The PDC World Darts Championship starts at Alexandra Palace on Friday December 15.
Two-and-a-half weeks of darts awaits before the champion is crowned at the famous venue on January 3.
Michael Smith is the defending champion having beaten Michael van Gerwen in the 2023 showpiece to lift the trophy for the first time.
Here, we look at five competitors to keep an eye on during the tournament and their PDC Darts World Championship 2024 odds.
Luke Humphries 3/1
Humphries is in the form of his life and the man to beat at Ally Pally.
The 28-year-old has won his last three tournaments, having claimed his maiden major at the World Grand Prix in October and followed it up with the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship titles.
Humphries produced an astonishing comeback to win the latter in Minehead, winning the last six legs to stun Michael van Gerwen.
The quarter-finals is the furthest he has advanced at the worlds but he has the confidence to go all the way.
Michael van Gerwen 7/2
Van Gerwen has not let his defeat to Smith in the last World Championship final affect him with a decent year on the circuit.
But the Dutchman, despite winning the world title three times, seems to get weighed down by the pressure at Ally Pally and has three runners-up finishes to his name, including 2020 and 2023.
Nobody should bet against Van Gerwen claiming his first world title since 2019, though.
Gerwyn Price 4/1
Price beat Gary Anderson in 2021 to claim the title but has failed to advance past the quarter-finals in the last two years, including last time when he resorted to wearing ear defenders to try and block out the crowd noise in a 5-1 defeat to Gabriel Clemens.
The Welshman is in a tough side of the draw, with a potential fourth-round match against Anderson and a potential quarter-final with Peter Wright, Raymond van Barneveld or James Wade.
Michael Smith 10/1
Smith has struggled to live up to the billing of world champion during 2023 after stunning Van Gerwen in the final, where he produced a nine-dart finish in the greatest leg in the history of the sport.
If, as expected, the 33-year-old faces Stowe Buntz in the second round, he will need to be at his best after the flamboyant American reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam after topping a group including Stephen Bunting, Wright and Dave Chisnall.
Rob Cross 14/1
It’s getting towards five years since Cross turned off ‘The Power’ for good with a remarkable display to beat Phil Taylor.
Cross won the World Matchplay the year after and two European Championships since then but others majors have eluded him.
He showed impressive form at the Grand Slam, losing in the final to Humphries, to suggest he could be in with a shout.
Best of the rest
Anderson (14/1) beat Price in Wolverhampton to show he can still mix it with the big boys but has a tough draw while fellow Scot Wright (20/1) has struggled to back up his belief with performances.
Chisnall and Nathan Aspinall (both 33/1) and Bunting (40/1) will all be decent outside shouts.
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