# GRAND DESIGN
As the darts calendar hurtles toward its explosive finale, the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts stands ready to ignite Wolverhampton once again. From November 8-16, 2025, the WV Active Aldersley will pulse with the roar of thousands as 32 of the planet’s sharpest arrow-slingers battle for the Eric Bristow Trophy and a life-changing £150,000 winner’s cheque. This is the last dance in the beloved 32-player format – next year the field swells to 48 – making every leg, every group decider, every nine-darter feel like history in the making.
What makes the Grand Slam utterly unique isn’t just the neon-lit stage or the table-seating chaos that puts fans inches from the oche. It’s the format – a masterful blueprint that blends round-robin jeopardy with knockout brutality, creating nine days where giants fall and underdogs rise in spectacular fashion.
### The Group Stage: Where Dreams Are Built and Shattered
Thirty-two players, eight groups of four. Simple on paper, savage in practice.
Every group match is best-of-nine legs – first to five walks away with two precious points. Three games per player across the opening five days (Saturday November 8 to Wednesday November 12) means no hiding place. One bad session and you’re packing for home; one magical afternoon and you’re suddenly the story of the tournament.
The tie-breakers are pure darts theatre. Two players level? Head-to-head decides it, then leg difference. Three players locked together? Leg difference, legs won, legs won against throw, overall tournament average, and – if fate demands it – a sudden-death nine-dart shootout. Players hurl nine arrows each, highest score survives. It’s happened before and the arena erupts like New Year’s Eve when it does.
Top two from each group advance. Sixteen warriors into the knockout cauldron.
### The Knockout: Where Legends Are Forged
From Thursday November 13, mercy disappears.
– Last 16: Best-of-19 legs (first to 10)
– Quarter-finals: Best-of-31 (first to 16)
– Semi-finals: Best-of-31
– Final (Sunday November 16): Best-of-31 under the brightest lights
That’s over 100 possible legs in the final alone – enough time for comebacks that will be retold in pubs for decades.
### The Money: £650,000 Reasons to Care
Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £70,000
Semi-finalists: £50,000 each
Quarter-finalists: £25,000 each
Last 16: £12,000 each
Third in group: £8,000
Fourth in group: £5,000
Even a winless group campaign pays £4,000 – but nobody flies to Wolverhampton for participation ribbons.
### The 2025 Field: A Mouthwatering Mix
This year’s line-up is the perfect Grand Slam cocktail: major champions, European Tour destroyers, women’s world-beaters, and raw qualifiers who earned their spot the hard way.
Reigning champion Luke Littler – the 18-year-old phenomenon who demolished Martin Lukeman 16-3 last year, reeling off 15 consecutive legs in one of the most one-sided finals ever – returns hungry for back-to-back glory. Only Phil Taylor (2013-14) and Michael van Gerwen (2015-17) have defended this title in the modern era.
The draw has served up instant classics:
– Beau Greaves, the 21-year-old women’s sensation, opens against three-time champion Michael van Gerwen
– Luke Humphries (world number one) vs Michael Smith in Group A
– Gerwyn Price vs Peter Wright – two former world champions who love a war of words
– Rob Cross vs Gary Anderson – 2018 world champ vs the Flying Scotsman
### Why This Format Is Pure Genius
Most majors are brutal one-and-done knockouts. The Grand Slam gives players a safety net – then rips it away. We’ve seen world champions crash out with 100+ averages because one rogue leg cost them everything. We’ve seen qualifiers top groups ahead of seeded superstars. And when the knockout hits, those extended best-of-31 battles separate the mentally unbreakable from the merely brilliant.
Last year Luke Humphries, fresh from world championship glory, bombed out in the groups. Littler, written off by some after a shaky start, found his range and never looked back.
As the WV Active Aldersley prepares to shake with walk-ons, 180 roars and the unmistakable thud of tungsten on sisal, one thing is certain: the Grand Slam’s grand design will deliver another chapter of darts immortality.
Whether you’re ringside at the tables or watching from home, clear your schedule. From November 8-16, the oche becomes the centre of the sporting universe – and somebody, somehow, will etch their name alongside Taylor, Van Gerwen and the teenage king Littler.
This is darts at its most addictive. This is the Grand Slam.
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