The first World Ranking tournament of the season brings together some of the very best players on the Tour and the return to the old format for the first time in 2025 has given the event a boost.
It is another Set play event, but best of three Legs rather than the best of five format that is used at the World Championship.
Opening Rounds are played in best of five Set format, but the first to two Legs to win a set does remove some of the room for error that can be at play in the World Championships.
Luke Humphries is the defending Champion, but the favourite for most events these days is the dominant Luke Littler.
His tournament was ended in a high quality match against Jonny Clayton twelve months ago, but it would take a brave person to back against Littler- however, the shorter format to win a Set does give opponents an opportunity, although you have to imagine there is a huge amount of motivation in the Luke Littler camp to win one of the very few Ranking events that he is yet to pick up.
The draw looks like it is a decent one for Luke Littler to get on a run and make the short odds on him winning the event payout- Josh Rock is a potential danger in the Quarter Final, but it does feel like Littler can build his momentum into Sunday when he will be much harder to beat as there is an increase in the number of Sets needed to progress.
We should see Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen having strong runs in the bottom half of the draw, while players like Gary Anderson, Gerwyn Price and, in particular, Michael van Gerwen will also be looking for big impacts.
Michal van Gerwen had two very solid runs at the two tournaments played in the middle of January with one Title won and the other ending in a Runner Up conclusion and the former World Number 1 looks highly motivated to remind the watching public of his capabilities.
The First Round of the World Masters is played across two evenings before the Second Round takes place over two Sessions on Saturday.
Sunday is a much a stamina test as anything else with the tournament concluded over the course of several hours, which is where the younger players seem to have an edge.
We should be in for a fun four days in Milton Keynes and then we have the beginning of the Premier League next week.
Those will be the focus for the Darts Picks through much of February, although there is also the first European Tour event to be played in Poland.
Jermaine Wattimena v Chris Dobey: Last year Chris Dobey was preparing for the Premier League, which meant being involved in some of the early invitational events played in January.
This time around he has had a bit of time off after the disappointing early exit at the World Championships.
He faces Jermaine Wattimena in the First Round of the Winmau World Masters and this is a really tough looking match on paper and it is something of a surprise that Dobey has been set as the favourite.
2025 was a really big year for Jermaine Wattimena and he has moved into the top 20 of the World Rankings, while feeling there is even more to come. His performance in losing to Gary Anderson at the World Championships was pretty strong and the overall season was one that saw Wattimena playing with a lot more confidence.
He has gotten the better of Chris Dobey in each of the last two matches against one another and the Dutchman looks a decent underdog to get behind to open this tournament.
Michael van Gerwen over 2.5 180s v Damon Heta: A poor end to the season carried over into the World Championships as far as Damon Heta was concerned and he will be hoping the break from the Tour has given him a chance to reset.
The Australian is a very good player on his day, but he will need to be if he is goign to upset Michael van Gerwen in the First Round.
In recent years Damon Heta has beaten the former World Number 1 in big events like the UK Open and Grand Slam, while the sole meeting in 2025 ended in a last Leg win for Michael van Gerwen.
However, the latter looked really confident in the two invitational events played in January and van Gerwen will have been very happy with a Title and then a run to another Final. He has admitted that last year was tough personally, which affected professional performances, but Michael van Gerwen looks more settled going into 2026.
This is a match that could need at least nine or ten Legs to be completed and van Gerwen was finding the treble bed pretty well in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He should have enough opportunities to hit at least three 180s in this one and the expectation is that Michael van Gerwen will find a way to move through 3-1 in Sets.
Double- Gian van Veen Win and Most 180s & Gerwyn Price Over 2.5 180s: A number of the Qualifiers are going to be ready to compete having come through the Preliminary Rounds and James Hurrell should give Gerwyn Price something to think about.
However, the Ice Man is playing pretty well and he should be given enough time to reach at least three maximums.
Putting that together with Gian van Veen outscoring and ultimately beating Ryan Joyce looks the play.
The World Number 3 is progressing and is expected to move past Luke Humphries in the Rankings in the weeks ahead.
He tends to be a much bigger 180 hitter than Ryan Joyce, while Relentless may not be afforded the time to get down to the Doubles that some offer him with missed opportunities on the outer ring.
Gian van Veen is one of the stronger finishers out there and the expectation is that he has too much for Ryan Joyce, which should play up on the stats.
MY PICKS: Jermaine Wattimena @ 2.10 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Michael van Gerwen Over 2.5 180s @ 1.72 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Gian van Veen to Win and Most 180s & Gerwyn Price Over 2.5 180s @ 2.71 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
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