European Darts Trophy 2026 Predictions: Smudger to win in Germany?

After the excitement of the UK Open and yet another major win for Luke Littler, we're back into the meat and drink of the European Tour in Germany.

Of course, our resident darts tipster Sean Rafferty is back on board and here are his European Darts Trophy Betting Tips...

History, Location and Format

The 2026 European Darts Trophy is the eighth running of this PDC event and is the second time it's been held since since its relaunch last year. It forms the second of fifteen events on the PDC European Tour this season.

The event is once again being held at Lokhalle in Göttingen, Germany and runs from Friday, March 13th to Sunday, March 15th. It will be aired on PDC and Viaplay in the UK.

The 48 strong field features all the top 16 in the world, the next 16 from the Pro Tour order of merit and 16 regional qualifiers.

The defending champion is Nathan Aspinall, who beat Ryan Joyce 8-4 in the 2025 final.

Prize Money

There is a prize fund of £230,000 on offer to the 48 participants, with £35,000 going to the winner.

1.25 units Ross Smith each-way @ 18/1

Looking at the top end of the outright market, I think Ross Smith looks the best value to be had. He’s without doubt one of the best players on tour who’s yet to taste silverware on the European Tour. He hasn’t necessarily got a bad record though, he’s regularly been in the business end, making three finals since April 2024. Ironically, he’s won the European Championship itself, so shouldn’t be afraid of getting over the finishing line.

The form is pretty good for Smudger - he’s already got a Pro Tour title to his name this year, thrashing Chris Dobey 8-2 in the final and winning all seven matches that day by three legs or more. He’s averaged 95+ in 11 of his last 14 matches, showing an incredible amount of consistency. Ross sits sixth in the world for overall averages in 2026 at 97.29.

If he can hover around the high 90s through the course of this tournament then it could be enough to go deep this weekend when you look at his section of the draw - he’ll face Dave Chisnall or Jeffrey De Zwaan in his opening match on Saturday, before a last 16 encounter against Stephen Bunting if results go the way they should, he’d be confident of a win there too as Bunting as struggling a tad lately. Only Jonny Clayton is playing as well as Smith in this quarter and at almost double the odds, Ross is the clear value.

0.5 units Martin Schindler each-way @ 40/1

I’ve not been on Schindler due to a quiet start to the year and some indifferent performances from the little German. We’ve seen as low as a 65 average this year from Martin but his last few performances on the Pro Tour and UK Open have been more promising - he’s averaged 104, 98, 97 and 94 in his last four matches. He’s a completely different animal when playing on home soil though and I expect him to bring the best version of himself this weekend.

Schindy has won three European Tour events and made a further three semi-finals over the course of the last two years, which makes the odds of 50/1 look huge, even if the form has been patchy recently. The draw for Schindler makes the bet all the more appealing - he could have had a tougher opening tie than Richard Veenstra or fellow countryman Florian Hempel, before a potential last 16 match against Ryan Searle who’s struggling for his best form since the World Championship.

I usually find Schindler to be a value pick on the European Tour. With an inconsistent Van Gerwen being the main threat in his section of the draw, this tournament looks an ideal opportunity for The Wall to strike at appetising odds of 50/1.

0.25 units Paul Krohne each-way @ 500/1

An ambitious selection to finish off our outright card this week but one that could develop into a very promising one, if he can get through the first round or two. In my eyes, Krohne is without doubt one of the best players currently without a tour card. He does things his own way in terms of what he chooses to play in but wherever he is he’s playing to a consistently decent level - Paul won the WDF Dutch Open in February, a brilliant achievement when you consider the huge field of players that take part in it. He also won a NextGen event this year, with averages of 105, 99, 99 and 97 along the way.

On paper, his section of the draw looks difficult, but there’s a few players in there who I think could potentially buckle if the home crowd are vocal on Krohne’s side - Cameron Menzies being the first one who he plays in the opening round, with the likes of Rock, De Decker, Nijman and Dobey all being vulnerable if they’re on the receiving end of a hostile crowd. Krohne’s a confident player who looks comfortable on the big stage and there’s far worse bets at 500/1, the German is definitely worth a small stake.

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