Luke Littler and Luke Humphries (Picture: Taylor Lanning/PDC)

World Series of Darts Finals 2026: Predictions, betting tips and preview for the ITV 4-televised event in Amsterdam

Darts

Thu October 01, 2026 · 4d ago

The ITV4-televised World Series of Darts Finals takes place this weekend and our Chris Hammer brings you his quarter-by-quarter preview and tips.

Darts betting tips: World Series of Darts Finals

2pts Luke Humphries to win the World Series Finals at 8/1 (General)

1pt Kevin Doets to win the first quarter at 6/1 (General)

2pts James Wade to win the third quarter at 11/2 (Unibet, Bet MGM)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

All eyes - as ever - are on Luke Littler this weekend as he continues his quest to complete an unprecedented clean sweep of majors in a calendar year.

I've probably annoyed some darts purists by even classifying this tournament as a major due to the qualification criteria being significantly - and understandably - weighted towards the six invitational World Series events this year, but when we reach the second round and quarter-finals, the remaining players should be the elite of the sport.

All in all, it's still a stellar field that should produce enough fireworks to kick this autumn period off with a bang.

Regardless of what you think of this event, it is still officially classed by the PDC as one of it's 'premier' events and is therefore firmly on Littler's list of trophies he must lift this year to make more history.

The 19-year-old has already won the World Championship, World Masters, UK Open, Premier League and World Matchplay to take his career tally of majors to 14 since bursting onto the scene back in 2024, while he also teamed up with Luke Humphries to bring the World Cup of Darts back to England.

He 'just' needs to win the World Series Finals, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals in order to achieve something no one has ever managed - and Sky Bet are offering 14/1 that he manages to do so!

Phil Taylor once lifted all eight major ranked events available to him in 2009 but he was knocked out in the semi-finals of the Premier League that year, thus preventing the full set, while Michael van Gerwen won nine majors in 2016 after an early exit at the World Championship and also missed out in the BBC-televised Champions League of Darts final that year to Taylor.

Littler, who won this trophy back in 2024, is 4/6 favourite to keep his astonishing run going and it speaks volumes that the second favourite, Luke Humphries, is a massive 8/1.

Obviously he's head and shoulders above everyone in the world but if he is going to lose in a major, it's going to be one of these shorter format ones like the World Series.

The final is 'only' best of 21 legs and we saw Humphries get ridiculously close to Littler in the Premier League final that went to a deciding leg while he's also managed two victories over him on the World Series final, including the US Darts Masters final in which he averaged 104 in an 8-7 thriller.

And lets not forget that he also took Littler the distance in the World Masters final that went to a ninth set.

If Humphries, who is averaging over 100 for the season just like Littler, can find his way to the final then he would have a fighting chance and that 8/1 looks very tempting.

World Series: Quarter One

(1) Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney
Kevin Doets v Ross Smith
(8) Stephen Bunting v Josh Rock
Rob Cross v Ryan Searle

Defending World Series of Darts Finals champion Michael van Gerwen is the favourite to come through this quarter having enjoyed a fairly decent campaign which has seen him pick up three titles, including two on the World Series Tour.

However, since lifting this trophy 12 months ago, he's not really challenge on major stages and statistically, he's not been performing much better than the others in this section of the draw.

The stats for quarter one of the World Series Finals

You could make a strong case for many players making a good run to the semi-finals, including Ross Smith who has picked up four titles this season - two of which have been on the European Tour.

However, at slightly bigger odds of 6/1, I'm siding with Kevin Doets to be inspired by the home crowd.

This year he's started to fulfil more of the potential that we often see on the Ally Pally stage, winning a Pro Tour title and also reaching two other finals including one on the European Tour where he was narrowly beaten by Josh Rock.

His third final of the campaign came as recently as last month at a Players Championship event and although he lost to Jermaine Wattimena, his form is still promising and this is a fantastic opportunity for him on the big stage.

Verdict: Kevin Doets to win the quarter

World Series: Quarter Two

(4) Luke Humphries v Jermaine Wattimena
Viktor Tingstrom v Dirk van Duijvenbode
(5) Gian van Veen v Chris Dobey
Karel Sedlacek v Ben Robb

I've already made the case for Luke Humphries potentially winning this event in the first section of this preview so obviously I'm siding with the world number two to make it through this quarter.

His seasonal average is comfortably higher than anyone else while he's also in decent form having won a Players Championship event at the end of August and also reached the final of the Czech Darts Open a couple of weeks ago, narrowly losing to Luke Littler.

The stats for quarter two of the World Series Finals

Gian van Veen could well be his quarter-final opponent having displayed some decent form in recent weeks, including beating his first-round opponent Chris Dobey en route to the Czech Darts Open semi-finals.

However, the Dutch youngster hasn't quite been the force he was in 2025 and has lost all of his last five matches against Humphries in all competitions.

Verdict: Luke Humphries to win the quarter

World Series: Quarter Three

(2) Gerwyn Price v Brody Klinge
Adam Leek v Jim Long
(7) James Wade v Damon Heta
Wessel Nijman v Simon Whitlock

Gerwyn Price tops the seasonal averages in this section of the draw but it's Wessel Nijman who is favourite to get through it after an incredible title-winning campaign so far.

The rising Dutch star has collected an astonishing eight of them so far in 2026 including two on the European Tour in which he averaged over 100 in both finals.

He's clearly becoming a big stage performer and once he has that major under his belt, he could feasibly become Luke Littler's biggest threat in the coming years.

The stats for quarter three of the World Series Finals

However, I believe one of the sport's most experienced legends could throw a spanner in the works for him this weekend in the shape of James Wade.

The Machine, who is enjoying an impressive 26th season in the PDC, is currently on a nine-match winning run that has added two more titles to his 2026 tally of three - firstly on the World Series tour and then on the European Tour this past weekend.

In those nine matches, he's averaged over 100 on four occasions, including a massive 112.73 against Tim Pusey, while he's been a significant threat on the major stages over the past 12 month or so.

He's reached three big finals - albeit not winning any of them - including the last two UK Opens and will fancy his chances of strolling through plenty of rounds here in Amsterdam.

Verdict: James Wade to win the quarter

World Series: Quarter Four

(3) Luke Littler v Danny Noppert
Nathan Aspinall v Raymond Smith
(6) Jonny Clayton v Maik Kuivenhoven
Motomu Sakai v Callan Rydz

The stats for quarter four of the World Series Finals

As far as the long formats go, it's got to the point where Luke Littler is almost deemed unbeatable.

However, over best-of-11 legs, his rivals do at least have a slender chance of causing a shock - as we see on the Pro Tour from time to time and, of course, during the Premier League season.

On one hand Danny Noppert has been handed the worst possible draw, but if he's got ambitions of lifting this trophy then it's probably the best - because it's better playing Littler in round one than later down the line.

Unfortunately for Noppert, this has been a pretty poor season, especially compared to 2025 when he reached four major semi-finals.

His seasonal average of 94.29 puts him well outside the world's top 20 and he's not really challenged for any titles apart from a run to the final of a European Tour event.

For this reason, I expect Littler to breeze through and make light work of the rest of the challengers in this quarter.

Verdict: Luke Littler to win the quarter

Schedule of Play

Thursday September 17 (1900 CEST)
Round One (best of 11 legs)

Viktor Tingstrom v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Rob Cross v Ryan Searle
Karel Sedlacek v Ben Robb
Kevin Doets v Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting v Josh Rock
Luke Humphries v Jermaine Wattimena
Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney
Gian van Veen v Chris Dobey

Friday September 18 (1900 CEST)
Round One (best of 11 legs)

Adam Leek v Jim Long
Motomu Sakai v Callan Rydz
Wessel Nijman v Simon Whitlock
Nathan Aspinall v Raymond Smith
James Wade v Damon Heta
Gerwyn Price v Brody Klinge
Luke Littler v Danny Noppert
Jonny Clayton v Maik Kuivenhoven

Saturday September 19
Afternoon Session (1300 CEST)
Round Two (best of 19 legs)

Van Gerwen/Gurney v Doets/Ross Smith
Bunting/Rock v Cross/Searle
Humphries/Wattimena v Tingstrom/Van Duijvenbode
Van Veen/Dobey v Sedlacek/Robb

Order of play to be confirmed

Evening Session (1900 CEST)
Round Two (best of 19 legs)

Price/Klinge v Leek/Long
Wade/Heta v Nijman/Whitlock
Littler/Noppert v Aspinall/Raymond Smith
Clayton/Kuivenhoven v Sakai/Rydz

Order of play to be confirmed.

Sunday September 20
Afternoon Session (1300 CEST)

Quarter-Finals (best of 19 legs)

Evening Session (1900 CEST)

Semi-Finals (best of 21 legs)
Final (best of 21 legs)

Sunday's matches to be played in Draw Bracket Order.

Prize Fund

Winner: £100,000
Runner-Up: £60,000
Semi-Finalists: £30,000
Quarter-Finalists: £17,500
Last 16 losers: £10,000
Last 32 losers: £5,000
Total: £450,000

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