Winmau World Masters Darts Day 4 Picks 2026 (Sunday 1st February)

Five of the eight players left standing at the World Masters will be playing in the Premier League next week, but there is no doubt that James Wade and Danny Noppert are playing with something to prove.

The latter has beaten a Premier League participant and both Noppert and Wade can feel pretty hard done by after being overlooked by the PDC.

Danny Noppert is outwardly showing less irritation about missing out on one of the tournaments that will get plenty of eyes on the product, but James Ward has been very critical with the decision making process that saw him left out.

Winning the Masters would be the absolute best way to show they belong and both players have tough Quarter Final matches to negotiate.

You still have to see Luke Littler has the favourite, but it is Luke Humphries who hit the Nine Darter and the defending Champion looks very confident.

The two Lukes continue to make most of the headlines, but the other six players beginning Sunday's play will all be very confident in their own chances of securing the opening World Ranking title.

Double- Gerwyn Price & Luke Humpries to win: Quarter Final matches will be played in the Day Session at the World Masters and all four look more competitive than the oddsmakers think.

It definitely feels like Luke Littler and Gian van Veen are very short against dangerous opponents in Josh Rock and James Wade.

Gerwyn Price and Luke Humphries are slightly bigger priced favourites, but they may do enough to get past Chris Dobey and Danny Noppert respectively.

Over the last couple of Rounds, Humphries has played with a point to prove with back to back averages of above 100, while also hitting the Nine Darter.

There is no doubting that Noppert can give Luke Humphries something to think about and has the scoring to keep up with the former World Champion, but it is Humphries who has tended to find a way through.

You do also have to respect how well Chris Dobey has played in the tournament so far, but Gerwyn Price has been operating at a high level for months and showed plenty of will and desire to beat his mate Jonny Clayton in the Second Round.

This one could go all the way, but Price may just have the consistency to come through the pressurised moments.

MY PICKS: Gerwyn Price & Luke Humpries to Win @ 2.20 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

World Masters Update: 4-6, - 0.41 Units (10 Units Staked, - 4.10% Yield)

Winmau World Masters Darts Day 3 Picks 2026 (Saturday 31st January)

If Mike de Dekker had aimed his dart a quarter of an inch to the right, Luke Littler would have been dumped out of the World Masters and the rest of the draw would have really felt a big opportunity had opened up to win the opening Ranking tournament of the 2026 season.

There is an intimidation factor around the World Number 1 for many, while you always feel the longer formats are so much tougher to get the better of Luke Littler.

Most of the big names have made it through to the Second Round and that means there will be plenty of players who will have the belief that they can win the title over the next couple of days. Of course Luke Littler will remain a big favourite until he is out of the event, but we are now moving into the best of seven Set format, although the best of three Legs to win a set means there are chances for upsets with a five or ten minute barrage.

The Second Round is going to be split over two Sessions before the Quarter Final matches are played on Sunday afternoon.

From there, the Semi Final and Final will be scheduled for the Sunday evening as the first Ranking title is handed out and the top eight names will then begin Premier League action next Thursday.

Double- Chris Dobey & Gary Anderson to win: The opening two Second Round matches should see both favourites through after strong performances in the First Round.

Chris Dobey played really well to beat Jermaine Wattimena and averaged just shy of 100.

He is not playing in the Premier League this season, which may not be a bad thing for Dobey, and he should have too much for Damon Heta.

The Australian ended the last calendar year in poor form and did not look himself at the World Championships last month. Getting the better of Michael van Gerwen will give Heta a lot of confidence, but the former did not have his best match and Damo is going to have be a lot better to move into the Quarter Final.

Doubling Chris Dobey with Gary Anderson is the call, even if the latter may still be seething about influencers as he was after his First Round win.

The performance on the oche was nothing to be angry about and Anderson had the better of James Wade when they met on the Tour last season.

You never want to dismiss someone who can dig in like Wade and the First Round performance from a player looking to prove the PDC wrong for leaving him out of the Premier League was very good. Again, James Wade will be under more pressure from the scoring power that Gary Anderson can put together and the former two-time World Champion can edge through.

Gerwyn Price to Win & Over 3.5 180s: Jonny Clayton is the Welsh Number 1 and the Runner Up from twelve months ago at the World Masters, but Gerwyn Price has gotten the better of his mate on the Tour over the last twelve months.

Both produced some very strong darts in the opening Round and there will be no doubt that another strong performance will be needed to move into the Sunday Quarter Final.

Eight straight wins have been produced by Gerwyn Price in this rivalry and he threw four maximums in his First Round win.

Both can be true again in this good looking Second Round match.

Danny Noppert to Win & Over 3.5 180s: He 'only' needed three maximums during the win over Daryl Gurney in the First Round, but Danny Noppert is going to have to win at least a couple more Legs in this and can move that total up to at least four.

He will need them to fend off Stephen Bunting for a second year in a row at the World Masters having beaten him 4-3 in the Quarter Finals twelve months ago.

That was a high quality match and both will be happy enough with the First Round wins on Friday.

Out of the two players, Danny Noppert will perhaps be feeling slightly better with his level and he has been the more consistent player, which can make the difference.

The heavy scoring that can be produced by Stephen Bunting makes him dangerous, but it is the Dutchman who has gotten the better of the recent TV meetings and he can do that again.

Luke Littler to Win & Over 5.5 180s: The power scoring of Ross Smith has to be respected and that has allowed him to push Luke Littler in previous meetings, while the First Round win and the manner he produced it will have given Smith a boost.

He was unexpectedly beaten very early at the World Championships, but Ross Smith is still inside the top 20 of the World Rankings and will be looking for a fast start to 2026.

Of course this is a huge challenge for anyone and Luke Littler was still hitting plenty of maximums even as he looked to be heading out of the tournament on Friday.

There is never really much doubt in his ability to pound the treble 20 and Littler should be able to get up to at least six in this match, which should have at least 10-12 Legs played.

He will need to find those big scores to keep the pressure on a heavy scorer in Ross Smith and Luke Littler should be able to come through in six sets.

MY PICKS: Chris Dobey & Gary Anderson to Win @ 2.25 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Gerwyn Price to Win & Over 3.5 180s @ 2.25 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Danny Noppert to Win & Over 3.5 180s @ 2.50 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Luke Littler to Win & Over 5.5 180s @ 1.95 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

World Masters Update: 2-4, - 0.61 Units (6 Units Staked, - 10.17% Yield)

Winmau World Masters Darts Day 2 Picks 2026 (Friday 30th January)

Day 1 proved to be pretty difficult for the Darts selections, but that was partly down to a slight bit of misfortune.

I mean it is virtually impossible for someone to throw only five scores of 140 or more and four of those were the maximum, but that is what happened with Ryan Joyce to prevent the Double from coming in.

Jermaine Wattimena was not at the races, while Michael van Gerwen also looked out of sorts as he missed the maximum count by a single score.

Not to worry, it is a long season and you have to go through these peaks and troughs and Day 2 is an opportunity to bounce back.

The First Round looks competitive and the short format in the opening Round means it is very dangerous for all of the players with the matches capable of running away from someone very quickly.

Double- Danny Noppert-Daryl Gurner over 4.5 180s & Luke Littler most 180s: Both of the higher Seeded players are amongst the biggest maximum hitters on the Tour and are favoured to move through to the Second Round.

Danny Noppert was disappointing in his performances at the invitational tournaments earlier this month, and Daryl Gurney is more than capable of upsetting him having beaten him twice last year.

The Northern Irishman has perhaps struggled to reach his consistent best level for a while, but he is more than capable of contributing to this maximum hitting total.

And with likely four sets needed, which means at least eight Legs, you do have to feel that both can put enough big scores together to surpass this number.

Luke Littler is Luke Littler and has had plenty of success against Mike de Dekker over the last couple of years- he has tended to win the maximum count in those matches too and can follow suit as he moves through to the Second Round.

Jeffrey de Graaf v Stephen Bunting: Anyone who has been following the Tour ove the last month should be well aware of the standard that Jeffrey de Graaf has been producing.

He Qualified impressively, which will give him confidence, and the World Number 51 is putting some very good averages on the board.

Two years ago Stephen Bunting won the Masters, but that was in the old format and he has not been playing at a consistent level over the last three months.

In the two invitational events earlier this month, Bunting was able to beat those he should, but failed to make it beyond the Quarter Final with both events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia ending in defeats to Michael van Gerwen.

He averaged just 81 in the second of those losses, while Jeffrey de Graaf beat Stephen Bunting in a Players Championship Final in the sole meeting in 2025. That ended 8-7 in favour of the underdog, but this is likely to be close and de Graaf is being underestimated.

Both Josh Rock & Connor Scutt over 2.5 180s and 1+ 100 checkout: These two players had a drama filled match at the Grand Slam which was narrowly won by Josh Rock and the Northern Irishman won two floor matches against Connor Scutt too in 2025.

Those two floor events were of very high quality and Scutt has come through the Qualifiers here with real confidence.

His maximum hitting was on point in the last three Rounds of Qualifying and Connor Scutt is a confident player.

Josh Rock will be making his Premier League debut next week, but this is the first competitive action since a disappointing ending to the World Championship. Last year was a big one for him all the same and he is still one of the top maximum hitters on the Tour.

This match could go pretty long with the capabilities of both and finishing off a ton plus checkout is likely going to provide some of the turning points- both are capable and there should be one between them.

MY PICKS: Danny Noppert-Daryl Gurney Over 4.5 180s & Luke Littler Most 180s @ 2.69 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Jeffrey de Graaf @ 3.25 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Josh Rock & Connor Scutt Over 2.5 180s Each and 1+ 100 Checkouts @ 2.70 Bet365 (1 Unit)

World Masters Update: 0-3, - 3 Units (3 Units Staked, - 100% Yield)

Winmau World Masters Darts Day 1 Picks 2026 (Thursday 29th January)

The PDC Tour begins with a couple of invitational events taking place in the Middle East, but things really get going in 2026 when the Winmau World Masters is played at the end of January.

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)