Las Vegas Open: Jason Brandon and Deta Hedman kick off 2026 with success after clinching well-earned titles
WDF
The first events of the 2026 WDF season have taken place in the Las Vegas Open this weekend, with players looking to get on the front foot with a bright start. In the men's event, Jason Brandon took home the spoils while the recent WDF women's world champion Deta Hedman showed her class enroute to the title.
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The tournament in Las Vegas is the first gold tournament of the year. A title in one of the six events in this category will see you confirm a coveted spot in the WDF World Championship at the end of the year, making it very important to pick up a huge result early on. It is also a pathway into the highly prestigious WDF World Masters.
Brandon and Hedman strike the jackpot in Vegas
The men's event saw Brandon come away with the glory after picking up a dominant 6-0 triumph over Alex Spellman.
Brandon was in control throughout the day, overcoming Bobby Dees Jr (3-0), Jim Mayer (3-2), Liam McNeil (4-0), Jacob Smith (4-2), Adam Sevada (4-3), Chris Lim (4-2) and Tokuyo Takayama (5-2) to set up a showdown against Spellman.
The recent PDC World Darts Championship and Grand Slam of Darts participant had no chance against a determined Brandon. The American began with a 15-darter which set the tempo for the rest of the match. Half of the legs Brandon won, Spellman was on a double, showing his skill under pressure.
He capped the event off with a 14-darter to get 2026 off to the perfect start, averaging 91.09 in the final whitewash. He takes home the title and $2,000, a solid reward for a brilliant display of darts.
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Jason Brandon in action
It was also an excellent tournament for Hedman, who was too good for the rest of the field. She took down Cali West 5-2 in the final as the world champion added another title to her growing collection.
Enroute to the final she defeated Lydia Montebon-White (3-0), Nalanie Tirrell (4-0), Kosuzu Iwao (4-2), Carolyn Mars (4-1) and Maria Carli (4-1). She had only dropped four legs all tournament, and would add only two more on the way to coming out victorious in Las Vegas. She ran out into a 3-0 lead, pinning a 15-darter in the process. From there she controlled the state of the match, not letting West get near of a potential comeback. The 'Caribbean Queen' sealed it with an 18-darter, continuing her momentum from Lakeside.
The action in the WDF is coming thick and fast. Next weekend, the competition is travelling to Romania for a brace of silver events: the Romanian Open and Romanian Classic, with the Bucharest Open a bronze event also being competed. In North American, the Snowflake Open in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada will also be held.
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Open Results - Las Vegas Open
| Player 1 | Average | Score | VS | Score | Average | Player 2 |
| Finals | ||||||
| Jason Brandon | -91.09 | 6 | VS | 0 | -75.72 | Alex Spellman |
| Semi-Finals | ||||||
| Alex Spellman | -87.82 | 5 | VS | 1 | -82.98 | David Cameron |
| Jason Brandon | -83.07 | 5 | VS | 2 | -80.59 | Tokuyo Takayama |
| Quarter-Finals | ||||||
| Jason Brandon | -81.50 | 4 | VS | 2 | -73.54 | Chris Lim |
| Alex Spellman | -89.73 | 4 | VS | 0 | -71.57 | Ken MacNeil |
| David Cameron | -77.08 | 4 | VS | 0 | -62.54 | Dalton Desmarais |
| Tokuyo Takayama | -85.62 | 4 | VS | 3 | -79.24 | Ethan De Veyra |
Women's Results - Las Vegas Open
| Player 1 | Average | Score | VS | Score | Average | Player 2 |
| Finals | ||||||
| Deta Hedman | -80.63 | 5 | VS | 2 | -73.50 | Cali West |
| Semi-Finals | ||||||
| Cali West | -61.19 | 4 | VS | 2 | -66.56 | Paula Murphy |
| Deta Hedman | -86.63 | 4 | VS | 1 | -82.13 | Maria Carli |
| Quarter-Finals | ||||||
| Maria Carli | -64.13 | 4 | VS | 1 | -58.50 | Wendy Reinstadtler |
| Paula Murphy | -77.84 | 4 | VS | 3 | -69.00 | Anca Zijlstra |
| Deta Hedman | -66.74 | 4 | VS | 1 | -61.72 | Carolyn Mars |
| Cali West | -62.13 | 4 | VS | 1 | -51.34 | Jessica Melton |
Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist
Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.
A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.
Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.
Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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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