Michael Smith before the Champions League of Darts sat down with us and gave his thoughts on the European Tour which he is known to not be a big fan of. This was shown with him only just getting into the European Championship in Gottingen this weekend.
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Smith said that he finds going to the same place boring now and that he'd rather be at home. He gave his initial plans that he may just take the rest off if he wins one and that if he can have that time away it may rekindle the hunger.
He also slammed the decision to remove Dusseldorf from the calendar saying that the location of the event was so much better compared to getting multiple flights.
'I'm not a big fan of the European Tour. It's just constantly the same place and after six years it's got boring now, I'd rather be at home," said Smith to DartsNews.com.
'For the first half of the year until September. If I win the first one I might take the twelve off, It's something where you lose your love for it. So maybe if I have some time away from it, it may bring it back.'
'For me, the European Tours. You have to land somewhere get a taxi or a shuttle for an hour and a half to the venue. For one of the tournaments you have to get two connected flights. In Dusseldorf, you literally land at the airport and the venue and hotel is there and they got rid of it.'
Losing money as a seeded player and potential plans to miss events
Smith also gave his opinion on the loss of money in second round for seeded players if they are defeated and said that this money should go on your race to the World's as that's what players are working towards.
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As well after previously saying about missing events, Smith said that if he starts missing a few he may just take the year off them.
'As well if you're seeded and you lose second round, you don't get money on your ranking. You spend all year working your arse off really to be in the Top 16 for the seeds but you're trying to qualify one event. If you don't win you don't get £2,000 on your European ranking but you should still get it on your World's because that's what you're working for.'
'The response to the argument is that if you're good enough you'll win the first game so you just lose the battle with that.'
'The hunger has gone for the European Tours, if I start missing them I might take a year off doing them completely.'
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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.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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