PDC World Darts Championship

William Hill World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Venue	Alexandra Palace (2008–) Circus Tavern (1994–2007)
Location	London
Country	England
Established	1994
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Sets
Prize fund	£1,650,000 (2017) £1,800,000 (2018)
Month(s) Played	December/January
Current champion(s)
Michael van Gerwen

The PDC World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is one of the two World Professional Darts Championships held annually in the sport of darts. The other is the BDO World Darts Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO). The PDC championship begins in December, overlapping in January with the start of the BDO tournament. The highest profile of the PDC's tournaments, it is held at Alexandra Palace in London and is sponsored by bookmaker William Hill; winners receive the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the legendary darts commentator Sid Waddell, who died in 2012.

The PDC championship began in 1994 as the WDC World Darts Championship as one of the consequences of the split in darts, which saw the World Darts Council break away from the BDO. As a result of the settlement between the BDO and the WDC in 1997, the WDC became the PDC, and players are now free to choose which world championship to enter (but not both in the same year), as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria.

The current PDC champion is Michael van Gerwen. With 14 wins from 24 appearances, Phil Taylor has dominated the competition, last winning it in 2013. Other than Taylor, there have only been six other champions. The only other players to win it more than once are John Part (2003 & 2008), Adrian Lewis (2011 & 2012), Gary Anderson (2015 & 2016) and van Gerwen (2014 & 2017). The one-time winners are the inaugural champion Dennis Priestley and the Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld (2007).

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