2026 World Series Darts Finals Betting Preview

We had a few nice winners at the Flanders Darts Trophy last weekend. You can check out James Punt’s 2026 World Series Darts Finals betting preview and tips below.

2026 World Series Darts Finals

This will be the 12th World Series of Darts Finals and the ninth at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam. The event has previously been won by Michael van Gerwen six times, including in 2023 and 2025, Gerwyn Price won in 2020 and 2022. The other winners were James Wade in 2018, Jonny Clayton in 202, and Luke Littler in 2024.

The field is made up of the top eight players in the 2026 World Series of Darts rankings, who are seeded in the first round. They are joined by the next 16 players from the World Series O.O.M. There are four players taken from the top four players in the PDC World Rankings who had not already qualified. The final four places were those who qualified via the tour card holders qualifier held a couple of weeks ago.

Three Withdrawals

Three of the World series OOM qualifiers withdrew and Gary Anderson declined his invitation. They have been replaced by Jermaine Wattimena, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Daryl Gurney and Maik Kuivenhoven.

That means we have seven Dutch players in the field. Some qualifiers are just making up the numbers, but the tournament tends to get going from round two onwards. The winner gets £100k but the prize money in non-ranking. For that reason, it is a low prestige event, but the prizemoney is enough to get most of the big names to attend.

2026 World Series Darts Finals: The Seeds

1 Michael van Gerwen 

The six-time champion and defending champion. The World Series was good for MVG in 2025. He won two titles and the Finals. MVG won two titles again this season, and made the final of the other one he played in. He does make the effort, which not everyone does.

MVG is not in good form but has won six of his last ten matches. His problem is that he doesn’t win many tournaments these days. The World Series events are just fancy exhibitions, and outside of those two titles, he has won a Players Championship title.

On the plus side, it is home soil, and he will have his kids in tow, and that has inspired him in the past. Not out of it, as he puts a greater value in it than most.

2 Gerwyn Price

Another player who puts the work in on the World Series. He played every event and was runner up in New Zealand. His recent form is very hard to explain. He is playing some of the best darts around, but he doesn’t convert his good play into a lot of titles won. A single Euro Tour and Players Championship is all he has won in 2026.

He has lost that will to win, which made him such a great competitor from 2017 to 2022. Since then, he has been having good runs but coming up short. How much does he want it? Price has won six of his last ten matches, but he should be doing better than that. His draw looks to give him an easy path to the quarter finals.

3 Luke Littler 

Played in four of the six World Series events, won one, and was runner up in another. Won this in 2024 and was runner up in 2025. This will not be very high up on his to do list for 2026, but if he turns up for a stage event, he usually wins it. It is classed as TV title, and Littler set himself the target of winning all the Televised tournaments in 2026.

He is vulnerable in the first round, best of eleven leg format. He will play Danny Noppert in round one, so he is up against a home player. He is 6-1 vs. Noppert and when they last played two weeks ago, Littler won 6-0. Littler has won nine of his last ten matches and won nine of the fifteen tournaments he has played in 2026. Strong favourite.

4 Luke Humphries 

Doesn’t seem overly fused about the World Series. Humphries won the US Masters and was runner up in the Nordic Masters. He has never got past the semi-final stage in the finals. He is in the other side of the draw from Littler, so he has a reasonable chance to make the final.

His recent form is good, winning eight of his last ten matches. Obvious second favourite. He looks likely to win the second quarter. Only Van Veen is at his level, and Humphries has won their last five matches.

5 Gian van Veen 

On the comeback trail following his illness earlier in the year. He is having plenty of good runs but hasn’t won a title at senior level since winning the European Championship last October. He has the ability, but that lack of titles is a red flag.

Van Veen lost in the semi-final of the Flanders Darts Trophy last weekend, and he really needs to get one over the line before it becomes a habit.

6 Jonny Clayton 

Won this in 2021, The Year of the Ferret. Since that brilliant year, Clayton has won two Euro Tour titles, three Players Championships and two World Series titles. So, he is hardly a prolific title winner. He has failed to get past the second round here for the last three years.

Clayton has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing OK, but others make more appeal.

7 James Wade 

A man in great form. He won the final world series event in Australia and played very well in that. He then took three weeks off and returned to action by winning the Flanders Darts Trophy last weekend. That was his first Euro Tour title since 2018. That was the same year Wade won this title.

Wade should have a good run and perhaps a quarter final match with Gerwyn Price, and he is 3-0 vs the Welshman in 2026. As a form player, Wade has to enter calculations. He is in the same half of the draw as Littler, and like anyone else, he struggles against him (2-8).

8 Stephen Bunting 

Hasn’t won a match in this since 2015. To be fair he has only played in three and lost both first round matches in the last two years. His current form is poor, losing six of his last ten matches. Hard to fancy. Bunting faces Josh Rock in round one and he is 1-3 with him in 2026. Another short stay in Amsterdam?

Best of the Rest

Looking at the previous eleven WSOD finals and we see that nine have been won by one of the top four seeds. Nine runners up have been ranked in the top seven seeds.

Nathan Aspinall 

Has won six of his last ten matches and is playing well. He will be getting a bit frustrated as, since winning the German Darts Grand Prix in April, he has played five Euro Tour quarter finals and won just one, going on to lose the semi-final. Could have a good run but is likely to find someone better eventually.

Was runner up here in 2023, but has also had three first round exits. He is drawn to meet Littler in round two, in a best of 19 leg format (in previous years, round two was also a best of eleven leg format but appears to have changed). His H2H record with Littler is 3-17, so that is where he is likely to fall.

Ross Smith 

The King of Europe in 2026. Smudger has won two Euro Tour titles and been runner up in another two, including last weekend. He has also won a couple of Players Championship titles. He has won eight of his last ten matches and is capable of a good run.

Smith is drawn in the first quarter, and that is winnable, if difficult. He plays the very talented Kevin Doets in round one. If he wins that, he very likely plays MVG in round two. Two home players and tough opponents, but he would be favourite against both.

The bottom half of the draw has Rob Cross, Ryan Searle, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock. Rob Cross is in good form, so it is a tough draw, but not the worst.

Rob Cross 

A three-time quarter finalist and one time runner up. Cross is starting to play well again. He was derailed by his financial problems last year but he is looking more like his old self and playing some very good darts. Maybe lacks the consistency to go really deep.

Wessel Nijman 

Has lost the winning habit he had in the first half of the year. He won eight tournaments up to the middle of June, but since then he has reached just one Players Championship semi-final. He is just a bit below his best form and has lost five of his last ten matches.

Kevin Doets 

With a seasonal win rate of 73%, Doets demands respect. His A game is world class but he has lost five of his last ten matches and his lack of consistency needs addressing. He has made the second round here for the last two years, but got no further.

2026 World Series Darts Finals: The Draw

First Quarter 

MVG is the top seed and he has a great record in the tournament. His biggest threats look to be Ross Smith and Rob Cross. Smith is a man in great form and is getting used to making finals and winning titles in 2026. MVG has home advantage and I fancy his chances much more here than anywhere else.

However, he has lost five of his last seven matches vs. Smith, as he has done against Rob Cross. It is a tough group, with Doets, Rock, Searle and Bunting all very capable players, but it is Smith or MVG for me.

Second Quarter 

This looks to be the easiest quarter and looks to be a straight fight between Humphries and Van Veen. Humphries is on a run of five straight wins over Van Veen and is the more consistent player.

Third Quarter 

Price, Wade and Nijman are the heavyweights in the third quarter. Nijman is not quite on his game, Price is coming up short too often, but Wade is on a roll of back-to-back titles. He is the form player and looks the player most likely to make the semi-final.

The Machine has won his last three matches against Heta, his first round opponent. He is 6-0 vs. Nijman and has won five of his last six against Price.

Fourth Quarter 

With Luke Littler in this quarter I think we can just say hard luck to the likes of Noppert, Aspinall and Clayton.

Selections

History suggests that the top four seeds are the place to find the winner. They are MVG, Price, Littler and Humphries. MVG is the tournament specialist but is not the player he once was, but that was the case 12 months ago, and he won, beating Littler in the final. His path to the title in 2025 was Nijman, Cross, Humphries, Rock and Littler. An impressive list of scalps.

On home soil, with family support he found a way to win. He is in a tough quarter but something lit his fuse last year. He brought is young daughter with him to the tournament and was keen to show her what the old man is good at. It worked, and I suspect he will do the same thing this weekend.

Leap of Faith

The problem is that it is a huge leap of faith to back him these days. When I watch him play a match, I am surprised if he wins it. I expect him to lose most times. However, given his tournament record, odds of 26.00 are enough to give him a go.

MVG looks likely to meet Luke Humphries in the semi-final. I would have to give that one to Humphries, but that was also the case last year and MVG beat Humphries 10-5.

2026 World Series Darts Finals Tip: 0.5 point e/w Michael van Gerwen to win @ 26.00 with SpreadEx (1/3 the odds 1-2)

There are firms offering quarter betting and with Littler a 1.67 favourite to win the title, they do need to stimulate betting interest by offering different markets.

Humphries has a very winnable 2nd Quarter and while the odds are not huge, he should land them.

2026 World Series Darts Finals Tip: 1 point Luke Humphries to win the 2nd quarter @ 2.50 generally available

In the 3rd quarter, James Wade makes the most appeal. He is bang in form and his H2H records stand up well against the other big players in the quarter.

2026 World Series Darts Finals Tip: 1 point James Wade to win the third quarter @ 6.50 with Livescorebet, Boylesports

There will be no match betting this weekend due to holidays.

-JamesPunt