180! The highest earning darts players of all time

With the new Premier League Darts season now in full swing (or should that be full throw?) and after Adrian Lewis claimed the UK Open crown at the weekend, what better time to take a more detailed look at how certain individuals became, in some cases quite literally, giants of the game.

The beauty of darts is that it contradicts everything we believe to be true. Charles Darwin spent 20 years gathering evidence for his widely accepted ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, yet all his hard work has been undone by some unfit homosapiens, complete with nicknames and paunch, drawing huge crowds by throwing arrows at a board.

But how does the implicit genius of these elite professional athletes translate into cold hard cash? Let’s take a look at darts' top five earners. From the early days of Eric Bristow and Bobby George throwing their darts half-cut with cigarettes dangling from their mouths, to the stadium packing superstars we see today. And remember, it’s scoring for show, and doubles for dough!

1. Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor - £5,871,000
Phil Taylor grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and left school at 16 to work in one of the city’s famed ceramics factories making toilet roll handles. As luck would have it, Taylor moved closer to the Crafty Cockney pub owned by darting hall-of-famer Eric Bristow, who was quick to spot his prodigious talent. Bristow offered Taylor £10,000 to help him turn pro, and the rest, as they say, is history. On his way to earning nearly £6million in career prize money, ‘The Power’ has hit 17 nine darters and won 16 world championships.

2. Raymond van Barneveld - £2,095,000
This genuine Barney Rubble doppelganger, hence his nickname ‘Barney’, has been the long time nemesis of Phil Taylor, and, despite winning five world championships, can count himself unlucky not to have won a whole lot more. Still, over £2million in prize money is enough of a consolation for anybody. In recent years there have been signs that Barney’s powers are starting to wane having recently fallen out of the PDC’s top ten, but with his silky smooth throw and serene presence at the oche, he is always a pleasure to watch.

3. James Wade - £1,727,000
James Wade aka ‘The Machine’ is a baby in darting terms at just 30, so this former mechanic has plenty of years ahead of him to fatten his coffers and take home some of the game’s biggest prizes. With an impressive seven major titles to his name including the World Grand Prix, World Matchplay and the Premier League of Darts, Wade is already the second most successful player in the history of the PDC. However, his recent non-selection for the 2014 Premier League is a stumbling block Wade will have to bypass on his route to darting glory.

4. Adrian Lewis - £1,642,000
Lewis is affectionately nicknamed ‘Jackpot’ after missing out on a $75,000 casino pot due to US gaming law age restrictions. Fortunately for Lewis however, the bad luck stopped there. Now ‘Jackpot’ is the proud owner of two world championships at the age of just 28. Renowned for his quick throw and relentless scoring, Lewis is another powerhouse to emerge from the darting hotbed of Stoke-on-Trent, and with Phil Taylor as a mentor, it’s hardly surprising his oche is paved with gold.

5. Michael Van Gerwen - £1,362,000
At just 24, ‘Mighty’ Michael van Gerwen is arguably the most exciting player in the world of darts today. Having scooped the recent world title and sitting proudly atop of the world rankings, ‘Mighty Mike’ already seems set for darting immortality. Van Gerwen has a reputation for blowing even the highest calibre competitor clean off the oche with his rapid and relentless scoring. And, with a tendency to hit sensational nine darters in big televised games, he has swiftly established his place as a real fan favourite.

So how can us mere mortals try and make money on the darts?

Given that most of us have realised how difficult it is not to consistently hit a 1 instead of a 20 after a few drunken ‘arrers’ down the local, the only way for us mere mortals to try and make a pretty penny from darts is via some canny bets.

So as an exhilarating addition to traditional fixed odds betting, spread betting on darts offers a multitude of selections from Total Legs Played to Highest Match Checkout.

While I can’t promise it will end up making you even a small fraction of the amounts listed above – indeed you can actually end up losing more than your initial stake with spread bets – it’s certainly a way to make the action on the oche even more exciting when watching from your armchair.