For many, darts is a game played with a pint in hand at the local pub.
But for the top 96 players who take part in the World Championship each year, darts is an exciting professional game that requires hours of dedicated training.
With a total of £2.5 million up for grabs, rivals and losers compete against each other over 16 days to crown a new darts champion.
This year, Luke Humphries beat teenage sensation Luke Littler at Alexandra Palace in January to pocket a whopping £500,000.
Nicknamed Cool Hand Luke, the world number one has earned £1.8 million in prize money over the past two years.
But these dazzling riches are a world away from what Humphries, 29, is used to.
Born in Newbury, Berkshire, Humphries used to work as a roofer alongside his father, Mark, and brother, Stuart.
Since darts isn’t as lucrative as other individual sports (until you win), FEMAIL looks at all the normal jobs players have to pay the bills.
Luke Humphries, who used to work as a roofer, has won £1.8 million in prizes in the last two years.
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor: waiter
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor has amassed 14 Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship titles and held first place in the world rankings for an astonishing 13 years.
But before the world’s greatest darts player hit oche on some of the sport’s biggest stages, Taylor’s first job was making pottery in a factory at the age of 16.
He also used to weld cars and supplemented his income by working in a local pub in Tunstall at weekends.
Michael van Gerwen: tiler
The second most successful player in PDC history, after Phil Taylor, is Michael van Gerwen.
Before turning professional shortly after turning 18, van Gerwen was a tiler.
Speaking to The Mirror in 2020, the Dutch darts player said: “When I was placing those chips, I never thought I would be a millionaire when I was 24.
“But it shows that if you work hard and do well in big tournaments, you can make a living being a professional darts player.”
Now, van Gerwen is worth around £6million.
Phil Taylor has amassed 14 PDC championships. His first job was making ceramics in a factory at the age of 16.
Michael van Gerwen used to lay tiles. He is now worth around £6 million.
Michael Smith: farmer
In 2023, the PDC champion was Michael Smith, and you would be forgiven if his nickname ‘Bully Boy’ refers to his ability to hit the target.
Instead, the nickname refers to Michael’s days as a grazier in Littleborough.
The job, which the player admitted was “difficult”, included helping to deliver calves.
“That’s where I got my nickname Bully Boy; it had nothing to do with darts,” he said. The mirror back in 2018.
‘When the cows calved, the farm owner asked me to help him mark the newborn calves. (…) They beat me with cow boots and cow dung.
‘They didn’t always like it and I had one on his back, with his fingers in his nose and his legs in the air.
“He called me a bully and that’s how the nickname stuck.
“For the record, I’m not a bully or an aggressive person by nature, far from it, but when I needed a nickname, that’s what came to mind.”
Michael Smith won the PDC Championship in 2023
His nickname, ‘Bully Boy’, refers to his days as a cattle farmer in Littleborough.
Robert Owen: delivery driver
Robert Owen, from Bridgend in Wales, advanced to the third round of the PDC World Championships after defeating ‘German giant’ Gabriel Clemens yesterday.
But even with £500,000 at stake, the 40-year-old loves his job so much he has said he won’t quit if he wins.
Nicknamed Stack Attack, the father of three has worked as a delivery driver for the Iceland Food Warehouse. since June 2023 and combines his part-time contract with arrow practice for three hours a day.
The Welshman said: “I work as a delivery driver in Iceland on a part-time contract, but I manage to cover it all.”
“I practice darts three hours a day, even if I work overtime and I also have a 14-year-old, a 10-year-old and a seven-month-old baby, so it’s all good.”
The aspiring sportsman says he feels like he is living a double life and says many colleagues didn’t realize he was a professional darts player until he told them about his upcoming free time a couple of weeks ago.
He said: ‘I book free time as soon as I know I’m going to be out (playing darts). “I would definitely keep my job as a delivery driver in Iceland if I won the tournament because when I go to work, I don’t classify it as work, I just enjoy it.”
Richard Walker, Iceland’s chief executive, has promised to install a “full practice pitch” in the staff room when the darts ace returns to work after the tournament.
Robert Owen has been working as a delivery driver for Iceland Food Warehouse since June 2023.
The Welshman said: “I would definitely keep my job as a delivery driver in Iceland if I won the tournament because when I go to work, I don’t classify it as work, I just enjoy it.”
Gary Anderson: builder
Some of the greatest darts players in history began their careers in pubs, including two-time world champion Gary Anderson.
The Scot was in the construction sector before moving south of the border to run The Wellington Arms in Rooksbridge, Somerset, on behalf of fellow PDC star Steve Grubb.
Together with his wife, he ran the pub for four years until it reached the Premier League, which required him to be on the road for a minimum of 15 weeks a year.
And the Flying Scotsman revealed he used to practice more while working as a publican than he does now.
“I practiced more when I had the pub than now,” he told Inapub magazine in 2011. “I have a darts room at home, but it’s not the same.”
Noa-Lynn van Leuven: sous chef
In October, Noa-Lynn van Leuven made history when she became the first transgender woman to win a PDC Tour event, securing her a place at Alexandra Palace, affectionately known as Ally Pally.
When he’s not throwing darts on the World Championship stage, van Leuven prepares cakes and desserts as a sous chef.
Gary Anderson ran a pub with his wife for four years until he reached the Premier League.
When she’s not throwing darts on the World Championship stage, Noa-Lynn van Leuven prepares cakes and desserts as a sous chef.
“I have two big hobbies,” he said. ‘One of them is darts and the other is cooking. So I made both my job.
‘I’ve been working in kitchens for about 12 years, and I’ve been out of them for about a year and a half, and I really miss cooking.
“So I’m not sure if I’ll ever take up darts full time. Maybe if it gets too busy I’ll say I’ll just focus on darts, but for now I’m enjoying my time in the kitchen.
‘It also relieves my stress a bit. We all know Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen and it can be like that in our kitchen sometimes, but I enjoy working there.’