James Wade and Mike de Decker get the action underway at the Winmau World Masters on Friday night. Both players will be keen to bounce back from their respective early exits at the 2025 World Darts Championships. De Decker is the firm favourite for the win here but the smarter selection could be to support the Belgian to hit the most 180s. ‘The Real Deal’ is one of the deadliest players on the darting circuit when it comes to unfurling 180s. That is evidenced by the fact de Decker delivered a whopping total of 518 maximums across 2024. That monstrous 180 return had the Belgian ace rubbing shoulders with the PDC’s elite on the 180 leaderboard last year, with only six other players posting a higher maximum count. In contrast, Wade is not well renowned for being a heavy 180 scorer. ‘The Machine’ tallied 271 maximums across the most recent calendar year, a considerable 247 fewer than round one opponent de Decker. In his one and only outing at the 2025 World Darts Championships, Wade lost the 180 battle on his way to defeat against Jermaine Wattimena, and a repeat looks likely here against serial maximum hitter de Decker.

Fresh off the back of an impressive showing at the 2025 World Darts Championships, Chris Dobey will look to hit the ground running by overcoming Ryan Searle in round one of the Winmau World Masters on Friday night. While ‘Hollywood’ warrants favouritism in this clash, ‘Heavy Metal’ tends to be an awkward opponent for anyone he toes the oche with. Instead, look to Dobey to deliver at least 4 180s. The Newcastle ace demonstrated his proficiency for putting 180s on the board throughout 2024, racking up a combined total of 485 across the year. That maximum output saw Dobey end the year ranked a very creditable ninth on the PDC’s 180 charts. The 34 year-old was frequently filling up the treble 20 bed at the recent World Darts Championships, tallying an overall total of 41 maximums en-route to the semi-finals. He comfortably covered the 4+ line in each of his five Ally Pally outings, not to mention he hit five 180s when losing 6-5 to Raymond van Barnevled at the Dutch Darts Masters last weekend. Given that Searle could well push Dobey the full distance on Friday night, ‘Hollywood’ looks worth siding with to hit a minimum of 4 180s.

Newly-crowned world champion Luke Littler will get his Winmau World Masters campaign up and running against Andy Baetens on Friday night. Unsurprisingly, Littler is the outright favourite, and he should ease himself into the tournament by getting the better of preliminary round qualifier Baetens. With ‘The Nuke’ massively unbackable here at 1.06, instead look to him to overcome a -2.5 start on the 180 handicap. Littler was hitting 180s for fun across 2024, crashing in a record-breaking total of 836 maximums. What’s more, on his way to winning his maiden world title earlier this month, Littler also comfortably scooped the Ballon D'Art award for hitting the most 180s (76). The teenage sensation’s Ally Pally heroics were made all the more impressive by the fact that he won the 180 count by a margin of 4 or more in 5 of his 6 victories. Littler also came out on top in the 180 battle in each of his 3 outings at last week’s Dutch Darts Masters. Opening round opponent Baetens placed 129th for 180s scored across 2024, amassing a lowly total of 152, and that only adds to the appeal of backing Littler to clear a -2.5 hurdle.