The UK Open is a PDC major that sees 160 players battle it out over three days to be crowned the champion at Butlin's Minehead Resort.
The tournament is one of the most entertaining and enthralling competitions on the darts circuit and the format of the event, with it having an unseeded draw after each round, has seen it earn the nickname of the 'FA Cup of Darts'.
Dates
The 2027 UK Open Darts will take place in March, 2027, although the exact dates have yet to be announced.
It's expected however, that it will take place over the first or second weekend of the month.
Prize Money
A bumper £750,000 prize pool will be available for the 2027 UK Open, with £120,000 of that being allocated to the winner.
Players will be guaranteed a cash prize, and crucial ranking points, as long as they avoid defeat in the last 160, where the 32 players eliminated from the event at that stage will depart empty handed.
Winner (1): | £120,000 |
Runner-Up (1): | £60,000 |
Semi-Final Losers (2): | £35,000 |
Quarter-Final Losers (4): | £20,000 |
Last 16 Losers (8): | £12,500 |
Last 32 Losers (16): | £7,500 |
Last 64 Losers (32): | £3,000 |
Last 96 Losers (32): | £2,000 |
Last 128 Losers (32): | £1,250 |
Last 160 Losers (32): | N/A |
Venue and Location
The UK Open Darts will once again be held at Butlins Minehead Resort in Somerset, the same venue which has typically played host since 2014.
The only occasion that it changed was in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, where it was held at Milton Keynes' Marshall Arena.
Butlins Skyline Pavilion can hold 5,000 fans and the weekend-long tournament is seen as one of the most vibrant events on the sport's calendar.
There is a main stage in the Skyline Pavilion, a second stage in the intimate Reds arena and multi-board action elsewhere in the venue.
Prior to moving to Butlins, the tournament was held for 11 years in the Premier Suite at Whites Hotel, situated in Bolton Wanderers' stadium, currently known as the Toughsheet Community Stadium, starting with the inaugural edition staged in 2003.
Line-up and Qualifying
160 players compete in the UK Open, including the top 128 in the PDC Order of Merit, leading to all the big names competing at Butlins.
Qualifying events for unseeded players are held across the UK, with 16 players qualifying through these events.
Format and Rules
The 160 competitors will enter the UK Open incrementally, with 64 players entering in the first round.
The 32 first round winners will then be joined by 32 players entering in the second and third rounds to leave the last 64 in the fourth round - which is where players ranked one to 32 enter.
No players are seeded for this event, which typically throws the competition wide open.
The draws for the first three rounds are made once the qualifiers are known, then from the fourth round onwards they are held on stage once the round prior has finished.
History
The UK Open was first staged in 2003 at the then-named Reebok Stadium in Bolton.
In 2014, the competition was moved to Butlin's resort in Minehead, and took on a new identity with it.
The first event in Somerset saw a huge shock when Aden Kirk, playing in his first televised match, beat defending and five-time champion Phil Taylor 9–7 in the third round.
Other upsets include amateur qualifier Barry Lynn recording a last-16 victory over the then-reigning world champion Gary Anderson in 2016, before Andrew Gilding sprung a significant surprise in ousting Michael van Gerwen in a memorable 2023 final.
Luke Littler is the defending champion, having gone back-to-back in 2025 and 2026, ironically beating James Wade in the final on both occasions.
