World Darts Championship First Round Bankers and Best Bets

by Roy Brindley, 10 December 2025

Featuring 64 first-round matches, the 2026 World Darts Championship offers an abundance of betting opportunities.

Michael van Gerwen is one of several players priced 1/33 to win their World Championship opening round match. © Taylor Lanning/PDC

Key Facts:

• Darts fans have eight World Championship matches per day to look forward to in December.
• 1/33 shots are commonplace, with many first-round matches appearing mismatches.
• Filipino player Paolo Nebrida is rated a standout handicap bet against Scott Williams.
• Motomu Sakai, third on the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit, can shock French No. 1 Thibault Tricole.

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship, played at the Alexandra Palace in London, will get underway on Thursday, December 11, at 7.00 pm, with four first-round matches. In action will be the 2023 World Champion, Michael Smith, and the current title-holder, Luke Littler.

Every day from Friday, December 12, until the quarter-finals on Thursday, January 1, there will be two sessions of play, starting at 12.30 pm and 7.00 pm. The schedule means punters will have eight games per day to choose from.

Only one match appears perfectly balanced. The UK’s online bookmakers cannot separate Andrew Gilding and Cameron Crabtree, who will clash on Saturday, December 13. The firms make both players 10/11 shots.

Dimitri van den Bergh and Darren Beveridge’s clash the following day is equally competitive, albeit by tiny fractions; online betting sites marginally favour Beveridge. Likewise, Beau Greaves is 8/11 to overcome Daryl Gurney on Friday, December 19.

Shorties Set to Send Punters to Accas

There are a generous handful of long odds-on shots in first-round action. Luke Littler is priced 1/33 to beat Darius Labanauskas. Luke Humphries is expected to beat Ted Evetts at the same odds.

Chris Dobey (versus Zong Xiao Chen), Mike de Decker (versus David Munyua), Michael van Gerwen (versus Mitsuhiko Tatsunami) and Josh Rock (versus Gemma Hayter) are other ‘double-carpet on’ shots.

While punters are unlikely to back short-priced players in singles, bookmakers can expect an avalanche of multiple bets across all days and sessions. Should the four favourites in the opening session – Kim Huybrechts, Michael Smith, Luke Littler and Madars Razma – all prevail, the accumulative odds of return will be 6/4.

First Round Matches With Selected Bet Recommendations

Below, OnlineCasino.com’s resident darts expert casts his eye over the first-round action and provides a tip from each session.

Thursday December 11 (7.00 pm)

• Kim Huybrechts vs Arno Merk
• Michael Smith vs Lisa Ashton
• Luke Littler vs Darius Labanauskas
• Madars Razma vs Jamai van den Herik

Highlighted Match: German qualifier Arno Merk, who delivered a 167 checkout and a 99.6 match average to book his place at Alexandra Palace, is fancied to serve it up to Huybrechts. The Belgian has played 34 Players Championship events in 2025. He has progressed beyond the third round in just one of them.

Best Bet: Arno Merk (+1.5 sets), even-money in the handicap market.

Friday December 12 (12.30 pm)

• Niels Zonneveld vs Haupai Puha
• Ian White vs Mervyn King
• Ryan Searle vs Chris Landman
• Rob Cross vs Cor Dekker

Highlighted Match: Searle likes this stage and has reached the World Champs fourth round three times. He has never tasted first or second round defeat and is set to get his campaign off to a flier against an older Dutch rival who has achieved little during two years on the tour.

Best Bet: Ryan Searle to win 3-0, at 9/4 odds.

Friday December 12 (7.00 pm)

• Ross Smith vs Andreas Harrysson
• Ricky Evans vs Man Lok Leung
• Gian van Veen vs Cristo Reyes
• Damon Heta vs Steve Lennon

Highlighted Match: Winning a pair of Players Championships and reaching the sixth round of the UK Open, Damon Heta has had a fair year. He is 2/5 to beat Lennon, who has never been of the highest calibre and is struggling to make an impact in any competition.

Best Bet: Heta could blitz his rival, but the best bet comes in the ‘most 180’s market’, which he is expected to win at odds of 8/11.

Saturday December 13 (12.30 pm)

• Mario Vandenbogaerde vs David Davies
• Andrew Gilding vs Cam Crabtree
• Luke Woodhouse vs Boris Krcmar
• Gary Anderson vs Adam Hunt

Highlighted Match: Gilding’s 2023 UK Open victory still has the experts baffled. The 55-year-old has not shown form like that since, and in Cam Crabtree, he faces a young up-and-comer who has registered several wins on the 2025 development tour.

Best Bet: Crabtree is going places quickly, and he is the selection at a tasty even-money here.

Saturday December 13 (7.00 pm)

• Jeffrey de Graaf vs Paul Lim
• Wessel Nijman vs Karel Sedlacek
• Luke Humphries vs Ted Evetts
• Gabriel Clemens vs Alex Spellman

Highlighted Match: Now 71, Paul Lim made his World Championship debut in 1982 and is nothing short of a legend. However, at half his age, Jeffrey de Graaf, who reached the fourth round of the World Champs in 2025, will care little about status and is expected to brush aside ‘the Singapore Slinger’ with limited fuss.

Best Bet: Backing Jeffrey de Graaf to win 3-0 and 3-1 (both quoted on 14/5 odds) will provide a yield just shy of even-money. It looks a sound investment.

Sunday December 14 (12.30 pm)

• Ritchie Edhouse vs Jonny Tata
• Dom Taylor vs Oskar Lukasiak
• Richard Veenstra vs Nitin Kumar
• Joe Cullen vs Bradley Brooks

Highlighted Match: Cullen remains a top-32 player but is the underdog against the 2020 World Youth champion, Bradley Brooks. Neither player is showing spectacular form, but Cullen knows this stage well and normally progresses through a round or two.

Best Bet: Fighting for ranking points (prize money) to keep him in the top echelon of the sport, and with experience on his side, Cullen represents a value bet at 11/8.

Sunday December 14 (7.00 pm)

• Lukas Wenig vs Wesley Plaisier
• Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Darren Beveridge
• Stephen Bunting vs Sebastian Bialecki
• James Hurrell vs Stowe Buntz

Highlighted Match: Dimitri Van den Bergh, a former World Matchplay and UK Open winner, may be ranked 23, but he is the outsider against little-known but rapidly up-and-coming Darren Beveridge, placed over 50 places below him on the Order of Merit. They say, ‘class is permanent, and form is temporary,’ so have the bookies got this one right?

Best Bet: Van den Bergh with a +1.5 leg start in the handicap markets is quoted on 4/9. Perhaps not a get-rich-quick scheme, but the proposition would work well in multiple bets.

Monday December 15 (12.30 pm)

• Brendan Dolan vs Tavis Dudeney
• Cameron Menzies vs Charlie Manby
• Mensur Suljovic vs David Cameron
• Peter Wright vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Highlighted Match: Two-time World Champion, Peter Wright, cannot buy a result, but, as the 1/9 match favourite, he should get one here. Rival Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first openly transgender person to compete in a televised darts tournament, looks massively outclassed and will do win a set.

Best Bet: Wright is nowhere near his best, but this is an easy assignment where he should be able to relax and play some exhibition stuff. Ladbrokes is offering even money on the Scotsman recording the most match 180s, which could be a gift.

Monday December 15 (7.00 pm)

• Martin Lukeman vs Max Hopp
• Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Andy Baetens
• Jonny Clayton vs Adam Lipscombe
• Connor Scutt vs Simon Whitlock

Highlighted Match: Martin Lukeman, a finalist in the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts, is significantly ahead of Max Hopp on the PDC Rankings; yet, he is the bookmakers’ underdog. Hopp did drop off the tour for a few seasons with injury, but little suggests the German is about to find his best form.

Best Bet: Lukeman is priced 6/4 with a few firms. Believing his chances are better than the 40 per cent those odds suggest, he is the obvious match win selection.

Tuesday December 16 (12.30 pm)

• Alan Soutar vs Teemu Harju
• Nick Kenny vs Justin Hood
• Scott Williams vs Paolo Nebrida
• Chris Dobey vs Xiaochen Zong

Highlighted Match: Scott Williams is 1/3 to beat Paolo Nebrida, but he is playing a rival that has taken some big scalps and could be underrated. Filipino Paolo Nebrida beat Rob Cross in the 2025 Bahrain Masters and reached the last 32 of last year’s PDC World Championship.

Best Bet: Paolo Nebrida might not beat Scott Williams, but he looks sure to put forward some meaningful resistance and makes appeal in the handicap market, receiving 1.5 sets at even-money.

Tuesday December 16 (12.30 pm)

• Ricardo Pietreczko vs Jose de Sousa
• Danny Noppert vs Jurjen van der Velde
• Gerwyn Price vs Adam Gawlas
• Niko Springer vs Joe Comito

Highlighted Match: Ricardo Pietreczko, a quarter-finalist in October’s European Championship, is world-ranked 33 and getting closer to the winner’s podium. His opponent, Jose de Sousa, has tasted glory at the very top but has been regressive since 2021. Smacks of a mismatch?

Best Bet: Pietreczko is a strong fancy. Being greedy and considering the odds, the selection is the German -1.5 sets in the handicap market at 6/4.

Wednesday December 17 (12.30 pm)

• Matt Campbell vs Adam Sevada
• Raymond van Barneveld vs Stefan Bellmont
• James Wade vs Ryusei Azemoto
• Martin Schindler vs Stephen Burton

Highlighted Match: Campbell versus Sevada is an all North American affair. Campbell has far more experience and has been performing well on the European circuit in Players Championship events recently.

Best Bet: America’s pool of players is relatively small, and Sevada’s qualification for the event is not a huge achievement. Canada’s Matt Campbell could prove way too good, and the 4/1 about him winning 3-0 is potentially value-laden.

Thursday December 18 (12.30 pm)

• Callan Rydz vs Patrik Kovacs
• Thibault Tricole vs Motomu Sakai
• Ryan Joyce vs Owen Bates
• Mike De Decker vs David Munyua

Highlighted Match: Motomu Sakai sits third on the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit. He is a regular competition winner, and many of his 2025 match victories have come accompanied by three-dart averages of 100 or more. Thibault Tricole, favourite to win this match, has averaged only in the mid-80s on the European circuit this year.

Best Bet: Motomu Sakai has definitely been underestimated by the bookmakers and rates value at 7/4 to win, or at 4/5 with a +1.5 set start in the handicap market.

Thursday December 18 (7.00 pm)

• Jermaine Wattimena vs Dominik Gruellich
• Dave Chisnall vs Fallon Sherrock
• Michael van Gerwen vs Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
• Krzysztof Ratajski vs Alexis Toylo

Highlighted Match: The longest priced favourite in this session is 1/5, meaning a few of these matches could be 3-0′ quick kills’. Short games mean fewer darts thrown and fewer 180 opportunities.

Best Bet: Dave Chisnall was once a 180 machine, and Fallon Sherrock was the ‘Queen of the Palace’. But things change, and under 6/5 match 180’s in their clash could be a livewire of a bet at 6/5 odds.

Friday December 19 (12.30 pm)

• Kevin Doets vs Matthew Dennant
• Ryan Meikle vs Jesus Salate
• Mickey Mansell vs Leonard Gates
• Josh Rock vs Gemma Hayter

Highlighted Match: Josh Rock is many people’s idea of a World Championship finalist, and he is 1/5 to beat Gemma Hayter 3-0. The Northern Irishman should win this one with zero pressure.

Best Bet: The line on the match’s highest checkout has been set at 126.5. Rock is more than capable of producing these kinds of finishes. But, given this is likely to be a quick kill, he’s unlikely to need to display any heroics and the ‘under’ option is the selection here at 5/6.

Friday December 19 (7.00 pm)

• William O’Connor vs Krzysztof Kciuk
• Daryl Gurney vs Beau Greaves
• Nathan Aspinall vs Lourence Ilagan
• Keane Barry vs Tim Pusey

Highlighted Match: Keane Barry was exceptional in the first round of the 2025 World Championship. He is still only 23, so his best years should lie ahead of him. Rival Tim Pusey will be playing outside of Australia for the first time and may be overwhelmed by the occasion.

Best Bet: Despite his age, this will be Barry’s seventh visit to the Alexandra Palace. He should, against a rival who has had several more years to make a name for himself (and hasn’t), make that experience count. Even-money about the Irishman with a -1.5 set deficit in the handicap is a fair proposition and the recommended bet.