Cool Hand Luke Humphries Could Be Quickest on the Draw at the Premier League Darts
The selected field for darts’ Premier League is one of the sport’s most feverish talking points each year.
The top four players in the Order of Merit automatically land a place in the field for the lucrative event, but the other six players are picked via wildcards – their results being a contributory factor, but also their ‘appeal’ with the fans.
And the selections are therefore, shall we say, rarely universally popular…
One individual that doesn’t have to worry about such shenanigans is Luke Humphries, who booked his spot in the Premier League on the back of a fine 2025 campaign.
And ‘Cool Hand’ is shaping up to offer excellent punting value at 11/2, too…
Play-Off Heartbreak
Humphries’ latest attempt to regain his World Championship crown did not go to plan over the festive period.
Perhaps that’s why his World Darts odds for the 2026/27 showpiece have fallen to 6/1, behind the world number one.
But the Premier League is a different format entirely, so darts betting odds of 11/2 in Humphries’ favour surely hold appeal.
The 30-year-old first competed in the Premier League in 2024, following two stints as a ‘challenger’ under the old format – he would be the first of these outsiders to win a game in the tournament in Exeter back in 2020.
RECAP!
Another great night of darts in Exeter saw Luke Humphries became the first Challenger to win a Premier League game, while Michael Smith got the better of MvG.#Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/HUFReFPslh
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 5, 2020
Four years later, Humphries was enjoying his breakout season. He finished second in the Premier League table on the back of four nightly wins – as well as a staggering average of 100.46 from 33 matches played.
Cool Hand defeated Michael van Gerwen 10-5 in the play-off semi-finals, before ultimately coming up short in the final – despite averaging more than 102 across 18 legs of action.
However, revenge would be sweet for the former world number one in 2025…
Redemption in the Capital
Once again, the Crewe thrower was an automatic selection after finishing in the top four of the PDC Order of Merit in 2024. And, once again, his class showed throughout the regular season campaign, which lasted for 16 weeks and took the players from Aberdeen to Berlin.
Humphries was the model of consistency, winning 21 of the 34 games he played and averaging a shade under a ton at 99.67. There was even a fantastic nine-dart leg in Brighton to celebrate.
Finals Night at the O2 Arena would be a wholly different affair for Humphries, where he blitzed Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals courtesy of a sky-scraping 105.81 average.
And then, the Premier League final. It was a thrilling, back-and-forth affair, but this time it was Cool Hand who, erm, kept his cool with an 11-8 victory.
It was an emotional victory for Humphries, who alongside a handsome cheque of £350,000 became a member of the PDC’s Triple Crown club, which is home to those who have won the World Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League.
Can’t wait to get on the Ally Pally stage tonight!
I have so many happy memories here, especially 2024, and I want to make some more this year.
It’ll be Ted Evetts first, and I’m looking forward to it!
See you all soon 💙@ModusDarts180 @reddragondarts @cygroup2… pic.twitter.com/RbSjMXxpPs
— Luke Humphries MBE (@lukeh180) December 13, 2025
At the time, the only other members of that exclusive brigade were Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Van Gerwen… good company to be in!
It’s Humphries’ consistency and comfort with the long grind of the Premier League that marks him out as a possible victor once more – 11/2 seems a fine price about the man known as Cool Hand.
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