"If I win the World Championship, he has to put my name on his bum" - Michael van Gerwen full of confidence ahead of Grand Slam of Darts as Ally Pally deal formed

Michael van Gerwen is back on the board practising ahead of a return to the Grand Slam of Darts. He has done this in the form of another livestream, getting some much-needed rehearsal on the oche as he joins the other 47 competitors readying up for a brilliant competition in Wolverhampton.

The three-time champion last triumphed back in 2018 and has since not even reached the final, failing to make it to the quarter-final stages in the past three editions. With his shaky form as of late recently boosted with a much improved Players Championship 33 and 34 display, he was looking forward to the latest major event on the PDC Tour in 2026.

"I'm travelling over on Friday," he said. I've got an event on Thursday night, then Friday is a day off, and I think I play on Saturday. I'm not sure, though."

Van Gerwen will play on the Saturday. He is in action in the fourth game of the evening session against Henry Coates in Group L. If he wins, he will take on Jeffrey de Graaf on Tuesday. Lose to the young Englishman, then he will be straight back on stage the next day against the Swede.

He seemed much more chirpy when it came to his form. "I'm really happy with that. There have been some decent games. I think, from now on, it's good to play some decent games one after another, so I'm pleased with that."

As he got in his rhythm on the board, he was briefly distracted. "I have to put my kids in bed, guys. Normally, they're always sleeping by themselves, but now, all of a sudden, I'm live and they want me to put them to bed. That's always how it goes."

Shoes are not normally talked about when it comes to outfits, but van Gerwen took a leaf out of five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld's books.

"I've got them as well, like Raymond. Raymond gave me the tip, so thank you, Raymond," he said. "Raymond said white Nikes will help. Look at this. Someone made them. I read it in the news: Raymond told me you have to stand a little bit higher. Then you throw more 180s."

Speaking of which, van Gerwen would finally get an answer from his phone from van Barneveld. "Good luck, everyone. Hello. Have a good time on Twitch," he said. What was he doing? "We're having a Christmas party a few days early."

The conversation reverted to gaming as van Barneveld's brief cameo came to an end. With GTA VI finally on the horizon, van Gerwen is seemingly one of the few people not going to grab a copy from the bat.

"As a matter of fact, we were talking about it. At the moment, I don't really have a lot of time, to be honest. With the kids, my schedule, sometimes going live and my private life as well, it's difficult to find a few hours to play. It's been a long time since I played GTA – years and years ago."

The three-time world champion is bracing himself for the new format. The Grand Slam has gone up from 32 to 48 players with 16 groups of three. Van Gerwen had a bone to pick.

"They used to have four players in a group, but sometimes you had players going through to the next round with only one win. That's crazy as well. What I don't like about the Grand Slam is that your opponent from the group stage can be the first person you play again afterwards. That's strange.

"Let's say you're in a group with Gary Anderson and you finish first, while he finishes second. You should go into the opposite halves of the draw so that you can only meet in the final. You go to the top of the draw and he goes to the bottom. Instead, you end up in the same quarter. You win a match and then you play someone from your own group again. I don't know why they do that. If the game is evolving, I think they should look at changing it."

There are a number of top players who have failed to qualify for the event. Van Gerwen listed off a few. "Raymond. Gary Anderson, obviously." One of his colleagues mentioned Peter Wright. "I think a lot of people miss Peter Wright."

Another name close to van Gerwen who is no longer competing in the sport let along featuring at the Grand Slam is Vincent Van der Voort. Without him, the PDC Tour is slightly different. "I don't miss anyone, to be honest. Only Vincent wants to... It's a bit more boring on the Pro Tour now."

'The Green Machine' seemed relatively satisfied with his draw. "The group is fine. You have to beat anyone if you want to win the tournament, so I don't really care."

While he has not been putting in the big averages he had been synonymous with, there is still that lurking threat that he could produce something extremely special. "If I hit my doubles, it's very tough for anyone," he admitted. "If I hit a couple of good darts, it's very difficult. If I hit a 100, it's already a big advantage."

However, he was getting distracted when playing some games of 501. "It's difficult, seriously. You still want to concentrate, but everyone is talking and there are distractions everywhere. You also have to keep counting. When I have 106 left, I know what I need to do, but it's not always easy when people are talking around you."

He went into some more personal questions. he answered how many tattoos he has. "I've already got one – the names of my children." He then wandered over to his friend, Kevin, and put forward a tantalising bet.

"We were joking with Kevin that, if I win the World Championship, he has to put my name on his bum." He accepted it, with a handshake confirming the deal. "He agreed to the deal. He said he was going to practise every day, and then we'd put it there. Nobody's going to see it, though."