The Professional Darts Corporation has finalised the draw for the 2026 Ladbrokes UK Open, which begins on Friday at Butlin’s Resort in Minehead with a 160-player field and a record prize fund of £750,000, up from £600,000 last year.
Defending champion Luke Littler, who beat James Wade 11–2 in last year’s final, enters as the number one seed. The 19-year-old enters the tournament after winning the 2026 PDC World Championship and the World Masters after claiming the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals late in 2025. He carries a rolling 12-month average of 100.96.
Field and format
The tournament, often called the “FA Cup of darts” for its open draw format, features 128 Tour Card holders, 16 amateur qualifiers, and 16 players from the Development and Challenge Tours. Entry is staggered by ranking: players ranked 1–32 on the Order of Merit as of February 26 receive byes to the fourth round, while those ranked 33–64 enter at the third round.
Matches in the first three rounds are best of 11 legs, increasing to best of 19 from the fourth round through the quarter-finals. The semi-finals and final are best of 21. Early rounds are played across eight boards, with the quarter-finals onwards on the main stage.
The winner takes home £120,000, with £60,000 for the runner-up and £35,000 for each semi-finalist.
Top seeds and form
Luke Humphries enters as the second seed, looking to close the gap on Littler at the top of the rankings. Humphries has reached four major finals since the 2025 Premier League but lost three of them to Littler. “He’s definitely a league above everyone,” Humphries said of Littler.
Still, Humphries has been trending upward. He has narrowed the average gap between himself and Littler from four points to 1.5, and he wins over 66% of legs against fellow Tour Card holders.
Gian van Veen, the 23-year-old Dutchman who won the 2025 European Championship and reached the World Championship final, is seeded third. He ranks first on the tour for checkout percentage. Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Gary Anderson, James Wade and Josh Rock round out the top nine seeds.
Several of those names arrive with question marks. Rock’s average has dipped to 96.68, Clayton has slipped to 54th on doubles, and both Van Gerwen and Bunting saw their averages drop by more than two points after early exits at the World Masters.
Withdrawals
Viktor Tingström and Danny van Trijp have both withdrawn for personal reasons, with their respective opponents receiving byes in the opening rounds.
Play begins on Friday morning across the multi-board setup at Butlin’s, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening.
Jack Shaw’s Predictions
I personally see Luke Littler being hard to beat on the big stages and after his Premier League win in Cardiff he will have the fire to continue. He is 5/2 with most bookies. In a field this big, is not the value bet, but he can easily go all the way.
For value, with the form of Johnny Clayton in the Premier League, I would be backing him each way at 25/1 and Beau Greaves each way at 100/1.
