2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Betting Preview – JP
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy betting Preview
The World Grand Prix went pretty well for us and we are back in action on the Euro Tour this weekend. Check out James Punt’s 2026 Swiss Darts Trophy betting preview and tips below.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy
This will be the third edition of the Swiss Darts Trophy. The first was won by Martin Schindler in 2024, beating Ryan Searle 8-7. Last year it was Stephen Bunting who beat Luke Woodhouse 8-3 in the final.
There is just one more event after this before the European Championships in Dortmund, starting on the 22nd of October. The top 32 players on the Euro Tour O.O.M. win a place in Dortmund and a chance to win a share of the £750,000 prize pool.
On The Bubble
The players who are ‘on the bubble’ of qualification and are playing this weekend include Michael Smith, who is in need of at least £9500 in prizemoney. Sebastian Bialecki is currently £7500 shy of the provisional cutoff and Joe Cullen who is £4000 off the mark.
The likes of Stephen Bunting, Dave Chisnall, Christo Reyes and Martin Schindler are provisional qualifiers but are likely to need to add some more ranking money to their pot.
Littler Absent
We had a full field, with the exception of Luke Littler who has withdrawn and is replaced by Dave Chisnall (and boy did he need that break). Jermaine Wattimena is promoted to seeded status.
Gary Anderson is still entered, but it is more than possible that he pulls out (he has), ditto Gerwyn Price (so has he). Aspinall has also pulled out, along with Ryan Joyce. That means that Woodhouse, Schindler and Ratajski, join Wattimena in being promoted to seeded status.
From the reserve list in comes Karel Sedlacek, one of the bubble boys, so that is a big help for him. He is joined by Alan Soutar, Robert Owen and Nick Kenny.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy: The Seeds
1 Luke Humphries
Was mightily relieved and very impressive when winning the World Grand Prix at the weekend. Gerwyn Price roared into a 3-0 lead and looked like it was going to be another, wide margin, one way final, but Humphries won the fourth set 3-2, and took the next three sets to take the lead, quieten Price down and he went on to win the match 6-4. It was his eighth major ranking title and his first for over a year.
Humphries has already won on the Euro Tour in 2026, the Belgian Darts Open back in March. He didn’t play in the next seven events but was runner up in his last appearance in the Czech Darts Open last month.
Humphries has won eight of his last ten matches and it will be interesting to see if he can really kick on from now on. Tournament favourite.
2 Gian van Veen
Has never won a Euro Tour title but is the defending European Champion. He is having good runs, but is in danger of becoming a nearly man. In his last four tournaments Van Veen was a quarter finalist in the Grand Prix, runner up in PC29, semi-finalist in the World Series finals, semi-finalist in the Flanders Darts Trophy.
In his last 50 matches, he has lost one final, six semi-finals and another four quarter finals. He is either due a title, or it is in his head, holding him back.
3 Jonny Clayton
If he has recovered from missing match darts to beat Price in the Grand Prix quarter final, Clayton could have a good run, but his form line looks very much like Van Veen’s.
The Ferret’s last 50 matches have seen three lost quarter finals, five lost semi-finals, one lost final, but he did win the New Zealand Darts Masters. Clayton can give you a run for your money, but will he get to the payout zone?
4 James Wade
Our pick for the Grand Prix reached the semi-final but lost that to eventual winner Luke Humphries. Wade has won fourteen of his last sixteen matches and his form is hard to knock. He won the final World Series event of the year, backed that up by winning the Flanders Darts Trophy, his first Euro title in ten years.
A run to last weekend’s semi-final wasn’t too shabby either. He has to be on the short list. He has withdrawn from the final Euro Tour event next week, so he can have a week off before the finals.
5 Michael van Gerwen
Is safely through to the finals, but is currently the 16th seed, which means he is going to be playing the likes of Zonneveld or maybe Clayton, Wattimena and so on. He used to top the O.O.M. and get the play the stragglers in round one. Everything is just harder these days.
MVG got dumped out of the Grand Prix in round one by Ryan Joyce. He hasn’t won a Euro Tour title for over a year, his last ranking major was in 2022. He is still a big enough name for the other players to want to beat him, but they don’t fear him anymore.
Ryan Joyce summed it up after his victory over MVG at the Grand Prix when he said that even three years ago, MVG would have smashed him up. He just doesn’t have self-belief anymore. Van Gerwen has lost six of his last ten matches and is hard to fancy.
6 Josh Rock
Won the Austrian Darts Trophy back in May and is safely through to the finals. This a nice, no pressure weekend for him. However, he is not in good form, has lost five of his last ten matches and has never really got over a poor Premier League. Rock was playing some good darts when he won in May, he isn’t now.
7 Stephen Bunting
In last position in the provisional qualifier list and under the cosh. Bunting is defending the winner’s prizemoney from 2024, and he has not gone beyond the third round since ET1 back in February. His recent form isn’t bad, but he has still lost six of his last ten matches.
8 Danny Noppert
You know what I am going to say about Noppert by now. He doesn’t win things and can’t be considered seriously in outright markets. He is likely to have a good run and his Euro Tour form figures for the last three events are SF/QF/QF. His recent form is not great, losing five of his last ten matches.
9 Ryan Searle
Outside of reaching the final of the International Darts Open back in May, Searle has not got past the 3rd round in his other eleven played. Doesn’t travel well. Recent form sees just four wins from his last ten.
10 Chris Dobey
Much like Noppert, Dobey is rarely worth considering for an outright bet in stage or TV events. He has reached four finals in his last thirty-six Euro Tour events. He won none of them and is best backed in floor events.
Dobey has been playing some great darts and won seven of his last ten matches, but he is a different, lesser player, once he steps on a stage.
11 Wessel Nijman
Was a winning machine in the first six months of the year, including picking up two Euro Tour titles. However, things have cooled for him more recently and he has not got past the third round in the last four Euro Tour events. His recent form sees six wins from his last ten. Off the boil.
12 Ross Smith
Tops the European Championship O.O.M. after winning two titles, runner up in two other and reached one other semi final and quarter final. He is having his best ever season and he loves his Euro Tours.
Smudger’s recent form sees eight wins from his last ten matches and he is playing very well. He has won eleven of his last thirteen matches on the Euro Tour, and he won the World Series Finals, held in Amsterdam. Europhile!
13 Jermaine Wattimena
Has won three PDC titles on the floor but he remains winless on stage. He has reached a quarter final and a final on the Euro Tour in 2026 and has played some good stuff on the floor. Wattimena has won seven of his last ten matches and if he could bring his floor game to the Euro Tour stage, you never know.
14 Luke Woodhouse
I was a bit disappointed with his attitude in his 2nd round match at the Matchplay. It was the old Woodhouse, shaking his head and beating himself up. He did beat Luke Littler in the first round and he may have got ahead of himself, expecting more.
Woody has won on the floor and on the Euro Tour in 2026. His recent form sees five wins from his last ten matches. He is playing a lot of good darts, but losing matches that he should have won. Hard to know what to make of his chances.
15 Martin Schindler
Made a couple of quarter finals in April and May, but he has been struggling with his game more recently. Schindler has not got past the third round in the last seven Euro Tours. He has lost six of his last ten matches and is hard to support.
16 Krzysztof Ratajski
Won the European Darts Open in July but has struggled a bit since then. Ratajski has lost seven of his last ten matches and is hard to fancy.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy: Best of the Rest
It is hard for the unseeded players to win these events. Only Wessel Nijman has managed it in 2026, but there have been three unseeded runners up. However, that was during the Premier League when most of the big guns stayed away from the Euro Tour. We are now back with Humphries et al turning up and it is hard giving those guys a headstart.
Kevin Doets
Has the game to win one of these and he has reached a final, another semi and another quarter final. However, since June, he has not got past the third round. Doets has won seven of his last ten matches and has been playing some very good stuff at times. A good run would be no surprise.
Sadly, he has been drawn to meet Luke Humphries in the second round, should he beat Nick Kenny. That said, it is not a great draw for Humphries, but he is 5-1 vs. the Dutchman.
Niels Zonneveld
Has hit some good form in the last few weeks. Had a run to the quarter finals at the Grand Prix last week, his best ever run in a major. He started the Euro Tour season in excellent form, reaching two semi-final and a quarter in three of the first four events.
Since then, he hasn’t got past the second round. Given his recent form, that could change. Zonneveld has never won a senior PDC title, but he is starting to look like he could. His draw is not the worst, so he could be a dark horse in the bottom half of the draw.
Cameron Menzies
Has won seven of his last ten matches and he has picked up two Players Championship titles in 2026, the second just two weeks ago. He has reached a semi-final on this year’s Euro Tour, but not got beyond the third round in the other twelve. Arguably another player who is better on the floor.
Karel Sedláček
Became the first Czech player to win a senior PDC title when he won PC30 a couple of weeks ago. He has reached three Euro Tour quarter finals over the years but has made a solitary third round in 2026. Needs to make another 9 or 10 grand to make the European Championships, but he will be playing in the final qualifying event of the season next weekend. An interesting contender.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy: The Draw
First Quarter
It is hard to see past Luke Humphries in this quarter. He is likely to face Kevin Doets in round two, and that could be his biggest challenge in the quarter. He is 5-1 vs. Doets, so he would be the favourite to win that.
Second Quarter
A tough quarter, but the two recent Euro Tour title winners, Wade and Smith look likely to be the quarter finalists here. They met in the final of the recent Flanders Darts Trophy, Wade winning 8-4.
Third Quarter
Gian Van Veen is the top seed here. The other seeds are Bunting, Dobey and Schindler. I don’t fancy any of those three. Niels Zonneveld has to start in the first round, He plays Bradley Brooks and if he can win that, he plays Dodgy Dobey and that is doable. I can see a Van Veen vs. Zonneveld quarter final. Van Veen would be favourite to win that, but their H2H record is 5-5, so Zig Zag is not without a chance.
Fourth Quarter
Jonny Clayton made the quarter final here last year and I expect another good run. That is what he does. Could he convert another good run into a title? Well, Gerwyn Price isn’t here this weekend, and there’s no Littler either.
The Ferret has won three Euro Tours and has been a runner up in 2026. The other seeds are Woodhouse, Rock and Nijman. Not an easy quarter, but Clayton has winning H2H records vs Nijman and Woodhouse, and is tied with Rock at 8-8. He is in better form than his fellow seeds and gets my vote to make the semi-finals.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Selections
Luke Humphries is the 4.00 tournament favourite. I suspect he will at least go very close, but the odds are not great, and I will have to pass. Instead I will go with three other selections form the other three quarters.
