Reigning World Champion Michael Smith lived to fight another day after coming within a set of defeat against Kevin Doets on the opening night of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship on Friday.
World number one Smith recovered from 2-1 down in sets to deny Dutch underdog Doets - swerving what might have been an incredible result for the bookmakers.
Title sponsors Paddy Power have revealed that while Luke Humphries (3/1) remains the outright favourite, should Smith (9/1) retain his World Championship crown, it would be carnage for the Irish betting firm.
Punters must have seen their Christmas bonus flash before their eyes last night when Smith appeared poised to falter at the first hurdle. Yet ultimately, he and his huge troop of backers survived.
“I think it’s pretty obvious we’ve spent a few quid on our sponsorship of the first ever Paddy Power World Darts Championship, but if Michael Smith wins, we might have to cut back significantly on the number of foam fingers and green wigs next year!" spokesperson Rachael Kane said.
“Michael Smith’s supporters might have survived a scare, but their fear will pale in comparison to the terror the Paddy Power trading department will be feeling come finals night on January 3rd if ‘Bully Boy’ is a contender.”
Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson begins his campaign on Saturday evening, and the Scot is another player the bookies will be wary of in this year's extravaganza.
Should Smith retain the coveted title, he will join Anderson among the handful of elite players to secure back-to-back World Championship successes.
Luke Humphries leads the betting as the outright favourite to win the tournament – with 30% of bets placed on him to win the sport's biggest prize for the first time in his career.
World number three Humphries is attracting the highest volume in terms of stakes too, with his odds of 3/1 at the top of the market.
Three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen plays second fiddle at odds of 7/2, followed by 2021 winner Gerwyn Price at 11/2.
Meanwhile, current title holder Smith is now a 9/1 shot to retain ownership of the world number one spot, followed by Anderson at 14/1.
As part of their sponsorship, Paddy Power and the PDC announced Prostate Cancer UK as their official charity partners for this year's World Darts Championship.
Paddy Power have pledged to donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK every time a 180 is scored throughout the 2023/24 tournament, as part of THE BIG 180 campaign.
The opening night saw a total of 32 180’s scored at Alexandra Palace, with Doets topping the leaderboard for the Ballon d’Art trophy having landed 14 maximums across his two matches.
For a live and up-to-date tally on how much cash Paddy Power is on the hook for as part of THE BIG 180 campaign, check out the following link: https://news.paddypower.com/darts/2023/12/16/paddy-power-world-darts-championship-2024-the-big-180-campaign-ballon-dart-totaliser/
For the latest and most up-to-date odds on the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, click on the following link: https://www.paddypower.com/darts/pdc-world-championship?tab=outrights