WELCOME to the Professional Darts Corporation's 2016 Rules.
Section 4 below refers to the ProTour.
4.1 Entry to all Players Championship events staged in the UK is open only to Tour Card holders.
Tour Cards for 2016 will be awarded to the following players:
Top 63 x eligible PDPA Members from the PDC Order of Merit Top 64 (having competed in at least 10 events which are counted on the PDC Order of Merit during the preceding two years) following the completion of the 2015/16 World Championship.
30 x Tour Card holders from 2015 Q School who are not ranked in the Top 64 of the Order of Merit
2 x top ranked players not otherwise qualified for a Tour Card from the 2015 Challenge Tour Order of Merit
2 x top ranked players not otherwise qualified for a Tour Card from the 2015 Development Tour Order of Merit
1x top ranked player from 2015 Scandinavian Darts Corporation Order of Merit
Remaining 30 players to complete the 128 to come from 2015 Q School
In the event that any players from the above list choose not to take up their Tour Card or are deemed ineligible due to DRA sanction by a deadline determined by the PDC, extra places will be allocated to players from the Q School.
The Top 64 from the Order of Merit will receive a one-year Tour Card. The remaining qualifiers will receive a two-year Tour Card as their Order of Merit total will revert to £0 from January 4 2016 whereas the Top 64 retain their money won.
Players who lose their Tour Card and then regain it immediately at the next Q School will be awarded a two-year Tour Card with their prize money totals reverting to £0 from the day their Tour Card was regained.
If a player who qualifies for a Tour Card through being in the top two of the 2015 Challenge or Development Tour Order of Merit is also in the Top 64 of the Order of Merit then he will receive a one-year Tour Card due to his Order of Merit position. His money from the previous year will remain valid and his Tour Card place will pass to the next highest ranked unqualified player from the 2015 Challenge or Development Tour Order of Merit.
4.2 Entry to UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events is open to all Full and Associate PDPA members.
4.3 All Players Championship events will have a 128-player draw. In instances where the number of Full Members entering a Players Championship event does not reach 128, Associate Members shall be invited to enter, first in order of Q School Merit Table position and then, following an appointed deadline, on a first-come-first-served basis to make the total number of entries up to 128.
In the event that this total still does not reach 128, byes will be awarded in seed order. In the event that this total still does not reach 96, all 32 seeds will receive a bye and additional byes will be awarded on a random basis.
For example, if there is one bye, it will go to seed one; if there are two byes they will go to seeds one and two etc.
4.4 European Tour events are also open to non-PDPA members who are not from the UK who must pay a Day Member supplement in addition to the entry fee. In instances where a player originally from the UK attempts to enter a non-UK event (or World Championship qualifier) as a non-PDPA member, they must prove residency or citizenship in the country for a period of at least two consecutive years immediately prior to the date of the relevant tournament.
4.5 European Tour events will be played with a 48 player main draw consisting of the top 16 ranked entered players from the ProTour Order of Merit and 32 qualifiers.
The top 16 ranked entered players from the ProTour Order of Merit will be exempted in to the last 32 where they will play the 16 winners from the matches involving the 32 qualifiers.
The last 48 round shall be drawn at random with no seedings or pots.
The 32 qualifiers shall come from three qualifying tournaments: one in the UK which will produce 20 players, one in mainland Europe which shall produce eight players and one in the Host Nation which shall produce four players. Players from the Host Nation may only enter the Host Nation qualifier, not the mainland Europe qualifier and vice versa. All qualifiers shall be seeded based on the ProTour Order of Merit at the cut-off date with the same number of seeded players as places available in all tournaments, or as many as the Order of Merit will allow if not enough entered players are ranked.
In the event of a player withdrawing from a European Tour event due to personal or disciplinary reasons before the cut-off date for the event, the next available non-qualified player from the ProTour Order of Merit will be invited to participate in the event. In this instance, the players ranked below the unavailable player will all move up one place in the seedings, where appropriate.
In the event of one or more players withdrawing from a European Tour event due to personal or disciplinary reasons after the cut-off date for the event, extra places shall be awarded to the Host Nation qualifier event. In this instance, the players ranked below the unavailable player will all move up one place in the seedings, where appropriate unless the draw has already taken place, in which case the replacement player shall be entered in to the seed position in the draw but as an unseeded player.
The UK-based qualifier events are open to all Full and Associate PDPA Members from the UK and Ireland.
The mainland Europe and Host Nation-based qualifying tournaments are open to all Full, Associate and Day Members from mainland Europe or the Host Nation.
PDPA members who are not from the host nation, the UK or Europe may participate in the UK qualifier. Non-PDPA members who are not from the host nation, the UK or Europe may participate in the European qualifier on payment of a Day Membership supplement along with their entry fee.
4.6 The entry fee for all ProTour events, including UK qualifiers for European Tour events, is £100 for Tour Card holders, Associate Members and other Full Members.
European Tour events can be entered by non-UK players who are not PDPA members for a fee of €125 (includes a Day Membership supplement).
The PDC may, at its discretion, adjust non-member entry fees for tournaments based on currency fluctuations or if tournaments are staged in territories deemed to be ‘developing territories’.
4.7 The closing date for Tour Card holders to enter for the main draw of Players Championship events will be 1400 UK time on the Tuesday the week before each tournament is due to be played (for the avoidance of doubt, this is 11 days before a Saturday event).
The closing date for Associate Members to fill any remaining spaces in the last 128 of an event will be 1400 on the Friday the week before each tournament is due to be played (for the avoidance of doubt, this is eight days before a Saturday event).
Tour Card holders who miss their appointed deadline but enter in the interim period before the Associate Member deadline passes will have their entries voided and may lose their entry fee.
Any variation from this will be advertised on pdc.tv. The PDC reserves the right to alter these times in the event of logistical issues. The list of entries will be published on pdc.tv before each tournament.
4.8 All PDPA members must enter through the PDC’s online entry system. All non-PDPA members must enter through the PDC’s local organiser with entry not accepted until payment is made by the appointed deadline.
4.9 Entry in to events, whether as a Full, Associate or Day Member of the PDPA constitutes acceptance of all PDC, PDPA and DRA rules.
4.10 All ProTour main draw matches will be best of 11 legs throughout.
4.11 All Players Championship and UK Open qualifying tournaments will start at 1200 local time, with registration closing at 1100. Any player not registered by 1100 will be omitted from the draw without exception.
Any variation from this will be advertised on pdc.tv.
4.12 Draws for Players Championship and UK Open events will be conducted following the closure of registration, with seedings adjusted accordingly in the event of an entered player who was due to be seeded not registering.
Draws for European Tour events will be conducted either following the UK qualifier or the completion of the field for the last 48 at the PDC’s discretion and with the intention of ensuring players have the most possible time to plan their travel arrangements for the event. European Tour schedules will be announced on pdc.tv as soon as possible following the completion of the draw.
4.13 All ProTour events will progress in a bracket format throughout with no re-draw once the tournament is underway.
4.14 Players who wish to withdraw from a tournament they have entered must do so in writing to the PDC prior to the closing date if they wish to apply for a refund of their entry fee, which will only be considered with the support of a doctor’s certificate (not self-certified) or in the event of a serious family issue with supporting evidence.
Players who enter but decide not to travel, or wish to otherwise withdraw from an event, are requested to inform the PDC as a courtesy.
Players who enter and then subsequently withdraw from a ProTour or Premier event after the cut-off date will receive standardised fines from the DRA which will increase with each offence and may result in a suspension.
Where no other player is disadvantaged by the withdrawal (such as a UK Open qualifier without a cap on entries or an event where the relevant player’s place in the draw can be filled without any implications on any other player or the tournament) a sanction may not be imposed at the discretion of the DRA.
For clarity, these fines will be as follows for 2016:
First offence:£250
Second offence: £500
Third offence: £1000
Fourth offence: DRA referral
Following a 12 month consecutive period without offence, a player’s ‘slate shall be wiped clean’ in relation to these offences.
4.15 All games are 501 up, straight start and finishing on a double. The player on the left of the draw will throw first for the bull to determine who throws first in the first leg. The throw will then be reversed and alternate thereafter. All darts will be removed before each player throws.
Where stage matches are being played at events, the bull up shall be conducted in the practice room at a time to be advised to players, but not less than 30 minutes before the expected start time of their match.
4.16 The PDC/PDPA will use their best endeavours to supply a marker at ProTour events but players must assume that marking will be their own responsibility.
Each ProTour event will operate on a “loser marks” basis and it is a condition of participation that the losing player of each match marks the following game, if a marker has not been provided, as directed by Tournament Officials. In genuine cases of inability to mark, a player may arrange for someone else to mark the next match on their behalf. It is the player’s responsibility to ensure that someone replaces them and that this person can mark to a competent standard and is dressed as per the DRA rules.
If a player arranges someone to mark on their behalf, the Player must notify the Board Official or Tournament Director giving the identity of the person with whom they have made the arrangement.
In either case, the marker must be in place immediately following the completion of the previous game.
A £5 supplement will be added to all Players Championship entry fees to cover expense payments to ‘volunteer’ markers.
No supplement will be charged for UK Open qualifiers unless it can be guaranteed that sufficient markers will be supplied to cover all boards.
Where players are required to mark themselves, the first game on each board will be marked by the last player listed on the schedule of matches for that board.
4.17 Players may be asked by Tournament Officials to move from the board to which they were originally allocated to another board. These and other reasonable requests from Tournament Officials must be adhered to immediately to help the smooth running of the tournament.
4.18 Players who are timed out, fail to complete or who otherwise miss their scheduled match shall not be entitled to receive the prize money eligible to them for participating in that round or have it added to their applicable Order of Merit totals.
4.19 If a player intends competing in any ProTour or Premier event despite suffering from illness or injury, he must report this to the Tournament Director in advance. Failure to do this may result in a DRA referral.