Grand Slam of Darts 2026

14 November – 22 November 2026 · WV Active Aldersley (Aldersley Leisure Village), Wolverhampton

The Grand Slam of Darts 2026 takes place from 14 to 22 November in Wolverhampton – for the first time with 48 players and record prize money of £1,000,000. The defending champion is Luke Littler.

The Grand Slam of Darts is being staged for the 20th time in 2026 and runs from 14 to 22 November at WV Active Aldersley (Aldersley Leisure Village) in Wolverhampton. The PDC major, held since 2007, long differed from all other PDC events because players from the rival association BDO also took part until 2020. Since the BDO went insolvent, all participants have come from the Professional Darts Corporation; players from the World Darts Federation are not taken into account. The Grand Slam has been a ranking tournament since 2015, and since 2018 the winner's trophy has borne the name Eric Bristow Trophy in honour of the late Eric Bristow. For the 2026 edition the tournament has been expanded considerably: the field grows from 32 to 48 players, who first compete in 16 groups of three. The world's top 16 are seeded as group heads, while the other 32 players – split into ranks 17–32 and ranks 33–48 – are drawn into the groups; only the group winners reach the knockout stage. The prize money has also risen sharply: it went up by £350,000 compared with last year to £1,000,000, and the champion receives £200,000 for the first time. The defending champion is Luke Littler, who beat Luke Humphries 16-11 in the 2025 final to win his second Grand Slam title in a row. The match was open until 9-9 before Littler took seven of the last nine legs. The record winner of the tournament is Phil Taylor with six titles, followed by Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price with three each. In 2010 Scott Waites was the only BDO player ever to take the title. As of 1 November 2026, 36 players have secured their place. Qualified through wins or final appearances at majors are world champion and defending champion Luke Littler, World Grand Prix winner Luke Humphries, Ross Smith (winner of the World Series of Darts Finals 2026 and European Champion 2026), World Championship finalist Gian van Veen, Gerwyn Price (finalist of the World Matchplay 2026), James Wade (finalist of the UK Open 2026), Martin Schindler (finalist of the European Championship 2026), Nathan Aspinall (finalist of the Players Championship Finals 2025) and Michael van Gerwen (finalist of the World Cup of Darts 2026); in 2026 Littler also won the Premier League, World Matchplay, World Masters and UK Open and took the World Cup of Darts alongside Humphries. Schindler sealed his seventh Grand Slam appearance by reaching the final of the European Championship in Dortmund, where he knocked out Wessel Nijman, Jermaine Wattimena, Jonny Clayton and Krzysztof Ratajski in turn before losing 8-11 to Ross Smith in the final. Coming in through the additional competitions are Beau Greaves (finalist of the World Youth Championship 2025 and winner of the Women's World Matchplay 2026), Lisa Ashton (top of the Women's Series Order of Merit), the two finalists of the World Youth Championship 2026 Cam Crabtree and Jan Schmidt, Sebastian Bialecki (top of the Development Tour Order of Merit), Joe Hunt (top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit), Paolo Nebrida (winner of the PDC Asian Championship, 3-0 in the final against Kam Weng Cheng) as well as Adam Sevada (winner of the North American Championship) and Raymond Smith (winner of the ANZ Premier League). The field so far is completed by European Tour winners Wessel Nijman (two titles), Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock, Luke Woodhouse, Krzysztof Ratajski and Niels Zonneveld plus Players Championship winners Chris Dobey (two titles), Cameron Menzies (two titles), Ryan Searle, Jermaine Wattimena, Rob Cross, Kevin Doets, Andrew Gilding, Jeffrey de Graaf, Gabriel Clemens, Karel Sedlacek, Charlie Manby and Henry Coates. In July 2026, 20-year-old Coates became only the fifth player in PDC history without a Tour Card to win a Pro Tour event, the Players Championship 25. As the lowest-ranked Pro Tour winner of the year, his place depended on the remaining results; because the already qualified Ross Smith did not claim an extra spot with his run to the European Championship final, Coates got certainty and will make his debut in Wolverhampton – as will Kevin Doets and Joe Hunt. Twelve places are still open. An automatic ticket also goes to the winner of the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship (8 November 2026); in addition, further Players Championship winners can move up. The field is filled first with winners of European Tour events and then with winners of Players Championship events until 40 players have qualified directly – ordered by the number of tournament wins and then by position in the PDC Order of Merit. The final line-up will be set on 6 November 2026, when the Tour Card Holder Qualifier awards at least eight places.