"Michael van Gerwen is 12/1, he's done this three times": Luke Humphries doesn't care about odds with second favourite tag behind Littler
PDC
Luke Humphries by his own admission wasn't at his best but he won nine consecutive legs to sweep Thibault Tricole and reach the third round at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship.
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Humphries can now enjoy Christmas with his loved ones knowing he won't be back till after the big day and as is tradition with the reigning World Champion ending opening night, it is a long wait but a caveat of being the top player.
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"It wasn't the best performance from myself, I didn't feel very clinical. After the walk-ons it took be back a bit as the crowd were so amazing that I felt like Nathan Aspinall when he has amazing walk-on and they scream back at you, it makes you think wow. It was one of the best crowds I've been in a room with. They should be proud of themselves, they made me feel amazing. Performance wise I was nowhere near my best but I said in many interviews beforehand, it's two different tournaments. All that matters is you win as if you would've averaged 105 and lost I'm out so it doesn't matter. Now you go into the second part, you come back after Christmas and you can really think about becoming World Champion then," said Humphries.
The crowd was utterly electric for Humphries who said the best thing he did was change the walk-on and said he took inspiration from a certain Nathan Aspinall.
"The best thing I think I did in my life was change my walk-on song. I took a little bit of inspiration from Nathan's walk-on and it's worked in my favour. It's really nice. I enjoy walking out now. Before I didn't really care as much. It didn't have that special feeling."
Littler has been installed as favourite for the darting spectacle but Humphries stated facts over stats.
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He was asked about being second favourite and hit back at the notion of being second favourite quipping that Michael van Gerwen is 12/1 and that those who have won it before know how to win it more than others adding Gary Anderson in that mix.
He also said that despite all the clamour around Luke Littler, he's won more than anyone else on tour money wise and also reached more major finals so should be on par with Littler not adrift.
"I don't care what the bookies make of it or what they say. They try to cover their backs from stats. It's all done on stats. You look at it Michael van Gerwen is 12/1, he's done this three times. He knows how to do it. It does add in the favour to someone who knows how to win it. If I get myself or Michael or Gary (Anderson) into a semi-final situation, they know what to do. It's a lot harder for a person that's not been in that situation as the best of 11 sets is a long game. On reflection, me and Luke Littler should be similar. I've been in six major finals this year, he's been in four."
"It was good for the sport that I won the Players Championship Finals as it opens that possibility that a couple of players can win it instead of one."
"If we go on ranking money won this year, I've won 150/200,000 more than any other player on the tour. I think I've handled it well. The World Matchplay and World Cup was what I wanted this year and I got them both so the achievements I've wanted to unlock I've done."
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He will play Raymond van Barneveld or Nick Kenny or Stowe Buntz in the third round. He sees Barney in his preparation and that he wants the added carat of being two-time back-to-back World Champion.
"There's not many two time World Champions. How many times are you going to get a go at being back-to-back two-time World Champion. It's very rare. If I win next year then get another go in five years, that's not going to happen a lot of times. You want to try and take advantage of it. I'm not thinking about that right now, my goal was just to win tonight. I've got twelve days till I probably play again. It could be Barney or whoever he's playing, in my mind I'm going to prepare that I'm playing Barney."
But in the Humphries household, it will be practice. He said knowing he didn't set the darting world ablaze with that display means more time to fine tune his darting tools using a Phil Taylor adage to explain his thinking. Albeit with a young family, there will also be time for presents and the usual Christmas Day turkey.
"I prefer to have 12 days off than play on the 23rd and then play on the 28th off. It'll be a lot of Christmas shopping and enjoying myself. It'll be a lot of practice, I think my game's in a good shape and I don't feel like I'm playing awful. It'll be important that my game is finely tuned for when I come back on the 26th as much as I'm happy with my performance, I want to be averaging 100 all the time. In between that I'll have a good Christmas but like Phil (Taylor) used to say you can enjoy Christmas after you become World Champion."
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Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026