The 2017 bwin Grand Slam of Darts took place at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall (November 11-19) as the sport's biggest names from both the PDC and BDO battled it out in the 11th staging of this unique event.
After a mixed season - by his uniquely high standards - MVG has won the last two big PDC televised events at the European Championship and World Series of Darts Finals while he topped Group A despite being pushed hard by rising star Rob Cross, who he again beat in the quarter-finals.
Sky Bet have Price Boosted every remaining players' odds so here's the latest betting...
- Michael van Gerwen - 8/11 (was 4/6)
- Gary Anderson - 100/30 (was 7/2)
- Phil Taylor - 11/2 (was 5/1)
- Peter Wright - 11/1 (was 9/1)
Regular odds in brackets
Grand Slam of Darts statistics
Tournament sponsor compiled pre-tournament statistics to help you with your bets;
- The Grand Slam has a highest average score of any ranked tournament (99.1), and also the highest proportion of players who record a three-figure average (43.8%)
- When it gets to crunch time in the tournament, the last 16 onwards, scores in Grand Slam games are closer than any other ranked tournament – with a gap of 4.32 between winning and losing score.
- Furthermore, the Grand Slam also has the highest percentage of checkouts of 100 or more (75%). This dwarfs the World Championship (68%) and UK Open (50%).
- When choosing a winner, look for players in Groups A and E. Those groups have provided all but one of the past winners, so good omens for Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright. Avoid Raymond van Barneveld, Phil Taylor and Daryl Gurney, as groups B and D have only produced one finalist in the tournaments history.
- If you don't win your group, forget winning the tournament. Only three finalists in the history of the Grand Slam didn't top their group.
Grand Slam of Darts: Prize money
- Winner £110,000
- Runner-Up £55,000
- Semi-Finalists £28,500
- Quarter-Finalists £16,000
- Second Round Losers £10,000
- Third in Group £5,000
- Fourth in Group £3,000
- Group Winner Bonus £2,500
- Total: £450,000
Grand Slam of Darts: Tournament format
Group Stage (Potentially complicated!!)
The 32 players are drawn into eight groups of four players during the round-robin stage, and they will play each other once. The opening games are decided by a draw, with the second set of matches seeing the two winners from the first games meeting each other, and the two losers also playing each other. The third set of matches will consist of the pairings which have not previously met.
Two points are awarded for a win and no points will be awarded for a loss. Each game is the best of nine legs.
The top two players in each group will progress to the knockout phase. Should there be a two-way points tie for first place in any group, then the player with the best leg difference will be deemed to have won the group. If both players have the same leg difference, then the player who won the group match between the two players will be deemed to have won the group.
Should there be three-way points tie for first place in any group, then leg difference will be the first deciding factor as to which players progress to the next stage. If there are clear leg differences between each of the three players, then those leg differences will determine the final place in the group. If one player has a superior leg difference to the other two players who have identical leg differences, then the player with superior leg difference will be deemed to have won the group.
In this instance, the two players who are tied for second and third places will play a "Nine-Dart Shoot-Out" following the completion of all group matches to determine the final order of the group, with the player having the highest aggregate score over nine darts being deemed to have finished second in the group.
Should a three-way points tie for first place in any group result in two players having identical superior leg differences to the third player, then those two players will progress to the next stage, with the winner of the group being deemed to be the player who won the group match between the two.
Should a three-way points tie for first place in any group result in all three players having identical leg differences, then all three players will contest a "Nine-Dart Shoot-Out" as detailed above.
In the event a "Nine-Dart Shoot-Out" finishes level between two or three players, those players who have tied on the most points will continue to throw three darts each in the same order until one player scores more points than the other player(s) with his three darts.
Should a three-way points tie for second place occur in any group, then the procedures above will be used to determine second, third and fourth placings.
Knockout stage (far more simple!)
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format.
There will be no tie-break rule employed in any match.
Grand Slam of Darts: Invited players and qualifiers
PDC
The following were invited in the following order up to a maximum of 16 players
- - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN
- - (Michael van Gerwen)
- 2017 Premier League champion - (Michael van Gerwen)
- 2017 World Matchplay champion – PHIL TAYLOR
- 2017 World Grand Prix champion – DARYL GURNEY
- 2016 World Youth champion - COREY CADBY
- - (Michael van Gerwen)
- 2017 UK Open champion - PETER WRIGHT
- 2017 European champion – (Michael van Gerwen)
- - (Michael van Gerwen)
- 2017 Champions League winner ��� MENSUR SULJOVIC
- 2017 World Series of Darts Finals champion – (Michael van Gerwen)
- 2017 World Cup winners (2 players with highest individual taking preference if only one spot available) – (Michael van Gerwen), RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD
- 2016/17 PDC World Championship runner-up - GARY ANDERSON
- 2016 Grand Slam runner-up - JAMES WADE
- 2017 Premier League runner-up - (Peter Wright)
- 2017 World Matchplay runner-up – (Peter Wright)
- 2017 World Grand Prix runner-up – SIMON WHITLOCK
- 2016 World Youth Championship runner-up - BERRY VAN PEER
- 2017 Masters runner-up - (Gary Anderson)
- 2017 UK Open runner-up - GERWYN PRICE
- 2017 European Championship runner-up – ROB CROSS
- 2016 Players Championship runner-up - DAVE CHISNALL
- 2017 Champions League runner-up – (Gary Anderson)
- 2017 World Series of Darts Finals runner-up – (Gary Anderson)
- 2017 World Cup runners-up (2 players with highest individual taking preference if only one spot available) – (Gerwyn Price), MARK WEBSTER
With the list above producing fewer than 16 players, an additional place was filled by MICHAEL SMITH, who was the only non-qualified .
PDC Tour Card Holders’ Qualifier
The following players booked their spots from a qualifying event in Wigan on Monday November 6...
James Wilson, Robbie Green, Joe Murnan, Alan Norris, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Darren Webster, Steve Lennon, Stephen Bunting
BDO Qualifiers
- 2017 Lakeside Champion - GLEN DURRANT
- 2017 Lakeside Championship runner-up - DANNY NOPPERT
- 2016 World Masters Champion - (Glen Durrant)
- 2017 BDO World Trophy Champion – PETER MACHIN
Plus top five players from BDO Rankings at September 30 2017:
- MARK McGEENEY
- JAMIE HUGHES
- SCOTT MITCHELL
- ROSS MONTGOMERY
- CAMERON MENZIES
Grand Slam of Darts: The History
The Grand Slam of Darts brings together the best players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the British Darts Organisation (BDO) in a unique event which is now in its 11th year and has always been staged at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
Phil Taylor won the first three finals against Andy Hamilton, Terry Jenkins and Scott Waites - averaging over 100 in each one - but he failed at the quarter-final stages to Steve Beaton in 2010.
That year, Waites bounced back from his 16-2 hammering at the hands of 12 months to become the first ever BDO player to win the event by coming from 8-0 down to defeat James Wade. No other BDO player has ever reached the final.
Taylor averaged over 109 in a 16-4 thrashing of Gary Anderson to reclaim the title in 2011 before Raymond van Barneveld edged a thrilling all-Dutch battle to beat Michael van Gerwen in 2012.
Two more titles for The Power followed in 2013 and 2014 to take his overall tally to six when he defeated Robert Thornton and Dave Chisnall but he would lose his first final in 2015 when Michael van Gerwen triumphed 16-13 in a high-quality showdown.
The Dutchman successfully defended his crown last year with a 16-8 victory over James Wade.
Grand Slam of Darts Finals
- 2007 - Phil Taylor 18-11 Andy Hamilton
- 2008 - Phil Taylor 18-9 Terry Jenkins
- 2009 - Phil Taylor 16-2 Scott Waites
- 2010 - Scott Waites 16-12 James Wade
- 2011 - Phil Taylor 16-4 Gary Anderson
- 2012 - Raymond van Barneveld 16-14 Michael van Gerwen
- 2013 - Phil Taylor 16-6 Robert Thornton
- 2014 - Phil Taylor 16-13 Dave Chisnall
- 2015 -
- 2016 -
Grand Slam of Darts Most Titles
- Phil Taylor - 6
- Michael van Gerwen - 2
- Scott Waites - 1
- Raymond van Barneveld - 1