Michael Smith will begin his Paddy Power World Darts Championship title defence on the opening night of the 2023/24 tournament, with the schedule of play for the first and second rounds now confirmed.
The pre-Christmas period in the sport's flagship event will feature a festive feast of darts at London's Alexandra Palace, as the first and second rounds are played across nine days from December 15-23.
The tournament’s opening night will see world number one Smith begin his title defence against Dutchman Kevin Doets or Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist Stowe Buntz, who will kick off this year's showpiece on Friday December 15.
Friday's play will also see 2010 runner-up Simon Whitlock in first round action against former PDC Asian Championship finalist Paolo Nebrida, while Cameron Menzies and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez collide for a place in round two.
The first double session at this year’s World Darts Championship will take place on Saturday December 16, as two-time World Champion Gary Anderson opens his title challenge with a potential clash against Whitlock.
2021 semi-finalist Dave Chisnall takes centre stage on Saturday afternoon when he faces Menzies or Rodriguez, while American number one Jules van Dongen makes his debut against DPA qualifier Darren Penhall.
World number three Luke Humphries - who has won three of the sport's last four TV ranking titles - will headline the action on Sunday December 17, when he takes on either Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing.
Former Masters champion Joe Cullen will also feature on Day Three of the £2.5 million event, as Fallon Sherrock goes head-to-head with quick-fire Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena on her Alexandra Palace return.
Gerwyn Price begins his bid to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for a second time on Monday December 18, on a night which will also see World Youth Championship finalist Gian van Veen make his World Championship debut.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen enters the fray on Tuesday December 19, while Steve Beaton - making a record-extending 33rd consecutive World Championship appearance - plays Dutch debutant Wessel Nijman in round one.
Four-time semi-finalist James Wade will headline Tuesday's afternoon session, before Japan's Mikuru Suzuki makes her World Championship return against Germany's emerging star Ricardo Pietreczko in the evening session.
Two-time winner Peter Wright could take on Jim Williams in a blockbuster second round tie on Wednesday December 20, with the Scot defending £500,000 in prize money following his triumph in the capital two years ago.
Former European Champion Ross Smith will round off the afternoon's action, before 16-year-old Luke Littler - the newly crowned World Youth Champion - plays former Lakeside Champion Christian Kist.
Teenage sensation Littler will take on UK Open champion Andrew Gilding on Thursday December 21 if he overcomes Kist, as 2018 champion Rob Cross opens his title challenge in the afternoon session.
Elsewhere, seventh seed Danny Noppert, last year's semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens and Australian number one Damon Heta will be among the high-profile names in action on Thursday, as the first round draws to a close.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld will face either Radek Szaganski or Marko Kantele on Friday December 22, with last year's semi-finalist Dimitri Van den Bergh and Masters champion Chris Dobey also set to star.
Martin Schindler will meet either Wattimena or Sherrock for a place in round three, while Dutch star Dirk van Duijvenbode will be the star attraction in Friday's afternoon session.
The second round will conclude across two sessions on Saturday December 23, when World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall, ninth seed Jonny Clayton, 2021 semi-finalist Stephen Bunting and 2022 World Youth Champion Josh Rock take to the stage.
Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final taking place from January 1-3.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2023/24 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
Friday December 15 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (R1)
Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Michael Smith v Doets/Buntz (R2)
Saturday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Lee Evans v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)
Connor Scutt v Krzysztof Kciuk (R1)
Jules van Dongen v Darren Penhall (R1)
Dave Chisnall v Menzies/Rodriguez (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jamie Hughes v David Cameron (R1)
Keane Barry v Reynaldo Rivera (R1)
Scott Williams v Haruki Muramatsu (R1)
Gary Anderson v Whitlock/Nebrida (R2)
Sunday December 17
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ricky Evans v Simon Adams (R1)
Jim Williams v Norman Madhoo (R1)
Matt Campbell v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
Joe Cullen v Van Dongen/Penhall (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Dylan Slevin v Florian Hempel (R1)
Niels Zonneveld v Darren Webster (R1)
Jermaine Wattimena v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Luke Humphries v L Evans/Eric Sosing (R2)
Monday December 18 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole (R1)
Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung (R1)
Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Scutt/Kciuk (R2)
Tuesday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ian White v Tomoya Goto (R1)
Ritchie Edhouse v Jeffrey de Graaf (R1)
Keegan Brown v Boris Krcmar (R1)
James Wade v Campbell/Ilagan (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Beaton v Wessel Nijman (R1)
Mike De Decker v Dragutin Horvat (R1)
Ricardo Pietreczko v Mikuru Suzuki (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Barry/Rivera (R2)
Wednesday December 20
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele (R1)
Steve Lennon v Owen Bates (R1)
William O'Connor v Bhav Patel (R1)
Ross Smith v Zonneveld/Webster (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Joyce v Alex Spellman (R1)
Richard Veenstra v Ben Robb (R1)
Christian Kist v Luke Littler (R1)
Peter Wright v J Williams/Madhoo (R2)
Thursday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Mickey Mansell v Xiaochen Zong (R1)
Luke Woodhouse v Berry van Peer (R1)
Madars Razma v De Decker/Horvat (R2)
Rob Cross v Vandenbogaerde/Tricole (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Andrew Gilding v Kist/Littler (R2)
Danny Noppert v S Williams/Muramatsu (R2)
Gabriel Clemens v Van Veen/Leung (R2)
Damon Heta v Lukeman/Puha (R2)
Friday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Brendan Dolan v Mansell/Zong (R2)
Jose de Sousa v Edhouse/De Graaf (R2)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Hughes/Cameron (R2)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Brown/Krcmar (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Slevin/Hempel (R2)
Martin Schindler v Wattimena/Sherrock (R2)
Raymond van Barneveld v Szaganski/Kantele (R2)
Chris Dobey v O’Connor/Patel (R2)
Saturday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Kim Huybrechts v Veenstra/Robb (R2)
Callan Rydz v Pietreczko/Suzuki (R2)
Jonny Clayton v Lennon/Bates (R2)
Daryl Gurney v Beaton/Nijman (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Ryan Searle v White/Goto (R2)
Josh Rock v Woodhouse/Van Peer (R2)
Stephen Bunting v Joyce/Spellman (R2)
Nathan Aspinall v R Evans/Adams (R2)
Wednesday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Thursday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Friday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Saturday December 30
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (1930 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Monday January 1
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Tuesday January 2 (1930 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Wednesday January 3 (2000 GMT)
Final
The schedule of play for the third round onwards to be confirmed at pdc.tv and on OfficialPDC social media channels throughout the event.
Format
First Round - Best of five sets
Second Round - Best of five sets
Third Round - Best of seven sets
Fourth Round - Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals - Best of 11 sets
Final - Best of 13 sets
Tie-Breaks
First Round matches will not have a tie-break; if the fifth set reaches two-all in legs, then the fifth leg will be sudden-death.
From the Second Round onwards, there will be a tie-break rule employed in all matches; where a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played.
There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.