear legs, up until 5–5, when a sudden-death leg will be played.
What is the format of the competition?
Unlike previous years, where the top players skipped the first round, it’s a straight knockout competition, with the top 32 players on the PDC Order of Merit seeded.
What’s the tournament schedule?
In the early stages of the tournament there are eight matches each day, split into two sessions. As the length of the games increase, and the number of players remaining in the competition decrease, fewer games are played in each session.
First round matches start on the the evening of Thursday, December 11, and continue until Friday, December 9.
The first of the second round matches takes place on Saturday, December 10, with round 2 concluding on Tuesday, December 24.
The third round takes place between December 27-29, and the fourth from December 29-30.
The eight quarter-finalists will clash over two session on Thursday, January 1, swiftly followed by the semi-finals the next day.
The winner will be crowned after the final on Saturday, January 3, starting at 8pm.
When is Luke Littler playing his first round match?
Luke Littler plays Darius Labanauskas in the first session of the competion, which starts at 7pm on Thursday, December 11.
How can I watch the PDC Darts World Championship?
Live coverage of every day of the World Darts Championship will be broadcast exclusively live on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel.
You don't have to be a subscriber to watch – daily, weekly and monthly Sky Sports passes are available on the NOW TV platform from £14.99.
Who is favourite to win?
Defending champion Luke Littler is favourite take the title, with odds of 10/11, followed by Luke Humphries (9/2), Michael van Gerwen (14/1), Gerwyn Price (16/1) and Josh Rock (16/1).
Scotland’s Gary Anderson is priced at 50/1 while his fellow countryman Peter Wright is a 200/1 outsider.
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