Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026, start time & TV info
Date Thursday, December 11, 2025, to Saturday, January 3, 2026
Starts 7pm Thursday
Venue Alexandra Palace, London
Competition PDC Tour
TV Sky Sports
Reigning champion and 10-11 favourite Luke Littler plus former champ and 150-1 outsider Michael Smith share top billing on Night One of the 2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship from Alexandra Palace.
Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026 day one acca
Arno Merk +1.5 sets vs Kim Huybrechts
Memories of last year’s opening-night flop could work against Huybrechts while Merk is hot after producing fireworks to win last month’s Europe Super League.
Michael Smith to beat Lisa Ashton 3-0
It’s played four, lost four at the Palace for ladies’ trailblazer Ashton and even an off-colour Bully Boy can win this without much fuss.
Luke Littler vs Darius Labanauskas – over 3.5 legs in first set
The Nuke was taken all the way in set one by Ryan Meikle in his first game last year and rock-steady Labanauskas can pounce on any nerves.
Jamai van den Herik +1.5 sets vs Madars Razma
World Youth quarter-finalist and four-time winner on the Development and Challenge Tours, Van den Herik can cap a fine 2025 by giving Razma a real test.
Pays 11.72-1 with Paddy Power
Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026 day one predictions
Best bets
A Merk +1.5 sets
2pts Evs Hills
Over 3.5 first-set legs in Luke Littler vs Darius Labanauskas
1pt 13-8 Paddy Power
J van den Herik
1pt 6-4 general
Arno Merk vs Kim Huybrechts
Kim ‘The Hurricane’ Huybrechts ran out of puff on the big stage a long time ago and has failed to win a match on his last two visits to Alexandra Palace.
His form on the Pro Tour in 2025 has been dismal – he played in all 34 Players Championship events and got past round three in just one of them – and Arno Merk has little to fear.
The German is overpriced at 9-4 if he can reproduce anything like the form that saw him land Europe Super League glory last month, though debut nerves could always be a factor.
Michael Smith vs Lisa Ashton
The fall of Michael Smith is one of the big stories of 2025 but Bully Boy’s power scoring should ultimately be too much for Lisa Ashton.
Smith, down to the 28th seed after being second this time last year, can still produce decent averages as he illustrated on his run to the Grand Slam quarter-finals last month, but that was a rare high spot in a shocking campaign.
Ashton is steady but steady hasn’t been good enough in four previous tilts and it may not be again.
Luke Littler vs Darius Labanauskas
Luke Littler will hope for an easier ride against Darius Labanauskas than he endured against Ryan Meikle in his opening game last year.
The Barber took the first set prompting The Nuke to dig deep and Labanauskas is more than capable of standing firm.
All the pro-Littler odds are too short because the Lithuanian, who has an Ally Pally nine-darter on his resumé, has been decent for years.
Jamai van den Herik vs Madars Razma
Like Merk, Van den Herik has a decent shout of winning his game.
The 22-year-old is a 6-4 chance, generous for a player who has won twice on the Challenge Tour and twice on the Development Tour this year.
He also pushed Littler in a World Youth Championship quarter-final while his Latvian opponent has had a fairly non-descript season.
Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026 betting odds
Here are Paddy Power’s latest outright odds for the Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026
OddsLuke Littler10-11Luke Humphries9-2 Gian van Veen14-1Gerwyn Price16-1Josh Rock16-1Michael van Gerwen20-1Bar40-1
Odds correct at time of publishing
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Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026 FAQs
When is the Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026?
The Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026 will take place from Thursday December 11, 2025, to Saturday, January 3, 2026.
Where is the Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026 being held?
The event will be held at Alexandra Palace in London.
Who is the favourite to win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2026?
2025 champion Luke Littler is the 10-11 favourite to retain his title.
Read more from our experts:
WATCH NOW: 2026 World Darts Championship Preview | Darts Tips and Predictions | Best Bets | Steve Palmer
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PDC World Darts Championship 2026 betting offer: get 50-1 on Luke Littler to win his first-round match with Paddy Power
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