World Grand Prix betting blown wide open after Littler exit

Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price are now vying for favouritism with bookmakers at the 2026 PDC World Grand Prix following the shock round one exit of red-hot favourite Luke Littler.

Littler, who has lifted every prior TV ranking major in 2026 and was targeting an unprecedented clean sweep of darts’ biggest prizes in a calendar year, was as short as 4/6 for the title heading into Monday’s opening fixtures

Yet the Nuke’s tournament was unceremoniously cut short by Luke Woodhouse, who recovered from losing the first set to dump out Littler 2-1 – taking advantage of an unusually sluggish showing from the world champion.

Littler, who said afterwards on Instagram that he would enjoy a ‘nice week off’, may well fare better for the unexpected rest with big events coming thick and fast. However, in the short term, his exit has left bookmakers scrambling to revise their 2026 World Grand Prix odds.

Humphries and Price the men to beat

Luke Humphries is widely considered as Littler’s closest competitor in the modern era of darts and it’s little surprise to see Cool Hand topping those revised betting lists ahead of his tournament opener with Dave Chisnall on Tuesday night.

Ahead of that clash, Humphries is a best-priced 7/2 (BetVictor) to regain the title he won in 2023. Punters should be hopeful of getting a good run for their money, given he has subsequently finished runner-up in both 2024 and 2025 to Mike De Decker and Littler respectively.

But the waves of money have largely arrived for someone who has already booked a spot in round two.

Gerwyn Price looked in breathtaking nick when sweeping aside debutant Sebastian Bialecki for the loss of just one leg, and the Iceman is another player who enjoys a real love affair with the double-in, double-out major.

The Welshman has made the quarter-finals or better at the Grand Prix in five of the last seven seasons, including three finals – winning it in 2020 and finishing runner-up in both 2021 and 2023.

He could have easily gone close 12 months ago too, spurning multiple match darts against the eventual champion Littler in an epic last-eight clash. Though Price claims to ‘hate’ the double start format, it unquestionably seems to bring the best out of him.

Price went off a 12/1 chance for the title this week and was quickly chopped into 9/1 after beating Bialecki. By the time Littler had been knocked out, punters had further knocked the former champion into a clear 5/1 second favourite for glory in Leicester.

Wide open market beyond the top two

Of course, plenty of other players will now fancy their chances of taking the title with Littler out of contention – and the betting markets aren’t ruling many out with confidence.

A cluster of players find themselves now priced between 12/1 and 20/1, headed by Nathan Aspinall, who had to dodge three match darts from Kevin Doets before sneaking through his opening contest in a last-leg decider.

Aspinall is now 12/1 with Betfred, as is the in-form Ross Smith – another man who dodged match darts on Monday night against Cameron Menzies – and Wessel Nijman, who saw off Rob Cross 2-0 in his opener to kick off his hunt for a first major crown.

Veteran trio James Wade (14/1), Jonny Clayton (14/1) and Gary Anderson (16/1) are not far behind in the betting, while 2026 PDC World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen (16/1) will no doubt catch punters’ attention now as one of the game’s most clutch double hitters

But as De Decker’s 150/1 triumph in 2024 showed, this is a tournament that can produce almighty shocks, meaning even the rags cannot be ruled out.

Woodhouse, who stole the headlines when slaying Littler, went off a 125/1 chance but is now a general 28/1 to lift his first major with most firms. That would top off a truly incredible year for the 37-year-old who has already enjoyed maiden successes on the Pro Tour and European Tour.

Meanwhile, another unheralded star, Ryan Joyce, may be attracting some left-field support at a revised 40/1 quote. The Geordie, who isn’t a sensational scorer but is arguably the best finisher in the business, KO’d six-time Grand Prix champion Michael van Gerwen on Monday night and promises to be a difficult assignment for anybody in this format.

There are sure to be more twists in this market on Tuesday night when the remaining eight round one matches take place.