Painter's Players Championship victory saw him gain a PDC wildcard into the Premier League Darts for the first time. He won his first game with an 8–6 win over Gary Anderson, despite averaging 82.67. Painter also had wins over Simon Whitlock, Andy Hamilton, and Adrian Lewis, but finished 7th in the 8 man league. At the World Matchplay, Painter suffered a 6–10 defeat to Steve Beaton in the first round. In October, Painter defeated Kim Huybrechts 2–0 in sets in the first round of the World Grand Prix without his opponent picking up a single leg, but then lost to Justin Pipe 2–3 in the last 16. Painter won two of his three Group C games at the Grand Slam of Darts to finish second in the table and qualify for the knockout stage, where he faced Mervyn King. From 2–2, Painter surged away by taking five straight legs and closed out the match 10–5, but then missed 30 of his 42 attempts at a double in the quarter-finals against Dean Winstanley as he lost 12–16. Painter finished 30th on the ProTour Order of Merit, just inside the top 32 who qualified for the Players Championship Finals. He began the defence of his 2011 title with a first round meeting against Michael van Gerwen, who had won eight tournaments this year, and lost 3–6.