The standard in darts seems to be improving all the time, with several players in the sport pushing each other to raise their game in every tournament they enter.
Here is a look at who are the best darts players of all time, taking into consideration their World Darts Championship success. We will also reflect on who has an excellent season on the PDC Tour and which player is at the top of the world rankings.
Best Darts Players of All Time
1: Phil Taylor
16-time world champion Phil Taylor is widely considered to be the greatest darts player of all time. The Power dominated the sport in a career that spanned between 1987-2018, reaching 20 world darts championship finals in his time in the BDO/WDF and PDC.
When he became one of the founding members of the PDC Tour in 1993, Taylor raised the standards in the sport. He was world number one for 13 years, winning 214 professional tournaments and 85 majors.
2: Eric Bristow
One of the first big stars in darts was Eric Bristow. The Crafty Cockney won five world titles in the 1980s when he was at his best. He appeared regularly on prime-time chat shows and reality TV programmes such as I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
3: Michael van Gerwen
As the world number one between 2014 and 2021, Michael van Gerwen took over the mantle from Taylor as the best player in the sport. He won the PDC World Darts Championship in 2014, 2017 and 2019. The Dutchman will be hoping to add to his tally in the most prestigious tournament in darts. He has also won seven Premier League Darts titles. You can back van Gerwen to make it eight in the 2025 Premier League Darts season at talkSPORT BET.
Mighty Mike has won more Pro Tour event titles than any player in history, including three World Matchplay titles, his most recent coming in 2022 when he defeated Gerwyn Price in the final.
4: Raymond van Barneveld
With success in the biggest tournaments in the BDO and PDC, Raymond Van Barneveld has established himself as one of the best darts players of his generation. Barney won the BDO World Dart Championship in 1998, 1999, 2003, and 2005. In his first attempt at the PDC World Championship in 2007, he lifted the trophy, beating Taylor in a sudden death leg, in what was one of the greatest darts matches ever played.
5: Gary Anderson
One of the highest scorers in the history of darts is Gary Anderson. The Scotsman won back-to-back PDC World Darts Championship titles in 2015 and 2016. He was also runner-up in 2011, 2017, and 2021. The Flying Scotsman is third on the list of all-time PDC Pro Tour event titles.
6: John Part
Canadian John Part is the most successful North American darts player in history. Darth Maple was a world champion in 1994, 2003, and 2008. The first of those came in the BDO. In his second world title success, he beat Taylor in the final, producing one of the biggest upsets in PDC World Championship history at the time. His hat trick came up in 2008 as he beat Kirk Shepherd 7-2 in a one-sided final. Part, now a commentator in the sport, is the only non-European to win a world championship in darts.
7: John Lowe
From one John to another. In the early 1980s, John Lowe was the poster boy for British darts and revelled in the sport’s newfound popularity. He won three World Championships – one in the 1970s, one in the 1980s, and one in the 1990s.
He also checked out with a nine-dart finish in 1984 – the first man to do so live on television in the UK. Though there are other players with more titles than Lowe, he was the original showman and a great advertisement for the game in the 1970s and 1980s.
8: Dennis Priestley
Dennis the Menace Priestley became the first darts player in history to win both the BDO and WDC/PDC World Championship titles. While he was a late starter in the darts world (Priestley was close to 40 before competing), he made a name for himself in the early 1990s and rose to the top of the world rankings.
One of his most impressive victories came in a 1994 meeting with Phil Taylor, in which he defeated the Power 6-1 in the WDC Final live on TV.
9: Luke Humphries
World number one Luke Humphries had an excellent year in 2023 with three consecutive major tournament victories. He went into the World Grand Prix without a premier title success in the PDC, but his triumph in that event in Dublin gave him a huge boost in confidence.
Cool Hand Luke carried his momentum into the next two majors of the season, winning the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals. In 2024, Humphries won the World Championship, the World Matchplay, and the PC Finals. He started 2025 with a win at the Masters.
Though he isn’t as popular as England’s other Luke (more on him shortly), Humphries may well cement his place as one of the greatest darts players in history, with many more triumphs likely to follow.
10: Luke Littler – one for the future
It may seem absurd to include an 18-year-old in the list of the greatest darts players of all time, but Luke Littler’s debut season was nothing short of spectacular, and he’s the future of British darts.
In his first full season as a professional, he won the Grand Slam, the Premier League, the World Series Finals, and the World Championship. As a result, he has soared to number two in the PDC world rankings.
While we’re not suggesting that Littler is one of the greatest darts players of all time, he may well become one, and the whole of the UK will be cheering him on throughout the 2025 season.
Has Gary Anderson Ever Been World No.1?
Two-time world champion Gary Anderson was world number one with the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and World Darts Federation (WDF) before switching to the PDC. He won four major tournaments with the WDF, including the World Darts Trophy and Finder Masters.
Unfortunately for Anderson, he has yet to top the world rankings with the PDC. He is considered the greatest player in the history of the PDC not to have been the world number one with the organisation. The five-time PDC World Darts Championship finalist will be hoping to put that record straight in the 2024/25 campaign.
*All odds are correct at time of writing and could be subject to change.