The full guidelines are available below.
PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION
2011 RULES
1. Eligibility
1.1 All players must be a member of the Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) to feature in the Professional Darts Corporation's (PDC) Order of Merit. Membership is defined as either having paid an annual subscription, or, in the case of non-UK players competing in non-UK ProTour events, having paid a supplement to their entry fee.
1.2 All players who qualify for the televised stages of the following events must be a full member of the PDPA: World Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open (excluding Amateur Qualifiers), European Championship, Players Championship Finals.
In the event of a non-PDPA member qualifying for an event through either the Players Championship or European Order of Merit, or a World Championship qualifier, they must join the PDPA prior to the commencement of the event.
1.3 All players must sign and accept the PDC Players Contract and agree to abide by the Rules of the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) before being allowed to participate in any PDC organised event.
1.4 Any player who is not in good financial or disciplinary standing with the DRA, PDC or the PDPA or with companies involved with the DRA, PDC or PDPA will not be allowed to participate in any event until such time as they are in good standing.
2. Order of Merit
2.1 The PDC operates various Orders of Merit, based on prize money won in its events. The breakdown of this prize money is as follows.
Sky Sports Premier Events
2011/12 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Championship
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Last 64 |
Prelim |
Total |
|
£200,000 |
£100,000 |
£50,000 |
£25,000 |
£15,000 |
£10,000 |
£6,000 |
£3,500 |
£1,000,000 |
2011 World Matchplay
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Total |
|
£100,000 |
£50,000 |
£25,000 |
£15,000 |
£7,500 |
£5,000 |
£400,000 |
2011 World Grand Prix
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Total |
|
£100,000 |
£40,000 |
£20,000 |
£12,500 |
£7,000 |
£4,000 |
£350,000 |
2011 UK Open Finals
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Last 64 |
Total |
|
£40,000 |
£20,000 |
£10,000 |
£6,000 |
£4,000 |
£2,000 |
£1,000 |
£200,000 |
Other Premier Events
2011 European Championship
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Total |
|
£50,000 |
£20,000 |
£10,000 |
£7,500 |
£5,000 |
£2,500 |
£200,000 |
2011 Players Championship Finals
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Total |
|
£60,000 |
£24,000 |
£15,000 |
£10,000 |
£6,000 |
£3,000 |
£250,000 |
Pro Tour Events
UK Open Qualifying Tournaments + Players Championships
|
Winner |
Runner-Up |
Semi-Finalists |
Quarter-Finalists |
Last 16 |
Last 32 |
Last 64 |
Total (inc 9-dart) |
|
£6,000 |
£3,000 |
£2,000 |
£1,000 |
£600 |
£400 |
£200 |
£35,000 |
2.2 £400 per ProTour event is reserved for a nine-dart finish. Should this not be won in a particular tournament, this prize fund would be carried over and have the same amount again added to it until it is won (i.e. £400 in event one, £800 in event two, £1200 in event three, £1600 in event four etc). Once the prize fund has been won, it will revert to £400 for the next ProTour event.
Any PDPA member who hits a nine-dart finish at a ProTour event shall be entitled to a share of the prize fund available for the feat at the start of that event.
2.3 For the four Sky Sports Premier Events there will be a £5,000 prize fund for any player achieving a nine-dart leg.
Should this not be won in a particular tournament, this prize fund would be carried over and have the same amount again added to it until it is won (i.e. £5,000 in event one, £10,000 in event two, £15,000 in event three, £20,000 in event four etc). Once the prize fund has been won, it will revert to £5,000 for the next Sky Sports Premier event.
2.4 In the event of more than one player completing a nine-dart finish at any point during any event the prize fund will be divided pro rata based on the number of occasions on which the feat has been achieved.
To clarify: if one player achieves the feat twice and another once, the player who has achieved it twice will be entitled to a two-third share of the prize fund, regardless of the stages of the tournament when he achieved the feat. This prize fund does not count towards any Order of Merit.
2.5 All events will be scheduled and categorised at the discretion of the PDC Board of Directors, following consultation with the PDPA, but with the final decision resting with the PDC Board of Directors.
2.6 Prize money won in all ranking tournaments determine a player's standing in the relevant Orders of Merit. Prize money will be displayed in UK£ as per the details above.
2.7 Prize money for the North American Darts Championship will be paid in US$ and converted for North American Order of Merit purposes as per the £/US$ exchange rate on xe.com at 9am UK time on the morning of each tournament.
2.8 All prize money paid to full PDPA members in all tournaments will be paid in UK£ directly by the PDC in the standard amounts detailed above, unless otherwise advertised.
2.9 Prize money paid to Day Members in non-UK tournaments will be paid in local currency calculated at the conversion rate on xe.com at 9am (UK time) on the morning of the tournament starting. However, the amount of prize money recorded on the Order of Merit will correspond to the standard prize money as detailed above.
2.10 The Order of Merit is calculated on prize money won by players over a two-year period and is added to each player's total at the conclusion of each tournament.
All Pro Tour prize money shall count for two years and be removed from the main Order of Merit on the second anniversary of it being won, regardless of the corresponding position in the calendar of any events.
Prize money won in Premier Events will count for a period of two corresponding tournaments so as to ensure no Premier Event counts three times at any point on a player's total. If an event lapses from the PDC calendar, prize money won will last for two calendar years.
2.11 The calendar of tournaments and Orders of Merit will be published on pdc.tv, the PDC's official website.
2.12 Invitations to and seedings for ranked events will be based on the relevant Orders of Merit at the closing date for entries for the tournament in question.
2.13 Players will need to have participated in a minimum of ten events over a rolling two-year period to be eligible to appear on the main Order of Merit and qualify for Premier Events during 2011 through the Order of Merit. Players will be removed from the Order of Merit in the event they fall beneath this threshold, but can be reinstated once they have reached the level again.
However, players need only participate in one Players Championship event in order to qualify for the Players Championship Finals through the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Players must participate in a minimum of two of the eight qualifying tournaments to qualify for the UK Open Finals.
2.14 Only prize money won as a PDPA member (either Full or Day) is eligible to appear on the Orders of Merit. Lapsed full members will be removed from the Orders of Merit, and if they compete again as Day Members their prize money tallies will revert to £0 from the day their full membership ceased.
Prize money won by Amateur Qualifiers in the UK Open will not count unless they have joined the PDPA in the interim period between qualifying and the event taking place.
At the end of a calendar year, any Day Member who does not become a full member of the PDPA for the following year will have their prize money reverted to zero.
2.15 All prize money won in ProTour or Premier Events will be subject to a 3% levy, to be paid directly to the PDPA in the form of deductions from prize money.
2.16 In respect of seedings for Players Championship events, the Players Championship Order of Merit will operate on a one-year rolling basis.
In respect of the qualification criteria for TV tournaments through the Players Championship or European Order of Merit these will operate on a one-year calendar basis.
2.17 Any player who declines an invitation to an invitational event may be denied an invitation to that or other invitational events in the future at the discretion of the PDC Board of Directors.
3. Invitations and Seedings
3.1 Invitations, seedings and structures for Premier Events in 2011 will be based on the Order of Merit and are played according to the following criteria:
2011/12 World Darts Championship
Cut-off date: November 28 2011
Seeds: Top 32 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:Top 32 in Order of Merit
Top 16 in Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
Top 4 in European Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
20 invitations at the PDC's discretion (non-UK qualifying events, PDPA qualifier)
2011 World Matchplay
Cut-off date:July 1 2011
Seeds:Top 16 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:Top 16 in Order of Merit
Top 16 in Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
2011 World Grand Prix
Cut-off date:September 18 2011
Seeds:Top 8 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:Top 16 in Order of Merit
Top 14 in Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
Top 2 nationals of Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland from the Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
2011 UK Open Finals
Cut-off date:May 22 2011
Seeds:Top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit exempt to last 64 and drawn randomly
33-64 in UK Open Order of Merit exempt to last 96 and drawn randomly
Qualifying Players:Top 96 plus ties from UK Open Order of Merit who have competed in at least two of the eight Qualifying Tournaments
32 Amateur Qualifiers (non-PDPA members) from specific events
2011 European Championship
Cut-off date:July 24 2011
Seeds:Top 8 in Order of Merit
Qualifying Players:Top 16 in Order of Merit
Top 8 in Players Championship Order of Merit not already qualified
Top 8 in European Order of Merit not already qualified
2012 Players Championship Finals
Cut-off date:November 27 2010
Seeds:Top 32 in Players Championship Order of Merit (drawn in seed pattern)
Qualifying Players:Top 32 in Players Championship Order of Merit
3.2 In the case of ties, the countback rule will apply; this will be the cumulative money won by a player in the previous four Order of Merit-eligible events. In cases where there is still a tie, this countback will continue one event at a time until there is a separation.
This applies to all tournaments except the UK Open, where the countback rule refers only to Qualifying Tournaments, and the Players Championship Finals, where the countback rule only refers to the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Where a player has qualified by virtue of the Players Championship Order of Merit or European Order of Merit, those Orders of Merit will be used to determine countback.
In the event of two or more players not being separated by countback, a play-off will take place played under the format of the first round of the relevant tournament.
3.3 Seedings for TV tournaments will be ordered as follows:
TOP HALF: 1-(16)-8-(9)-5-(12)-4-(13)
BOTTOM HALF: 2-(15)-7-(10)-6-(11)-3-(14)
Seedings for Players Championship events and the World Championship are ordered as follows:
TOP HALF: 1-32-16-17-8-25-9-24-5-28-12-21-4-29-13-20
BOTTOM HALF: 2-31-15-18-7-26-10-23-6-27-11-22-3-30-14-19
3.4 For PDC ranked events the seeding will be determined by the relevant Order of Merit at the time of the closing date for each particular tournament.
3.5 Seedings for Players Championships will be determined on a one-year rolling basis from the Players Championship Order of Merit with 32 seeds per event (or as many as entries permit).
3.6 In the event of a player not being able to participate in an event due to personal or disciplinary reasons, the next available non-qualified player from the Order of Merit through which the unavailable player qualified will be invited to participate in the event. In this instance, the players ranked below the unavailable player will all move up one place in the seedings, where appropriate.
3.7 PDPA members may choose to enter either their own nation's World Championship qualifying event or the PDPA Members qualifier - not both. The PDPA qualifier will be the last qualifying tournament held and will offer the appropriate number of spots required to fill the draw (ordinarily one, but in the event of a qualifying tournament not being played in time or the winner being unable to play in the event, their spot will pass to the PDPA qualifier). Therefore, all nation's qualifying tournaments must conclude prior to the PDPA qualifier being held.
3.8 Lapsed PDPA members are not eligible to qualify for the UK Open as Amateur Qualifiers for the next two UK Open Televised Finals following their membership terminating.
3.9 PDPA members who resign or otherwise terminate their membership are not entitled to enter ProTour tournaments or World Championship qualifying tournaments for a period of 12 months after the date of their membership ending.
4. ProTour
4.1 Entry to all Players Championship events staged in the UK is open only to Tour Card holders.
Tour Cards will be awarded to the following players:
Top 96 x full PDPA members from the PDC Order of Merit (having competed in at least 10 events which are counted on the PDC Order of Merit during the preceding two years) as of December 1 2010.
4 x semi-finalists from the 2011 Lakeside Championship
2 x finalists from the 2011 PDC World Under-21 Championship
2 x finalists from the 2010 PDC World Women's Championship
24 x players who progress from 2011 Q School
In the event that any players from the above list choose not to take up their Tour Card by a deadline determined by the PDC, extra places will be allocated to players from the Q School.
The Top 96 from the Order of Merit will receive a one-year Tour Card. The remaining qualifiers will receive a two-year Tour Card as their Order of Merit total will revert to £0 from January 3 2011 whereas the Top 96 retain their total of money won.
UK Open qualifying tournaments are open to all PDPA members.
In 2012, the PDC plans to award Tour Cards on the following basis (subject to change):
Top 64 x full PDPA members from the PDC Order of Merit (having competed in at least 10 events which are counted on the PDC Order of Merit during the preceding two years) following the completion of the 2011 ProTour events.
32 x Tour Card holders from 2011 Q School/invitations (Lakeside/Under-21/Women as above)
4 x semi-finalists from the 2012 Lakeside Championship
2 x finalists from the 2012 PDC World Under-21 Championship
2 x finalists from the 2011 PDC World Women's Championship
24 x players who progress from 2012 Q School (or more if all the above spaces are not filled).
4.2 All UK Players Championship events will have a 128-player draw. The deficit in entries from Tour Card holders will be made up by players from the Q School ranking list who will be invited in order of ranking depending on the number of places available per event.
4.3 Non-UK events are open to non-PDPA members who are not from the UK who must pay a supplement in addition to the entry fee. In the event of a player originally from the UK attempting to enter a non-UK event as a non-PDPA member, they must prove residency in the country for a period of at least two consecutive years prior to the date of the relevant tournament.
Non-UK players who have terminated or otherwise ended their PDPA membership will not be eligible to enter events for a period of 12 months from the date of their membership ending.
Depending on entry levels, the PDC may choose (and will advertise accordingly) to commence the last 128 of the tournament at a certain time once any preliminary round matches have been completed.
Tour Card holders are guaranteed a place in the last 128 of non-UK Players Championship events. Direct entrants who are non-Tour Card holders may be drawn in either the last 128 or last 256 depending on the luck of the draw and number of entries. Players who qualify through a qualifying tournament will only enter the tournament at the last 128 if the number of Tour Card holders and other direct entrants does not produce enough players to warrant a round of 256.
4.4 The entry fee for all Players Championship events is £100 for Tour Card holders.
The entry fee for Qualifying Tournaments for non-UK events is $25 (local dollars)/€25.
Non-PDPA members who are not from the UK may enter non-UK tournaments on payment of a fee plus Day Membership fee as detailed below.
Players Championships held in Europe:€110 + €15 Day Membership fee
Players Championships held in America:USA$140 + $15 Day Membership fee
Players Championships held in Canada:CAN$140 + $15 Day Membership fee
Players Championships held in Australia:AUS$100 + $15 Day Membership fee
The PDC may, at its discretion, adjust non-member entry fees for tournaments based on currency fluctuations or if tournaments are staged in territories deemed to be 'developing territories'.
4.5 The closing date for entries for the main draw will be 2pm on the Monday the week before each tournament is due to be played (for the avoidance of doubt, this is 12 days before a Saturday event).
The closing date for the qualifying tournament relating to each non-UK Players Championship event will be 2pm on the Wednesday the week before each tournament is due to be played (for the avoidance of doubt, this is 10 days before a Saturday event).
The PDC reserves the right to alter these times in the event of logistical issues. The list of entries for both the main draw and qualifying tournament will be published on pdc.tv before each tournament.
4.6 All PDPA members must enter through the PDC's online entry system. All non-PDPA members must enter through the PDC's local organiser with entry not accepted until payment is made.
Entry in to events as a Day Member constitutes acceptance of all PDC and DRA rules.
4.7 There shall be one qualifying tournament per non-UK Players Championship weekend which will count for both days' events and the number of places available will be a minimum of eight.
Qualifying tournaments will only take place if a minimum of 16 entrants are attained, with a maximum of 128 entrants permitted.
In the event of fewer than 16 players entering a qualifying tournament for a Players Championship, no qualifying tournament will be held and qualifying tournament entrants will be given the option to pay the additional balance of full entry to join the main draw.
The PDC may, at its discretion, alter the number of places available through qualifying tournaments with good reason.
Qualifying tournaments will be the best of nine legs throughout unless prior agreement with the PDC is made and advertised. The minimum length of matches will be best of five legs.
4.8 All ProTour main draw matches will be best of 11 legs throughout.
4.9 For UK Open Qualifying tournaments, the top 64 players from the PDC Order of Merit who have entered the event are exempt until the last 128 stage. These 64 exemptions are not seeded players and will be drawn at random although they will not play each other at the last 128 stage.
4.10 All ProTour tournaments will start at 12pm local time, with registration closing at 11am. Any player not registered by 11am will be omitted from the draw without exception.
4.11 Draws for ProTour events will be conducted following the closure of registration, with seedings adjusted accordingly in the event of an entered player who was due to be seeded not registering.
For non-UK Players Championship events, the top 64 ranked entrants on the Order of Merit at the closing date will be exempt to the last 128 stage.
4.12 All ProTour events will be held over one day. They will be played on 16 boards and will progress in a bracket format throughout.
4.13 Players who wish to withdraw from a tournament they have entered must do so in writing prior to the closing date if they wish to apply for a refund of their entry fee, which will only be considered with the support of a doctor's certificate or in the event of a serious family issue.
4.14 Byes will be awarded in order of a player's seeding. For example, if there is one bye, it will go to seed one; if there are two byes they will go to seeds one and two etc. In the event of a player failing to register in time, his place in the draw will be taken with a bye.
4.15 All games are 501 up, straight start and finishing on a double. The player on the left of the draw will throw first for the bull to determine who throws first in the first leg. The throw will then be reversed and alternate thereafter. All darts will be removed before each player throws.
4.16 Each ProTour event will operate on a "loser marks" basis and it is a condition of participation that the losing player of each match marks the following game, as directed by Tournament Officials. In genuine cases of disablement, a player may arrange for someone else to mark the next match on their behalf. It is the player's responsibility to ensure that someone replaces them and that this person can mark to a competent standard and is dressed as per the DRA rules.
In either case, the marker must be in place immediately following the completion of the previous game.
4.17 The first game on each board will be marked by the last player listed on the schedule of matches for that board.
4.18 Players may be asked by Tournament Officials to move from the board to which they were originally allocated to another board. These requests must be adhered to immediately to help the smooth running of the tournament.
5.Q School
5.1 Q School shall comprise four separate one-day events, all played over a best of 11 format as per Players Championship rules, between January 13-16 2011. The entry deadline shall be 2pm on Monday January 10 2011.
5.2 The four semi-finalists from each day's play shall be awarded a Tour Card and will not compete in the remainder of the Q School. The remaining eight (or more) Tour Cards will be awarded to the remaining players who occupy the qualifying positions in the Q School ranking list which shall be comprised of points as awarded in 5.3.
5.3 A ranking list shall be comprised based on the following criteria to determine the allocation of any additional Tour Cards as necessary:
Per leg won:1 point
Last 64 defeat:2 points
Last 32 defeat:3 points
Last 16 defeat:5 points
Last 8 defeat:9 points
In the event two or more players are tied on points, they will be separated in the ranking list by leg difference. If they are still tied, a countback, one event at a time, will be put in to operation until they can be separated. If they can not be separated after all matches have been taken in to consideration, a play-off will be organised.
5.4 Entry to the Q School shall cost £200 and be paid in advance. This fee shall count as a PDPA associate membership fee for players for the year. Players who achieve their Tour Card must upgrade to full PDPA membership at a cost of an additional £200 in order to be granted their Tour Card.
5.5 All players who reach the last 16 of the PDC Women's World Championship and PDC Under-21 World Championship will be invited in to the next Q School. If any of these players achieve a Tour Card through the Q School, they must pay £200 for PDPA membership before a Tour Card is granted to them.
6.General
6.1 Participation in all PDC events is subject to players adhering to the Darts Regulation Authority rulebook. Special attention is drawn to the rules referring to behaviour and dress.
6.2 The PDC reserves the right to remove any tournament from the calendar without prior notice but will endeavour not to add any tournament to the calendar without a minimum of three months notice.
6.3 The PDC reserves the right to consult with the PDPA to add or amend any or all of these rules at any time to meet any purpose deemed to be necessary at that time by the PDC's Board of Directors.
6.4 All match results and prize money awarded shall be recorded in all stages of all PDC tournaments and this information shall be published as soon as possible after a tournament has been concluded on pdc.tv.
6.5 This document will remain in force until the completion of all 2011 events unless otherwise advised.