Players Championship Finals preview: Gerwyn Price to back up his top seeding at Minehead

The Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals represents the final chance for the elite to fine-tune their game ahead of the World Championships in three weeks’ time.

The tournament features the top 64 on the Players Championship rankings after the conclusion of the 34-event Players Championship season and it takes place at Butlin’s Minehead Resort this weekend.

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One big name missing from the event is Michael van Gerwen. In a disappointing season by his own high standards, the Dutchman failed to make the top 64 after missing the final two tournaments in October.

Nevertheless, the field is rather stacked, with Luke Littler on the opposite side of the draw to Luke Humphries.

The newly crowned world number one, who’s favourite to claim another world championship, retained his Grand Slam title over Humphries a few days ago and heads into this event in wonderful form.

Last year, the duo met in the final, with Humphries emerging victorious 11-7. Given the nature of the sport this year, don’t be surprised to see a repeat of this on Sunday evening.

Littler, of course, is the bookmakers favourite, but there are several contenders who might take advantage of the shorter format to knock the teenager out and go all the way in Minehead.

Here at FIRST, we take a look at a few outright selections before delving into those players that offer value to go deep in the tournament.

The favourites

Littler has justified his odds of 15/8 to win this event courtesy of Betfred following a truly superb 2025 so far. 

Following his world title win at the start of the year, he has added the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam crowns to his ever-expanding CV.

On his way to success last week, he defeated Josh Rock in the quarter-final, Danny Noppert in the semi-final before sealing a 16-11 win over Humphries to win the tournament.

He is fearless over the longer matches, powering up a gear as the game goes on. Could there be a chink in his armour over the shorter format, however? Indeed, he won just a single Players Championship event this season, losing in the opening rounds on numerous occasions.

Humphries is his main challenger, but can he put recent defeats to the teen behind him ahead of this week?

The Englishman represents decent value at 11/2, but he hasn’t beaten his rival since the Premier League final back in May.

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Humphries faces a tough opening match against Gian van Veen, which is due to his lowly ranking of 58th. If so, it will give him the confidence to move into the latter stages.

Betfred have installed Gerwyn Price as third favourite for the tournament, despite the fact he is the top seed for the event.

A run to his first major semi-final in over two years at the Grand Slam last week will give him a massive boost ahead of an event which features a shorter format. Something that Price obviously loves.

Not only has he won European Tour and World Series of Darts events this season, but Price has also claimed four Players Championship titles. The link? They are all either best of 11 or best of 15 legs.

Odds of 10/1 are generous for the Welshman, that much is certain.

FIRST.com’s top tip - Players Championship Finals

Pick: Gerwyn Price to win the Players Championship Finals – 10/1 (Betfred)

Extra tips

Van Veen has emerged as a potential elite star in the making over the previous few months. He did get knocked out in the group stage at the Grand Slam, but he is sitting at odds of 12/1 to win this tournament.

The caveat being he faces Humphries in the first round. This is the tie of the opening round and will require the Dutchman to bring his A game right from the start.

As such, I’m going to avoid him, opting to go for Josh Rock at 14/1 instead. The Northern Irishman bounced back from back-to-back early exits at major tournaments by reaching the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam.

Only an inspired Littler display was enough to fend off Rock and he heads to Minehead in good shape. 

Seeded tenth, Rock could face Humphries in the third round. Should he get through that clash, however, the World Cup winner stands a great chance of going all the way.

Danny Noppert is another who I have my eye on and his odds of 25/1 represent great value considering his recent form.

The Dutchman reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam, defeating Michael van Gerwen along the way, before losing 16-9 to Littler.

Not only has the 35-year-old reached the semi-finals of four majors this season, but he has twice reached the quarter-final stage or better at this tournament. Expect him to kick-on from last week.

Sticking with the Dutch theme, Wessel Nijman at 40/1 is tempting indeed. He won the final Players Championship event of the 2025 season and enters this event seeded second due to his performances at these tournaments.

Nijman reached the quarter-finals or better 11 times across 34 Players Championship appearances and evidently loves the shorter format.

A win over Rock at the Grand Slam proved he can beat the best on his day. Watch this space.

The value picks

This tournament often produces a surprise or two due to the format and seeding system. Ryan Joyce, Callan Rydz and Brendan Dolan have enjoyed deep runs in recent years.

One name that stands out immediately is Kevin Doets. Yes, he may be sitting at odds of 200/1 courtesy of Betfred, but the 27-year-old has shown flashes of excellence this year.

He reached the fourth round of the World Championship and UK Open, along with reaching seven quarter-finals and a semi-final at the Players Championship events.

Doets is in the bottom half of the draw and could face Ryan Searle in the second round and Jermaine Wattimena in the third should he get through his opening match. Both are winnable ties and the deeper he goes, Doets could spring plenty of surprises.

Michael Smith may be in the process of trying to recapture past glories, but 80/1 odds certainly isn’t reflective of his performances at the Grand Slam.

An impressive victory over Nathan Aspinall opened his campaign, before he sealed a knockout spot with a win over Alex Spellman.

He was slightly fortunate to defeat Chris Dobey in the last 16, with both players missing so many match darts in the decider. But the way he came back from 5-2 down at one stage to eventually win the game deserves some credit.

This weekend represents another chance for the 2023 world champion to fine tune his game and don’t be surprised to see him go on a deep run in Minehead.

FIRST.com’s value pick - Players Championship Finals

Pick: Michael Smith (each way, 1/2 odds for finishing either 1st or 2nd) – 80/1 (Betfred)

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Odds correct at the time of writing.