World Darts Championship tiebreaker rules: When is sudden death played and how many legs do you have to win set by?

BIG time darts is back this weekend as the PDC World Championship returns to our screens.

The likes of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen will all be vying to win the coveted Sid Waddell trophy in January.

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Luke Humphries beat over Luke Littler 7-4 in last year’s final[/caption]

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But first they’ve got to get past a gruelling schedule, one requires SEVEN victories to lift the big one.

Unlike most of the tour calendar, in which you have to win a certain number of legs to win the match, the PDC World Darts Championship will be decided on set play.

It’s even possible that you could win more legs than your opponent, but still exit the tournament by losing more sets.

SunSport have the lowdown on all things format, tiebreaks and sudden death legs.

What is the PDC World Darts Championship format?

The first round of the World Champs is a best of five sets. To win a set you have to win a best of five legs series.

The number of sets needed to win increases as the tournament goes on until the final, where the first person to win the most sets out of 13 (first to seven) will win the entire tournament.

• First round: Best of 5 sets (first to 3)
• Second round: Best of 5 sets (first to 3)*
• Third round: Best of 7 sets (first to 4)
• Fourth round: Best of 7 sets (first to 4)
• Quarterfinals: Best of 9 sets (first to 5)
• Semifinals: Best of 11 sets (first to 6)
• Final: Best of 13 sets (first to 7)

*From this round on, the deciding set has to be won by two clear legs.

When is there a tiebreak and sudden death?

From the second round onwards, you can no longer win the final set by just one leg.

E.g. if the score is 2-2 in sets and in the final set the score is 2-2, the two players will keep on playing until the final set is won by TWO clear legs.

So the final set can be won 3-0, 3-1, 4-2 or 5-3.

If, however, the score reaches 5-5, then a sudden death leg will be played and the winner of that leg will win the final set 6-5.

There is no throw for bullseye to determine who goes first in that sudden death leg. Whoever is on throw will throw first.