PDC Players Championship 33 & 34 2026 Preview: Minehead Race, Favorites and Picks
Leicester hosts the final two PDC floor events of 2026. Who is on the Minehead bubble, who is in form, and our outright picks.
The PDC ProTour regular season ends this week. Players Championship 33 and 34 are on Wednesday, November 4, and Thursday, November 5, at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. They are the last two floor events of 2026, and they decide the final places at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead, which only the top 64 on the Players Championship Order of Merit get into.
That cut line has some big names on the wrong side of it. With the Grand Slam of Darts starting in Wolverhampton on November 14, this double-header is also the last competitive tune-up for most of the field.
Format
Each Players Championship event is a one-day, 128-player knockout. Early rounds through the quarterfinals are best of 11 legs (first to six), the semifinals are first to seven, and the final is first to eight. The winner takes £15,000, the runner-up £10,000, semifinalists £6,500 and quarterfinalists £4,000, all counting toward the Order of Merit. Even reaching the last 64 is worth £1,250, which matters this week because the bubble is so tight.
Boards run from early afternoon UK time, and the main boards stream on PDCTV.
The Minehead bubble
After PC32, Wesley Plaisier held 64th place on £31,750. Here is where the notable names sit around that line:
- Just inside: Michael Smith (56th, £35,750), Gerwyn Price (58th, £34,000), Ritchie Edhouse (60th), Mike De Decker (61st), and Bradley Brooks and David Sharp (tied at £32,500).
- Just outside: Henry Coates (65th, £500 short), Madars Razma (66th) and Gary Anderson (68th, £2,000 short).
- Needing a big run: Nathan Aspinall (78th, £5,250 short), Josh Rock (80th, £5,750 short) and Raymond van Barneveld (81st, £6,000 short). Peter Wright, 86th, likely needs at least a final.
Keep in mind the cut line will rise as players around it pick up prize money, so the gaps above are a minimum, not the real target. Aspinall and Rock likely need at least one semifinal. For Price and De Decker, two early exits could be enough to drop them out.
One name you will not see: Luke Littler. The defending Players Championship Finals champion is skipping both events and has played only two floor events this year, so he will not be in Minehead. Nearly every other top player is entered, including Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Chris Dobey, Jonny Clayton and the players on the bubble.
Recent form
Chris Dobey is the hottest player on the floor. He won PC32 in Den Bosch last Thursday, beating Tommy Morris 8-4 in the final for his third ranking title of 2026. He averaged just over 103 across seven matches, including 111 against Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarterfinals.
The day before, 21-year-old Charlie Manby won PC31 for his first senior ranking title, beating Maik Kuivenhoven 8-2 in the final and Beau Greaves 7-5 in the semis. He averaged 112 in his fourth-round win.
The week before that, Ross Smith won the European Championship in Dortmund, beating Martin Schindler 11-8 in the final and Gerwyn Price 11-7 in the semis. Ratajski knocked out Littler in the quarterfinals. Smith already has two Players Championship wins this year, so he is in form on both the stage and the floor.
The player of the season on the floor has been Wessel Nijman. He has won six Players Championship titles in 2026 and led the Order of Merit comfortably heading into the last stretch. Luke Humphries has three floor wins this year, and Gian van Veen, Cameron Menzies and Luke Woodhouse have all been regulars late in these events.
The flip side is Michael van Gerwen, whose floor results have been patchy lately. He lost to Kevin Doets in the last 16 of PC31 and to Morris at PC32.
What to watch
Bubble pressure changes how players throw. Anderson has been close to the line all season, and he is the kind of player who can string four wins together on any given day. Aspinall went out in the first round of PC31, and both he and Rock are running out of room. Price has been playing well on stage, as his European Championship semifinal shows, and he only needs a couple of wins to stay in.
The draw on a 128-player floor event is a lottery, and big favorites go out in the first round all the time. With best-of-11 matches, any two players separated by a few points of average are close to a coin flip. When betting outrights, lean on players who are scoring well right now rather than on reputation.
Our picks
- Chris Dobey to win PC33 or PC34. Three averages over 108 in a single day last week is elite floor form. He is our top outright choice for either event.
- Wessel Nijman as the value outright. Six titles this year make him the most proven floor player in the field, and his price may be longer than it should be with Humphries and Van Gerwen entered.
- Ross Smith each-way. He is coming off a major title and has floor wins this season. A semifinal finish is a realistic target.
- Gerwyn Price to qualify for Minehead. He needs only modest prize money and his stage form is good. We expect him to stay in the top 64.
- Gary Anderson to make the cut is our lean among the players outside the line. He is only £2,000 short, the smallest gap of the big names, and one solid run should be enough. We would pass on Aspinall, Rock and Van Barneveld, who all need deep runs.
- Fade Michael van Gerwen in outright markets. His recent floor results do not justify a short price.
Head-to-head and 180s props for floor events are limited, so focus on outrights and finish-position markets. Once the Grand Slam field is settled, check our today page for match-by-match previews.
Picks are for information and entertainment only and are not guaranteed. 21+ (18+ where permitted). If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Sources: Dartsnews: Who could miss Minehead? · Dartsnews: Players Championship 33 & 34 entries · Sky Sports: Players Championship 32 report · Sky Sports: European Championship final report · Wikipedia: 2026 PDC Players Championship series
Predictions are ChalkEdge's opinion from the data available when this was written, not a guarantee. Lines and lineups change: check the current line before you play.