Ahead of the Grand Slam of Darts 2025, we take a look at everything you need to know about the tournament…
When and where is the Grand Slam of Darts?
The Grand Slam of Darts is one of the final major tournaments of the year before we head to Alexandra Palace for the World Darts Championship.
This year, the penultimate major show of the season takes place from Saturday November 8 through until Sunday November 16 as reigning champion Luke Littler looks to defend his title.
Littler stormed to a 16-3 victory over Martin Lukeman to be crowned Grand Slam of Darts champion in 2024, reeling off a spectacular 15 legs in a row.
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Martin Lukeman milked the applause after he won a leg after losing 15 in a row to Luke Littler in the Grand Slam of Darts final.
The tournament is held at the WV Active Aldersley, Wolverhampton, with bumper crowds expected at every session.
What is the prize money?
The Grand Slam sees 32 players battle it out for a whopping £650,000 in prize money and the Eric Bristow Trophy.
The winner will take away £150,000, the other finalist taking home £70,000.
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Martin Lukeman said he was hoping Luke Littler would lose to Gary Anderson in the semi-final to give him a slight chance of winning in the Grand Slam of Darts final.
The semi-finalists then get £50,000, the quarter-finalists £25,000, then those who get through to the last 16 walk away with £12,250.
If you come third in the group stage, it is an £8,000 payday, fourth in your group is £5,000. If you win the group, it is an extra £3,500 to take home.
Which players are involved this year?
Reigning champion Littler headlines the 32-player field in Wolverhampton, but the stand-out Group G that includes Beau Greaves, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Niko Springer.
Littler, meanwhile, is in Group E and will have to progress past Daryl Gurney, Connor Scutt, and Karel Sedlacek if he wants to become only the fourth player ever to retain the crown.
Top seed Luke Humphries is in Group A and will take on Nathan Aspinall, Alex Spellman, and 2022 champion Michael Smith.
The likes of James Wade, Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Gian van Veen, Josh Rock, Chris Dobey, and Lisa Ashton are also involved.
Who are the previous winners?
Littler is the most recent winner in 2024, with Luke Humphries claiming glory before him in 2023.
Michael Smith ended his PDC major jinx in 2022 as he held aloft the Eric Bristow Trophy following his convincing 16-5 win over Nathan Aspinall
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Michael Smith was overwhelmed by emotion on the stage after winning the Grand Slam Of Darts – his first major tournament at the ninth attempt.
Since 2007, there has been just nine different winners of the Grand Slam of Darts, Phil Taylor the most successful in the tournament with six victories, Van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price in joint second with three apiece.
Although there has only been eight winners, 19 different players have competed in the final, the likes of James Wade, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson unable to pick up the trophy, Martin Lukeman the latest to join that list.
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Michael Smith ended his PDC major jinx as he held aloft the Eric Bristow trophy following his convincing 16-5 win.
England lead the way as the nation with the most winners, five Englishmen coming away victorious, Netherlands with two winners, then Wales and Portugal with a winner each.
What is the Grand Slam of Darts format?
The players are split into eight groups, with the top two from each group progressing.
In the group stage, players receive two points for a win in a best-of-nine-legs contest. The second round is best-of-19 legs, with the quarters, semi-finals and final best-of-31 legs.
To split a two-way points tie for any position within a group, the following process will be used:
– Leg difference
– Group match winner
To split a three-way points tie for positions within a group, the following process will be used:
– Leg difference
– Legs won
– Legs won against throw
– Tournament average
– If still a tie for one or more places, there will be a nine-dart shoot-out between the relevant players to determine final standings, with the highest aggregate score over nine darts being used to separate the players.
In the event a nine-dart shoot-out finishes level between two or more players, those players who have tied on the most points will continue to throw three darts each in the same order until one player scores more points than the other player(s) with their three darts.
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be played in a knockout format, using the following bracket:
- Winner Group A vs Runner-Up Group B
- Winner Group B vs Runner-Up Group A
- Winner Group C vs Runner-Up Group D
- Winner Group D vs Runner-Up Group C
- Winner Group E vs Runner-Up Group F
- Winner Group F vs Runner-Up Group E
- Winner Group G vs Runner-Up Group H
- Winner Group H vs Runner-Up Group G
How many nine-darters have been thrown?
Ryan Searle hit a nine-darter to win his Group D match against Nathan Rafferty in 2023.
There has been six nine-darters thrown at the Grand Slam of Darts, the first coming from Wade back in 2008 and the latest from Searle.
Josh Rock, Dmitri Van den Bergh, Dave Chisnall and Kim Huybrechts have also thrown nine-darters, but none of those have gone on to win the tournament despite their moment of perfection.
How can you watch?
The Grand Slam of Darts is live every day on Sky Sports from November 8-16 as major season hots up.
Attention then turns to the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship, which begins on December 11, as the darts calendar continues to provide excitement throughout the year – and you can enjoy the very best here live on Sky Sports.
Sky Sports will once again be the home of the World Cup of Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW