The Paddy Power Perfect Challenge is set to answer one of the most hotly-debated questions in sport – what’s hardest?
PADDY POWER SET TO ANSWER WHAT’S HARDEST – A NINE-DARTER, HOLE-IN-ONE OR A 147 – IN ULTIMATE SPORTING CHALLENGE
• Reigning World Champion Luke Humphries will join three-time Ally Pally winner Michael van Gerwen on the oche to throw for a nine-darter
• On the snooker table, Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy – also with four World Championship crowns between them – will try to make a 147
• Ryder Cup hopeful Matt Wallace and current European Tour pro Ross Fisher will endeavour to make a hole-in-one
• Players will have two hours to complete their feats in The Paddy Power Perfect Challenge on Wednesday December 4 - the event will be streamed LIVE across Paddy Power and the PDC’s social channels from 1200 GMT
• Paddy Power punters will all be given a free bet – a nine-darter is 8/11 to be hit first, a 147 is 11/2 and a hole-in-one is 12/1. None to be hit is 2/1
Fans, players and pundits have long argued whether it’s trickier to hit a nine-darter in darts, make a hole-in-one in golf or complete a 147 break in snooker. Now, thanks to Paddy Power’s one-off sporting event, we’re about to find out.
Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen, with four PDC World Darts Championship wins between them, are set to take to the oche to throw for a nine-darter in an intense two-hour session.
Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy, who too have four World Championship wins between them, will aim to make a 147-break while golf pros Matt Wallace and Ross Fisher will take aim for a hole-in-one.
Every time the challenge fails, the respective leg or frame will restart, and players will go again and again until they make one – unless time runs out first.
The Paddy Power Perfect Challenge, which will be hosted by Sky Sports anchor Emma Paton, will be live-streamed on Paddy Power and the PDC’s X, Facebook and YouTube channels from 1200 GMT on Wednesday December 4. Players have been given two hours to achieve their feats.
The darts and snooker take place together in a behind-closed-doors studio in Manchester, while the golfers will arrive at The Hertsmere in Borehamwood.
The Irish bookmakers are putting on the event ahead of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, which kicks off on December 15.
Paddy Power announced last week they would once again be donating £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 scored during the tournament as part of their BIGGER 180 campaign, while also putting up a colossal £180,000 bonus every time a player nails a nine-darter. The mega prize will be split equally between Prostate Cancer UK, the player who throws the perfect leg, and one lucky fan in the iconic Ally Pally crowd.
Last year, The BIG 180 campaign raised £1million to support Prostate Cancer UK's lifesaving risk awareness work after 914 180s were hit, with Paddy Power rounding up the final donation to the seven-figure sum. This year, the campaign aims to smash that total, with funds supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s ground-breaking TRANSFORM trial. As the most ambitious prostate cancer screening trial ever, TRANSFORM will find the best way to diagnose the disease early - and pave the way for a national screening programme that could save thousands of lives.
Paddy Power himself said: "Our finance department have been getting a bit nervy after hearing of our mad-cap idea to put up £180,000 for every nine-darter at Ally Pally this year, but I myself hope there’s an absolute lorry load!
"A little bit of extra practise for Luke and MVG can’t hurt – and I can’t wait to see us answer sport’s greatest questions in the process."
FROM THE PADDY POWER TRADING ROOM:
There have been 208 147 breaks in professional snooker history. While this feat used to be a rare occurrence back in the 80s and 90s, it’s now become more commonplace with there already being 14 maximum breaks in 2024 - more than any year in history.
Competing in the Paddy Power Perfect Challenge is Shaun Murphy, who made the first and only 147 in the Snooker Shootout last year with the significant pressure of a shot clock involved. Indeed Murphy and Williams have made a combined 11 career maximum breaks between them.
On average, professional golfers will make a hole-in-one on a par 3 approximately 1 in 2,500 shots making this the least likely of the 3 in our opinion.
On the plus side here though, is that this hole is significantly shorter than you normal professional Par 3 at 141 yards. Although unlikely, this will also be the potential quickest of the 3 given both darts and snooker require multiple shots to click while only 1 shot can be lucky here.
The standard of the average PDC tour player has dramatically improved over the last 10 years, as evidenced by the significant rise in perfect legs. In the 2014 season, there were just 20 nine-dart finishes, compared to 55 in 2024 so far. That said, the likelihood of the average tour player throwing a nine-dart leg remains extremely low, with odds of approximately 5,000/1 per attempt.
However, considering the exceptional abilities of players like Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries, we estimate the probability of either of them hitting a perfect leg in one attempt to be closer to 2,500/1.In this challenge, the nine-dart finish is more likely than you might expect, as these players will likely have the most opportunities to attempt it.
Odds on which will be completed first:
• 9-Darter: 8/11
• 147 Break: 11/2
• Hole-in-One: 12/1
• None to Happen: 2/1