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The World Darts Championship now has more players and more 180s than ever, but its individual record has not moved. Anyone reading the World Darts Championship odds on 180s should know the field grew from 96 to 128 players for the 2026 edition, which changed what counts as a big tournament total. One player’s tally from more than four years ago is still the mark everyone is chasing.
Michael Smith, 83 in 2022
Smith hit 83 maximums at the World Championship that finished in January 2022, the most by one player at a single edition. He played six matches on the way to the final, against Ron Meulenkamp, Willie O’Connor, Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, James Wade and Peter Wright. That works out at almost 14 a match. The previous record was Gary Anderson’s 71.
Smith lost the final 7-5 to Wright, but his 24 maximums in that match equalled the World Championship record for one player in a single game. Wright had set it against Anderson in the semi-final a day earlier. Smith went back a year later and won the title, beating Michael van Gerwen in the final.
Luke Littler has come closest
Littler hit 76 maximums on his way to the 2025 title, which he won 7-3 against Van Gerwen. That earned him the Ballon d’Art, the award for the most 180s at the tournament, and it is the nearest anyone has come to Smith since.
He retained the title in January 2026 with a 7-1 win over Gian van Veen and took the Ballon d’Art again with 73. The bigger draw meant all 32 seeds started in the first round, so Littler played seven matches rather than six. He finished with three fewer maximums despite the extra game.
Luke Humphries also reached 73 in 2024, when he beat Littler 7-4 in the final and won the first Ballon d’Art. Prostate Cancer UK puts Littler’s total across his three World Championships at 212.
How the tournament total has grown
The 2023 World Championship set a record of 901 maximums, the edition Smith won. The 2024 tournament raised it to 914. That record held through the 2025 event and was still standing when the field grew from 96 to 128 players.
The 2026 tournament then finished with 1,127, beating the old mark by 213. Each maximum triggered a £1,000 donation to Prostate Cancer UK, so the 180s alone were worth more than £1.1 million to the charity.
More 180s, but fewer per match
The record total came from extra matches rather than heavier scoring. A 96-player knockout has 95 matches, and a 128-player draw has 127. The 914 maximums in 2024 work out at about 9.6 a match. The 1,127 in 2026 work out at about 8.9.
Most of the 32 extra matches were first-round games played over a best of five sets, which leaves less room for maximums than the longer matches later in the event. Many of the extra players were also debutants, with a record 28 making their first World Championship appearance in 2026.
The individual numbers show the same thing. Littler’s 73 in 2026 were 6.5% of the tournament total. Humphries’ 73 in 2024 were 8% of a smaller one.
What it would take to beat Smith
Seeds now play seven matches to win the title, one more than Smith played in 2022. To pass 83, a player would need to average almost 12 maximums a match all the way through. Littler averaged about 10 a match in 2026, so even the best scorer in the sport fell 10 short. For anyone following darts betting on maximums, the tournament total should keep rising with the bigger field, but Smith’s record has proved much harder to touch.