The biggest show in darts, the PDC World Darts Championship, starts on Thursday 15th December and runs right up until the final, on Tuesday 3rd January. We’ve previewed this massive tungsten tussle and provided you with our best bets for the occasion.

PDC World Darts Championship Tips

• Michael van Gerwyn to win – 5/2
• Michael Smith to win – 15/2
• Nathan Aspinall each-way (1/4 4 places) – 33/1

History, Location and Format

The 2022/23 World Darts Championship is the 30th running of this magnificent three weeks of darting action, which is always so synonymous with the Christmas period.

Alexandra Palace in London is, of course, the host venue for the showpiece event of the PDC World Darts calendar, as it has been since 2008, taking over from the historic, but dated, Circus Tavern in Purfleet.

The first PDC World Championship was held in 1994, following the two-way split in the sport from the existing BDO competition. It was won by Yorkshire’s Dennis Priestley, beating a certain Phil Taylor 6-1 in the final.

What followed was a period of domination the sport had never seen before or will again. The Stoke player won the next eight straight titles and The Power went on to win 13 of the next 16 World Championships and 16 in total (including two at the BDO).

There have also been other multiple World Champions including Michael van Gerwyn (2014, 2017 and 2019), John Part (2003 and 2008), Adrian Lewis (2011 and 2012), Gary Anderson (2015 and 2016) and current champion Peter Wright (2020 and 2022).

Prize Money

There is a £2,500,00 total prize fund with the money distributed as follows:

The winner also gets to lift the famous Waddell Trophy, named after famed darts commentator, Sid Waddell.

Draw

The top 32 players on the PDC Order of Merit qualify automatically for the second round. The next 32 on the order of merit play in the first round against 32 qualifiers from around the world.

Michael van Gerwyn to win – 5/2

I tipped up the Dutchman to win the World Grand Prix earlier in the year and he duly obliged, just like he has in all the televised majors this season.

It will have been four years since MVG last won the title, come January and that’s too long for a man of this calibre.

The 33-year-old showed he’s still bang in form when winning the Players Championship Finals in Minehead just two weeks ago, beating Dimitri van den Bergh, Danny Noppert, Luke Humphries and Rob Cross along the way.

Michael Smith to win – 15/2

If there is one man who can stand up to the scoring power of MVG and is ready to win again on the big stage, it’s the newly minted Grand Slam of Darts champion, Michael Smith.

The 32-year-old broke a long running major tournament duck with that win in Wolverhampton and can now go on to win even bigger prizes in the sport.

Smith is simply unstoppable when he is finishing well as his scoring is just ridiculous.

Nathan Aspinall each-way (1/4 4 places) – 33/1

The man who Smith beat in the GSOD final was Nathan Aspinall who is having a much better year, following a couple of years in the wilderness, mainly due to injury.

Aspinall also made the World Grand Prix final, where he was beaten by van Gerwyn and he can go deep again here.

The 31-year-old is 8/1 to win his quarter and should he get past reigning champion Peter Wright, he could well make another major ranking final.

We will have daily tips from the event so keep checking in with the Betfred Blog team and all new users can partake in our Bet £10 and get £30 in Free Bets offer via the register button at the top or bottom of the page…

*All prices correct at the time of writing.