# 2014 Premier League Darts

The 2014 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the tenth edition of the tournament. The event began at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Thursday 6 February, and ended at The O$_2$ Arena, London on Thursday 22 May. The tournament was shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. The new title sponsor was Betway.
Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion and he reached the final this year, but lost 10–6 to Raymond van Barneveld who won his first Premier League title.

## Players

The competitors were announced on 1 January 2014 following the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship final, with the top four players from the PDC Order of Merit to be joined by six Wildcards. The tournament format is identical to that of 2013, whereby after nine weeks the bottom two players are relegated. All players play each other once at that point. The remaining eight will then compete against each other in the final six rounds for the play-offs places.
Andy Hamilton (world no. 11) and 2009 Premier League Champion James Wade (world no. 6) did not return from last year, Wade there by missing out for the first time in seven years. PDC chairman Barry Hearn explained the decision was made to give Wade a rest to enable him more time to gain treatment for his health issues, but Wade released a statement the following day, describing the omission as "devastating" as he was "one of the four most consistent players in 2013". Wade also said he didn't ask to be left out and didn't decline an invitation, and that, with regards to the reason given by Hearn that he could gain treatment for his bipolar disorder, "no medical professional has suggested I take a break".
| Player | Appearance in Premier League | Consecutive Streak | Order of Merit rank | Previous best performance | Qualification |
| Michael van Gerwen | 2nd | 2 | 1 | Winner (2013) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Phil Taylor | 10th | 10 | 2 | Winner (2005–2008, 2010, 2012) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Simon Whitlock | 5th | 5 | 3 | Runner-up (2012) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Adrian Lewis | 7th | 5 | 4 | Runner-up (2011) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Dave Chisnall | 1st | 1 | 5 | Debut | PDC Wildcard |
| Peter Wright | 1st | 1 | 7 | Debut | PDC Wildcard |
| Wes Newton | 2nd | 2 | 8 | 9th place (2013) | PDC Wildcard |
| Robert Thornton | 2nd | 2 | 9 | 5th place (2013) | PDC Wildcard |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 9th | 9 | 10 | Semi-finalist (2006–09, 2011, 2013) | Sky Sports Wildcard |
| Gary Anderson | 4th | 4 | 17 | Winner (2011) | Sky Sports Wildcard |

## Venues

Week seven saw a tournament record attendance with 11,000 fans in Leeds, which was also the only new city introduced on the circuit this year, although Glasgow had a new arena with The SSE Hydro making its debut.

## Prize money

The prize-money was increased to £550,000 from £520,000 in 2013.
| Stage | Prize Money |
| Winner | £150,000 |
| Runner-up | £75,000 |
| Semi-finallists (x2) | £60,000 |
| 5th place | £50,000 |
| 6th place | £45,000 |
| 7th place | £35,000 |
| 8th place | £30,000 |
| 9th place | £25,000 |
| 10th place | £20,000 |
| Total | £550,000 |

## Results
### League stage

15 May – Week 15 (Phase 2)
Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth
Score
Dave Chisnall 92.054 – 7 Adrian Lewis 95.71
Gary Anderson 101.307 – 4 Raymond van Barneveld 95.65
Robert Thornton 95.185 – 7 Phil Taylor 101.29
Peter Wright 104.545 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 110.85
Night's Average: 99.57
Highest Checkout: Peter Wright 161 :

### Play-offs – 22 May

The O$_2$ Arena, London
| | Score | |
| Semi-finals (best of 15 legs) |||
| Michael van Gerwen 101.18 | 8 – 7 | Gary Anderson 99.07 |
| Raymond van Barneveld 92.27 | 8 – 5 | Phil Taylor 93.43 |
| Final (best of 19 legs) |||
| Michael van Gerwen 102.98 | 6 – 10 | Raymond van Barneveld 101.93 |
| Night's Average: 98.48 |||
| Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 116 |||

## Table and streaks
### Table

After the first nine weeks, the bottom two in the table were eliminated from the competition. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.
| # | Name | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | LF | LA | +/- | LWAT | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | A | HC | C% |
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen RU | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 102 | 75 | +27 | 39 | 207 | 156 | 55 | 102.00 | 164 | 40.80% |
| 2 | Raymond van Barneveld W | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 98 | 82 | +16 | 32 | 240 | 122 | 46 | 97.47 | 160 | 50.52% |
| 3 | Phil Taylor | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 92 | 80 | +12 | 37 | 244 | 111 | 41 | 101.36 | 144 | 38.02% |
| 4 | Gary Anderson | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 94 | 82 | +12 | 33 | 237 | 122 | 46 | 97.86 | 170 | 43.32% |
| 5 | Peter Wright | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 95 | 86 | +9 | 34 | 263 | 137 | 37 | 97.05 | 161 | 41.48% |
| 6 | Adrian Lewis | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 83 | 90 | −7 | 30 | 200 | 107 | 54 | 95.34 | 130 | 38.07% |
| 7 | Dave Chisnall | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 83 | 101 | −18 | 31 | 218 | 140 | 64 | 96.68 | 164 | 37.73% |
| 8 | Robert Thornton | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 84 | 100 | −16 | 26 | 215 | 125 | 63 | 94.86 | 137 | 35.00% |
| 9 | Wes Newton | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 39 | 54 | −15 | 15 | 129 | 48 | 25 | 93.80 | 149 | 31.71% |
| 10 | Simon Whitlock | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 58 | −20 | 13 | 99 | 62 | 25 | 92.97 | 170 | 43.18% |
Last updated: 16 May 2014 Source: Match reports from the results section.
Top four qualified for the Play-offs after Week 14. NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. A = Average C% = Checkout Percentage HC = High Checkout.

### Streaks

| Player | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 1st Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | 2nd Phase | | Play-offs | Play-offs |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | | SF | F |
| Michael van Gerwen | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | | W | L |
| Raymond van Barneveld | W | L | W | W | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | D | L | L | | W | W |
| Phil Taylor | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | D | D | D | W | D | W | | L | — |
| Gary Anderson | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | | L | — |
| Peter Wright | W | D | W | W | D | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | D | D | L | | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Adrian Lewis | W | W | L | L | D | D | W | D | D | D | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | D | W | W | | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Dave Chisnall | W | D | L | L | D | D | L | D | D | D | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Robert Thornton | L | L | W | D | D | L | D | D | DNP | DNP | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | W | W | L | L | | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Wes Newton | L | W | W | D | DNP | DNP | L | L | L | D | L | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Simon Whitlock | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | D | D | D | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Legend: | W | Win | D | Draw | L | Loss | DNP | Did not play | — | Eliminated |

### Positions by round

| Player | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Phil Taylor | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Gary Anderson | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Peter Wright | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Adrian Lewis | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Dave Chisnall | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Robert Thornton | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Wes Newton | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Simon Whitlock | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |