Luke Humphries insists he’s striving for more, despite making the perfect start to the 2025 BetMGM Premier League season on Thursday.
Humphries stormed to Night One glory in Belfast, defeating Nathan Aspinall, Michael van Gerwen and Chris Dobey to secure a five-point haul at the SSE Arena.
The world number one averaged 105 in his 6-2 demolition of Aspinall, before winning through a last-leg tie against Van Gerwen, who had defied a 113.91 average from Luke Littler earlier in the night.
Humphries then rounded off a memorable night in the Northern Irish capital with a 6-1 drubbing of Dobey in the Night One final, converting a trio of ton-plus checkouts and pinning six of his seven attempts at double.
🗣️ "When you're winning you have so much belief, but you can't take it for granted!"
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 7, 2025
Luke Humphries reflects on his Night One success in Belfast, after making the perfect start to his BetMGM Premier League campaign! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/PMazkoPhfN
“I wasn’t at my absolute best, but my finishing got me over the line,” reflected last year’s runner-up Humphries, who claimed four nightly wins in 2024.
“I was very fortunate against Michael. It’s not usually like him to miss that amount of doubles, and then I finished really well against Chris.
“It was a decent performance from me, but I’m striving for more and hopefully I can perform even better next week.”
Humphries’ victory in Belfast extended his winning run to eight matches, following on from his success at last weekend’s revamped Winmau World Masters in Milton Keynes.
The 29-year-old overcame Joe Cullen, Josh Rock, Damon Heta, Danny Noppert and Jonny Clayton to lift his seventh televised ranking title at Arena MK, having denied Clayton in a dramatic sudden-death decider.
“My scoring was amazing in Milton Keynes, especially on the Sunday,” claimed the Newbury-born star.
“My finishing was decent, but not as good as it was in Belfast, so if I can match them both up together it’s going to make me very difficult to beat.
“I know it’s in my locker, but sometimes I fall asleep in games and that really has to change.
“I need to get better at that, and if I do, this will make me an even more dangerous player than I already am.”
Humphries will feature in the opening Players Championship events of the year in Wigan this week, before he returns to Premier League action in Glasgow on Thursday.
The 2023/24 World Champion will kick off his evening against Dobey in a repeat of the Night One decider at the OVO Hydro, with Aspinall or Gerwyn Price awaiting the winner in the semi-finals.
“I really do think this is the strongest Premier League line-up for a very long time,” added Humphries, who is determined to build on his strong start to the year.
“I have to capitalise on this win and make sure I keep pushing and keep striving for better, because this is going to be a really tough season in my opinion.
“When you’re winning all the time you have so much belief and so much confidence, but you cannot take it for granted.
“All it takes is a couple of defeats and the confidence can drain from you, so this is a really good moment for myself, but I have to back it up next week.”
2025 BetMGM Premier League
Night Two - Thursday February 13
OVO Hydo, Glasgow
Quarter-Finals
Rob Cross v Luke Littler
Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall v Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries v Chris Dobey
Semi-Finals
Cross/Littler v Van Gerwen/Bunting
Aspinall/Price v Humphries/Dobey
Final
v
All matches best of 11 legs