EIGHT of the world's top ten players will compete in Group One of 2009 Championship League Darts on Tuesday September 15.
Championship League Darts is a unique event, streamed solely on the internet via a series of bookmakers' websites and offering prize money per leg won for competing players - with over £200,000 available throughout the course of the tournament.
The tournament is played across nine days, with eight days featuring an eight-player group playing off in a league format before the top four contest the semi-finals and final, with the champion progressing to the Winners' Group.
This year, league games will be the best of 11 legs, with no draw, while the semi-finals and final will also be the best of 11 legs.
The eventual champion and runner-up will also receive an invitation to the PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts in November.
Defending champion Phil Taylor, who defeated Mervyn King in the final of last year's inaugural event, will head the list of competitors for the first of nine days of action.
Both Taylor and King are joined by James Wade, Championship League Darts debutant John Part, Ronnie Baxter, Adrian Lewis, Colin Lloyd and Alan Tabern in Group One.
That day's champion progresses to the Winners' Group, while the bottom two players from the league table are eliminated from the event.
Mark Walsh and Andy Hamilton, who were both group winners in the 2008 Championship League Darts, will enter for Group Two, alongside in-form Dennis Priestley, who has won two events in the past fortnight.
Two other 2008 group winners, Colin Osborne and Vincent van der Voort, enter in Group Three with another debutant, Scotland's Robert Thornton.
World number five Terry Jenkins has declared himself unavailable for the opening three days but enters in Group Four, while Raymond van Barneveld has opted not to compete in the event.
The four players involved in the Emperors Palace South African Masters, Taylor, Wade, Part and King, would be unable to compete in Group Six, should they have not qualified for the Winners' Group or been eliminated by the end of Group Five.
In the event of this happening, the player(s) would be re-assigned to another group based on their ranking, and other players would be re-assigned to other groups accordingly.
Details of the bookmakers' websites where the 2009 Championship League Darts will be shown will be announced in due course.
2009 Championship League Darts
Group One - Tuesday September 15
Phil Taylor
James Wade
John Part
Mervyn King
Ronnie Baxter
Adrian Lewis
Colin Lloyd
Alan Tabern
Group Two - Wednesday September 16
Remaining five players from Group One plus
Dennis Priestley
Mark Walsh
Andy Hamilton
Group Three - Thursday September 17
Remaining five players from Group Two plus
Colin Osborne
Robert Thornton
Vincent van der Voort
Group Four - Tuesday September 22
Remaining five players from Group Three plus
Terry Jenkins
Kevin Painter
Denis Ovens
Group Five - Wednesday September 23
Remaining five players from Group Four plus
Wayne Mardle
Peter Manley
Mark Dudbridge
Group Six - Thursday September 24
Remaining five players from Group Five plus
Jelle Klaasen
Wayne Jones
Andy Smith
Group Seven - Tuesday October 20
Remaining five players from Group Six plus
Kirk Shepherd
Co Stompe
Tony Eccles
Group Eight - Wednesday October 21
Remaining five players from Group Seven plus
Roland Scholten
Michael van Gerwen
Barrie Bates
Winners' Group - Thursday October 22
Features all eight Group Winners
Tournament Information
All group matches throughout the tournament will be the best of 11 legs, with no draw, with the semi-finals also the best of 11 legs and the final the best of 13 legs.
Two points will be awarded for a win and none for a defeat, with the top four players after the round robin league phase moving into the semi-finals.
Prize money will be awarded at £50 per leg won in the group games, rising to £100 per leg for the semi-finals and final.
Winners Group prize money will be £100 per leg in the group games and £200 per leg in the semi-finals and finals, with additional prize money on offer as follows:
Semi-Final Losers - £2,500 each
Runner-Up - £5,000 plus place in PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts
Winner - £10,000 plus place in PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts
All matches are held behind-closed-doors at Crondon Park GC in Essex, with no public attendance.