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Darts has been around as a competitive sport for decades, but really began to gain prominence in the 1970s, when it became a favourite with armchair fanatics watching the World Championship, News of the World, and other major tournaments at home.
There was a cataclysmic change in 1993 when key players broke away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and their amateur circuit, and instead embraced professional life as founding members of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Let’s take a look at some of darts’ greatest players of the past five decades.
Early Pioneers
The first-ever darts world champion was Leighton Rees, who defeated John Lowe in the 1978 final.
It was a defeat that seemed to spur on Lowe, who became one of darts’ first true pioneers as a three-time world champion. He would enjoy some legendary tangles with the likes of Jocky Wilson and the iconic Eric Bristow, a five-time world champion and double News of the World winner.
Others, including Bob Anderson and the bling-heavy Bobby George, deserve to be known as early pioneers of darts, although by the mid-1990s they were usurped in the sport by two heavyweights that are rightfully lauded as being among the all-time greats to this day…
Best Darts Players of All Time
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor is surely the best darts player ever… in fact, he may be one of the greatest sportsmen ever too.
Create a list of 16-time world champions and you won’t have many names on there; Taylor will be though, winning titles in the BDO and the PDC – including 11 in the space of 12 years in the 1990s and into the new millennium.
Disrupting Taylor’s stint as the best darts player in the world was John Part, who ended The Power’s monopoly by winning the 2003 World Championship and confirming himself to be the best Canadian dart player ever.
Part won three world titles all in, so he thoroughly deserves his place in the Darts Hall of Fame and his status as the best North American dart player.
Another to emerge at this time was Raymond van Barneveld. On his shoulders alone, the sport became incredibly popular in the Netherlands – a fitting tribute to the five-time world champion, who played his part in the greatest game of all time against Taylor back in 2007.
Without RVB, there would be no MVG – Michael van Gerwen, who is also in the mix as the best dart player of all time. A three-time world champion with the scope to add more to his collection at the age of 34, the Dutchman was ranked as the number-one darts player on the planet between 2014-2021.
Factor in Bristow, and you have a pretty complete list of answers to the question, “Who is the best darts player ever?”
Best Contemporary Darts Players
Van Gerwen is still a contender for the crown of best dart player in the world, but he has been usurped by a number of young pretenders.
Luke Humphries, the 2024 world champion, has dominated the sport since the summer of 2023, winning three major titles (including the Grand Slam and World Grand Prix) and the famous World Championship final against the teenage tearaway Luke Littler.
Back in 2022, the title of the world’s best darts player could have been foisted upon any of Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, or Peter Wright – three former world champions, and all capable of throwing huge averages on the biggest TV stages.
Indeed, Wright holds the world record for the highest streamed average – 123.53 at the Players Championship 29 in 2019, while the record for a televised game is MVG’s 123.40 in the 2016 Premier League against Smith.
Years later, Smith threw the most 180s at both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, as evidence of his prowess, while another maximum man is Gary Anderson.
At the age of 53, the Flying Scotsman is still producing incredible performances and three-dart averages in the PDC, as well as reflecting on a career that yielded back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016.
Best Young Darts Players
Depending on your definition of ‘young’, it would be hard to overlook Humphries as being among the best young darts players – he has the world at his feet at the age of 28.
But they don’t come much better than Littler, the 16-year-old who reached the World Championship final on debut in 2024. He could dominate darts for years to come now that he has a full PDC tour card, and his fast-flowing style has already earned him a Premier League call-up.
A special word too for Josh Rock, who at the age of 22 already has a televised nine-darter to his name and a Players Championship title. Another celebrated 180 hitter, the Northern Irishman has climbed the rankings and is another who could become a Premier League regular with his rapid-fire pace.
Dart Playing Styles and Techniques
One of the most frustrating things about the best darts players is that they make a very difficult sport look easy!
Some can be described as ‘aimers’ – the likes of Taylor and Wright studiously line up their dart before propelling it towards the board.
Others have unerring accuracy without seemingly trying – that incredible natural talent that only a few are lucky enough to possess. Players like Smith and Humphries have the best dart throw; the pullback and release are as smooth as silk.
The best dart technique is one that is natural to the player and that enables them to feel comfortable under pressure – the repetition of the likes of Ross Smith and Dirk van Duijvenbode, two of the biggest 180 hitters in world darts, is created by their sublime technique.
Find Out the Latest Darts Betting Odds
There are new darts tournaments taking place every single month of the year, and you can make your predictions courtesy of BetVictor’s darts betting odds.
From the World Championship to the Grand Slam of Darts, you’ll find futures odds and lines for all of the key games on the circuit. Place your bets on who you think will win – but remember to do so responsibly. You can learn more about responsible gambling here.
So be sure to join BetVictor for all your darts bets – you can claim your welcome bonus today to get up and running.
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