PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION

2010 RULES

1. Eligibility

1.1   All players must be a member of the Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) to feature in the Professional Darts Corporation’s (PDC) Order of Merit. Membership is defined as either having paid an annual subscription, or, in the case of non-UK players competing in non-UK ProTour events, having paid a supplement to their entry fee.

1.2   All players who qualify for the televised stages of the following events must be a full member of the PDPA: World Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open (excluding 32 Pub Qualifiers), European Championship, Players Championship Finals.

1.3   All players must sign and accept the PDC Players Contract and agree to abide by the Rules of the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) before being allowed to participate in any PDC organised event.

1.4   Any player who is not in good financial or disciplinary standing with the DRA, PDC or the PDPA or with companies involved with the DRA, PDC or PDPA will not be allowed to participate in any event until such time as they are in good standing.

2. Order of Merit

2.1   The PDC operates various Orders of Merit, based on prize money won in its events. The breakdown of this prize money is as follows.

Sky Sports Premier Events

2010/11 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Championship

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Last 64	Prelim Rd (x8)	Total
£200,000	£100,000	£60/40,000	£25,000	£15,000	£10,000	£6,000	£3,500	£1,000,000

2010 World Matchplay

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Total
£100,000	£50,000	£25,000	£15,000	£7,500	£5,000	£400,000

 
2010 World Grand Prix

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Total
£100,000	£40,000	£20,000	£12,500	£7,000	£4,000	£350,000

2010 UK Open Finals

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Last 64	Total
£40,000	£20,000	£10,000	£6,000	£4,000	£2,000	£1,000	£200,000

Other Premier Events

2010 European Championship

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Total
£50,000	£20,000	£10,000	£7,500	£5,000	£2,500	£200,000

2010 Players Championship Finals

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Total
£60,000	£24,000	£15,000	£10,000	£6,000	£3,000	£250,000

Pro Tour Events

UK Open Qualifying Tournaments + UK/Europe Players Championships

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Last 64	Total (inc 9-dart rollover)
£6,000	£3,000	£1,500	£1,000	£500	£300	£200	£31,600

Non-UK/Europe Players Championships

Winner	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists	Last 16	Last 32	Last 64	Total (inc 9-dart rollover)
£5,000	£2,500	£1,250	£700	£300	£200	£100	£22,000

 

2.2   £400 per ProTour event is reserved for a nine-dart finish. Should this not be won in the first tournament, this would be carried over to make an £800 prize in tournament two, and so on. The total carried over to the first ProTour event of 2010 (Gibraltar – Saturday) is £3200. Once the prize fund has been won, it will revert to £400 for the next ProTour event.

Any PDPA member who hits a nine-dart finish at a ProTour event shall be entitled to a share of the prize fund available for the feat at the start of that event.

2.3   For the four Sky Sports Premier Events there will be a £5,000 prize fund for any player achieving a nine-dart leg.

If this is not achieved during an event it will roll over to the next. The total carried over to the 2010 UK Open Finals is £5,000.

2.4   In the event of more than one player completing a nine-dart finish at any point during any event the prize fund will be divided pro rata based on the number of occasions on which the feat has been achieved.

        To clarify: if one player achieves the feat twice and another once, the player who has achieved it twice will be entitled to a two-third share of the prize fund, regardless of the stages of the tournament when he achieved the feat. This prize fund does not count towards any Order of Merit.

2.5   All events will be scheduled and categorised at the discretion of the PDC Board of Directors, following consultation with the PDPA, but with the final decision resting with the PDC Board of Directors.

2.6   Prize money won in all ranking tournaments determine a player’s standing in the relevant Orders of Merit. Prize money will be displayed in UK£ as per the details above.

2.7   Prize money for the US Open and North American Darts Championship will be paid in US$ and converted for Order of Merit purposes as per the £/US$ exchange rate on xe.com at 9am UK time on the morning of each tournament.

2.8   All prize money paid to full PDPA members in all tournaments will be paid in UK£ directly by the PDC in the standard amounts detailed above, unless otherwise advertised.

2.9   Prize money paid to Day Members in non-UK tournaments will be paid in local currency calculated at the conversion rate on xe.com at 9am (UK time) on the morning of the tournament starting. However, the amount of prize money recorded on the Order of Merit will correspond to the standard prize money as detailed above.

2.10  The Order of Merit is calculated on prize money won by players over a two-year period and is added to each player’s total at the conclusion of each tournament.

All Pro Tour prize money shall count for two years and be removed from the main Order of Merit on the second anniversary of it being won, regardless of the corresponding position in the calendar of any events.

Prize money won in Premier Events will count for a period of two corresponding tournaments so as to ensure no Premier Event counts three times at any point on a player’s total. If an event lapses from the PDC calendar, prize money won will last for two calendar years.

2.11  The calendar of tournaments and Orders of Merit will be published on pdc.tv, the PDC’s official website.

2.12  Invitations to and seedings for ranked events will be based on the relevant Orders of Merit at the closing date for entries for the tournament in question.

2.13  Players will need to have participated in a minimum of ten events over a rolling two-year period to be eligible to appear on the main Order of Merit at the end of 2010 and qualify for Premier Events during 2011 through the Order of Merit. Players will be removed from the Order of Merit in the event they fall beneath this threshold, but can be reinstated once they have reached the level again.

However, players need only participate in one Players Championship event in order to qualify for the Players Championship Finals through the Players Championship Order of Merit.

Players must participate in a minimum of three Regional Finals to qualify for the UK Open Finals.

2.14  Only prize money won as a PDPA member (either Full or Day) is eligible to appear on the Orders of Merit. Lapsed full members will be removed from the Orders of Merit, and if they compete again as Day Members their prize money tallies will revert to £0 from the day their full membership ceased.

Prize money won by Amateur Qualifiers in the UK Open will not count unless they have joined the PDPA in the interim period between qualifying and the event taking place.

2.15  All prize money won in ProTour or Premier Events will be subject to a 3% levy, to be paid directly to the PDPA in the form of deductions from prize money.

2.16  In respect of seedings for Players Championship events, the Players Championship Order of Merit will operate on a one-year rolling basis.

In respect of the qualification criteria for TV tournaments through the Players Championship or European Order of Merit these will operate on a one-year calendar basis.

2.17  Any player who declines an invitation to an invitational event may be denied an invitation to that or other invitational events in the future at the discretion of the PDC Board of Directors.

3.         Invitations and Seedings

3.1   Invitations, seedings and structures for Premier Events in 2010 will be based on the Order of Merit and are played according to the following criteria:

2010/11 World Darts Championship

Cut-off date:           November 29 2010
Seeds:                             Top 32 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:    Top 32 in Order of Merit
20 invitations at the PDC’s discretion (non-UK qualifying events, PDPA qualifier)
Top 4 in European Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
Top 16 in Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
2010 World Matchplay

Cut-off date:            July 5 2010
Seeds:                    Top 16 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:    Top 16 in Order of Merit
Top 16 in Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified

2010 World Grand Prix

Cut-off date:            September 20 2010
Seeds:                    Top 8 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:    Top 16 in Order of Merit
Top 4 nationals of Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland from the Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
Top 12 in Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified

2010 UK Open Finals

Cut-off date:            May 10 2010
Seeds:                    Top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit exempt to last 64 and drawn randomly
33-64 in UK Open Order of Merit exempt to last 96 and drawn randomly
Qualifying Players:     Top 96 plus ties from UK Open Order of Merit who have competed in at least three of the eight Qualifying Tournaments
32 Amateur Qualifiers (non-PDPA members) from specific events        

2010 European Championship

Cut-off date:            July 5 2010
Seeds:                    Top 8 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:    Top 16 in Order of Merit
Top 8 in European Order of Merit not already qualified
Top 8 in Players Championship Order of Merit not already qualified

2011 Players Championship Finals

Cut-off date:            November 29 2010
Seeds:                    Top 32 in Players Championship Order of Merit (drawn in seed pattern)
Qualifying Players:    Top 32 in Players Championship Order of Merit

3.2   In the case of ties, the countback rule will apply; this will be the cumulative money won by a player in the previous four Order of Merit-eligible events. In cases where there is still a tie, this countback will continue one event at a time until there is a separation.

This applies to all tournaments except the UK Open, where the countback rule refers only to Qualifying Tournaments, and the Players Championship Finals, where the countback rule only refers to the Players Championship Order of Merit.

Where a player has qualified by virtue of the Players Championship Order of Merit or European Order of Merit, those Orders of Merit will be used to determine countback.

In the event of two or more players not being separated by countback, a play-off will take place played under the format of the first round of the relevant tournament.

3.3     Seedings for TV tournaments will be ordered as follows:

TOP HALF:       1-(16)-8-(9)-5-(12)-4-(13)
BOTTOM HALF:           2-(15)-7-(10)-6-(11)-3-(14)

Seedings for Players Championship events and the World Championship are ordered as follows:

          TOP HALF: 1-32-16-17-8-25-9-24-5-28-12-21-4-29-13-20
BOTTOM HALF: 2-31-15-18-7-26-10-23-6-27-11-22-3-30-14-19

3.4   For PDC ranked events the seeding will be determined by the relevant Order of Merit at the time of the closing date for each particular tournament.

3.5   Seedings for Players Championships will be determined on a one-year rolling basis from the Players Championship Order of Merit with 32 seeds per event (or as many as entries permit).

3.6   In the event of a player not being able to participate in an event due to personal or disciplinary reasons, the next available non-qualified player from the Order of Merit through which the unavailable player qualified 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.

3.7   PDPA members may choose to enter either their own nation’s World Championship qualifying event or the PDPA Members qualifier – not both. The PDPA qualifier will be the last qualifying tournament held and will offer the appropriate number of spots required to fill the draw (ordinarily one, but in the event of a qualifying tournament not being played in time or the winner being unable to play in the event, their spot will pass to the PDPA qualifier). Therefore, all nation’s qualifying tournaments must conclude prior to the PDPA qualifier being held.

3.8   Lapsed PDPA members are not eligible to qualify for the UK Open as Amateur Qualifiers for the next two UK Open Televised Finals following their membership terminating.

4.         ProTour

4.1     Entry to all ProTour events is open to all PDPA members. Non-UK events are open to non-members who are not from the UK who must pay a supplement in addition to the entry fee. In the event of a player originally from the UK attempting to enter a non-UK event as a non-PDPA member, they must prove residency in the country for a period of at least two consecutive years prior to the date of the relevant tournament.

4.2     Entry fees for PDPA members are £100 for tournaments with a minimum of £30,000 prize fund and £80 for tournaments with a £22,000 prize fund.

          Non-PDPA members who are not from the UK may enter non-UK tournaments on payment of a fee plus Day Membership fee as detailed below.

          Players Championships held in Europe:      €110 + €15 Day Membership fee
Players Championships held in America:     $130 + $15 Day Membership fee
Players Championships held in Canada:      $130 + $15 Day Membership fee
Players Championships held in Australia:    $100 + $15 Day Membership fee

          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’.

4.3     The closing date for entries will be 12pm on the Wednesday before each tournament is due to be played. The PDC reserves the right to alter this time in the event of logistical issues. The list of entries will be published on pdc.tv before each tournament.

4.4     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.

4.5     Non-UK ProTour tournaments may feature qualifying tournaments. These are not open to PDPA members and entries must be made through the PDC’s local organiser.

          Qualifying tournaments will only take place if a minimum of 32 entrants are attained. If between 32 and 63 entrants are attained, eight places will be available for the main draw. If between 64 and 128 (maximum number of) entrants are attained, 16 places will be available for the main draw.

          The PDC may, at its discretion, alter the number of places available through qualifying tournaments with good reason.

          Entry deadlines for qualifying tournaments will be 48 hours before the main draw entry deadline to enable players to enter the main draw in the event the qualifying tournament does not take place.

          Qualifying tournaments will be the best of seven legs throughout.

          Players qualifying through qualifying tournaments for non-UK ProTour events will enter at the Preliminary Round stage (if a Preliminary Round is to be played). In the event of the number of qualifiers exceeding the number of players needed for a Preliminary Round, a random draw will determine which players are drawn straight in to the first round.

          In the event of the number of qualifiers not being enough to fill the Preliminary Round, all other non-seeded players will be entered in to a random draw to complete the Preliminary Round.

4.6     All ProTour main draw matches will be best of 11 legs throughout.

4.7     For UK Open Qualifying tournaments, the top 64 players from the PDC Order of Merit who have entered the event are exempt until the last 128 stage. These 64 exemptions are not seeded players and will be drawn at random although they will not play each other at the last 128 stage.

4.8     All ProTour tournaments will start at 12pm local time, with registration closing at 11am. Any player not registered by 11am will be omitted from the draw without exception.

4.9     Draws for ProTour events will be conducted following the closure of registration on the day, with seedings adjusted accordingly in the event of an entered player who was due to be seeded not registering.

4.10    All ProTour events will be held over one day. They will be played on 16 boards and will progress in a bracket format throughout.

4.11    Players who wish to withdraw from a tournament they have entered must do so in writing 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 or in the event of a serious family issue.

4.12    Byes will be awarded in order of a player’s seeding. 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.

4.13    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.

4.14    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, as directed by Tournament Officials. In genuine cases of disablement, 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.

In either case, the marker must be in place immediately following the completion of the previous game.

4.15    The first game on each board will be marked by the last player listed on the schedule of matches for that board.

4.16    Players may be asked by Tournament Officials to move from the board to which they were originally allocated to another board. These requests must be adhered to immediately to help the smooth running of the tournament.

5.        General

5.1     Participation in all PDC events is subject to players adhering to the Darts Regulation Authority rulebook. Special attention is drawn to the rules referring to behaviour and dress.

5.2     The PDC reserves the right to remove any tournament from the calendar without prior notice but will endeavour not to add any tournament to the calendar without a minimum of three months notice.

5.3     The PDC reserves the right to have the benefit of all decisions in any event not covered fully in these rules.

5.4     The PDC reserves the right, after consultation with the PDPA, to add or amend any or all of these rules at any time to meet any purpose deemed to be necessary at that time by the Board of Directors.

5.5     All match results and prize money awarded shall be recorded in all stages of all PDC tournaments and this information shall be published as soon as possible after a tournament has been concluded on pdc.tv.

5.6     This document will remain in force until the completion of all 2010 events unless otherwise advised.

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