Former PDC Darts Professional, SkySports Darts Commentator and YouTuber with 6 tournament wins under his belt including the Iceland Open in 2023
2026 Players Championship Finals Information
When are the 2026 Players Championship Finals?
The 2026 Players Championship Finals tournament will take place over three days and will be played towards the end of the year, usually in late November.
Where are the 2026 Players Championship Finals?
The Players Championship Finals will occur at their usual home, the Butlins Resort in Minehead.
Who is the reigning Players Championship Finals Champion?
Luke Littler went one better in 2025 to land his first Players Championship Finals title. He was beaten 11-7 by Humphries a year earlier, but defeated Aspinall 11-8 in the 2025 final, averaging 103.33.
Who will win the 2026 Players Championship Finals?
Head over to the darts betting tips to see who the OLBG Darts Tipsters are backing to win this tournament. Not only will you find the outright market for the 2026 Players Championship Finals, but also find tips on every game.
Is the Players Championship Finals on TV?
The Players Championship Finals will be screened live on ITV4 over the three days of action for UK viewers.
How do you bet on Darts?
If you are new to darts betting or just looking to refresh or improve your betting, then head over to our darts betting guide, which will help you understand betting on darts.
The Top Darts Betting Sites 2025
Players Championship Finals Preview
The 2026 Players Championship Finals will be the nineteenth edition of the tournament. This tournament started back in 2009 when Phil 'The Power' Taylor lifted the inaugural trophy with a 16-9 win over Robert Thornton, picking up a cheque of £50k for winning.
That figure has steadily risen over the years, and for winning the 2025 tournament, Luke Littler picked up prize money more than double that, with his £120k for being Champion.
The tournament is held at the Butlins Resort in Minehead, where it has been held every year since 2012, except for 2020, when it was held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Format for the Players Championship Finals
Sixty-four players start in this tournament; those are the top sixty-four earners from over the thirty Players Championships events during the season.
Those sixty-four players are split into four sections, and the first round of matches is a fairly straightforward draw, based on seeds, with 1 vs. 64, 2 vs. 63, 3 vs. 62, and so on.
There are two sections in the top half and two in the bottom half. In each section, there will be three rounds before the final game in each section for the two remaining players, which acts as the quarter-final.
The first and second rounds are both best of 11 legs, the third round and quarter-finals are best of 19, whilst the semi-final and final will be best of 21 legs.
Players Championship Finals Schedule
- Day One - 32x First Round Matches
- Day Two - 22x Second & Third Round Matches
- Day Three - Quarter-finals, Semi-final & The Final
Who are the Favourites to win the Players Championship Finals?
You will have the usual suspects towards the head of the market come November, Luke Littler, who will be looking to defend his title and Luke Humphries, who will be looking for a third title.
For Players Championship Finals predictions from profitable tipsters, head over to the best darts tipsters page. On here, only those who have been profitable over the past twelve months and have open tips are shown.
Darts Betting Guide (Markets, Strategy, Players, Events)
Players Championship Finals Favourite Statistics
Here we can see how successful favourites have been over the last ten Players Championship Finals tournaments, these include matches where there was an outright favourite in the match.
The figures are not the most consistent; they go up and down most years, 71% in 2016, which then dropped to 67% a year later and stayed in the 60s for the next three tournaments.
It then shot up to 73% for three consecutive years before dropping back down to the 60s again. Based on the figures, it's safe to say that 3 in 4 favourites are usually successful at this tournament.
Players Championship Finals Odds Breakdown
Next up, we have a breakdown of the outcome of players when they are priced up in a certain odds range. As you would expect, those very short have a high win rate, and then it decreases as the odds go up.
There are a few ranges which do rise compared to the previous one; those between 1.40 & 1.49 jump up to 75% compared to the previous range, which was 67.59%. And when you consider that 1.40 to 1.49 is the equivalent of an implied percentage of 67.1% to 71.4% then that 75% is a very good return.
Another couple of areas which look decent are between 1.90 to 1.99 (50.3% - 52.6%), which comes out at 55.81% and 1.70 to 1.79 (55.9% - 58.8%), which comes out at 62.26%. When you look at the implied percentages, those are both well above for that range.
Players Championship Finals Previous Winners
Here are the past ten winners of the Players Championship Finals, along with the runners-up, the winning score and the averages in the final of both players.
| Year | Champion | Average | Score | Runner-Up | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Luke Littler | 103.33 | 11 - 8 | Nathan Aspinall | 93.64 |
| 2024 | Luke Humphreys | 103.69 | 11 - 7 | Luke Littler | 100.08 |
| 2023 | Luke Humphreys | 100.75 | 11 - 9 | Michael van Gerwen | 103.19 |
| 2022 | Michael van Gerwen | 99.92 | 11 - 6 | Rob Cross | 100.33 |
| 2021 | Peter Wright | 95.49 | 11 - 10 | Ryan Searle | 92.10 |
| 2020 | Michael van Gerwen | 104.98 | 11 - 10 | Mervyn King | 99.78 |
| 2019 | Michael van Gerwen | 97.92 | 11 - 9 | Gerwyn Price | 96.48 |
| 2018 | Daryl Gurney | 95.61 | 11 - 9 | Michael van Gerwen | 100.20 |
| 2017 | Michael van Gerwen | 105.50 | 11 - 2 | Jonny Clayton | 94.64 |
| 2016 | Michael van Gerwen | 108.34 | 11 - 3 | Dave Chisnall | 99.24 |
Players Championship Finals Records
Who has appeared in the most Players' Championship Finals?
Three players have appeared in all bar two of the tournaments, with sixteen appearances, are Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and the veteran Mervyn King.
Who has made it to the most finals at the Players Championship Finals?
Michael van Gerwen is by far the most frequent to reach a final. During his sixteen tournaments, he has made it to nine finals; the next best is Phil Taylor with four, and then no one else has made it to more than two.
Who has been crowned champion the most at the Players Championship Finals?
It will be no surprise, as we have already mentioned, that he has made it to nine finals. Michael van Gerwen has gone on to win seven of those finals, whilst Phil Taylor (3) and Luke Humphries (2) are the only other multiple winners.
Has there been a nine-dart finish at the Players Championship Finals?
Yes, there have been four in total, and two of those came in finals with Michael van Gerwen hitting nine darters in both the 2022 & 2023 finals; he also hit one in the last of 32 round in 2019, with the other coming from Alan Norris during the 2016 tournament.
Author and Contributor Information
OLBG Sponsored Darts Professional
Matthew Edgar is a professional darts player and Sky Sports commentator, currently aiming for Lakeside 2025 via the WDF circuit. A former football coach and trained MMA fighter, he’s best known to fans through Edgar TV, his popular YouTube channel sharing insights from the oche.
Sponsored by OLBG, Matthew contributes expert darts content, combining years on the PDC tour with a passion for coaching and development. His unique blend of experience makes him a standout voice in the darts community.
Follow Matthew as he targets Lakeside and the WDF World Championships
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