World Professional Darts Championship
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game. Each organisation, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) now organise their own World Championship in January. As a result, there is no longer a unified World Champion in the game. Phil Taylor has won 16 world titles, 2 in the BDO and 14 in the PDC version, and is widely considered the greatest player ever.
The BDO have organised their version dating back to 1978, when it was held at the Heart of the Midlands nightclub, Nottingham. The following year it moved to the Jollees Cabaret Club, Stoke, where it stayed until 1985. Since then it has been held at the Lakeside Leisure Complex at Frimley Green, Surrey.
The PDC version started in 1994 after "the split", with a field of players containing all active previous World Champions from the BDO. It was originally staged at Purfleet's Circus Tavern, Essex before moving to Alexandra Palace for the 2008 World Championship.
Men's winners
By player
The following sortable table lists all winners of both versions of the World Championship (correct as of 4 January 2015).
| Player | Total | BDO | PDC |
|---|---|---|---|
 Phil Taylor |
16 | 2 | 14 |
| Eric Bristow |
5 | 5 | - |
 Raymond van Barneveld |
5 | 4 | 1 |
| John Lowe |
3 | 3 | - |
 John Part |
3 | 1 | 2 |
| Martin Adams |
3 | 3 | - |
 Jocky Wilson |
2 | 2 | - |
| Dennis Priestley |
2 | 1 | 1 |
| Ted Hankey |
2 | 2 | - |
| Adrian Lewis |
2 | - | 2 |
| Gary Anderson |
2 | - | 2 |
| Scott Waites |
2 | 2 | - |
 Leighton Rees |
1 | 1 | - |
| Keith Deller |
1 | 1 | - |
| Bob Anderson |
1 | 1 | - |
| Richie Burnett |
1 | 1 | - |
| Steve Beaton |
1 | 1 | - |
| Les Wallace |
1 | 1 | - |
| John Walton |
1 | 1 | - |
 Tony David |
1 | 1 | - |
| Andy Fordham |
1 | 1 | - |
| Jelle Klaasen |
1 | 1 | - |
| Mark Webster |
1 | 1 | - |
| Christian Kist |
1 | 1 | - |
| Michael van Gerwen |
1 | - | 1 |
| Stephen Bunting |
1 | 1 | - |
| Scott Mitchell |
1 | 1 | - |
Women's winners
|
British Darts Organisation (current sponsors: Lakeside)
|
Professional Darts Corporation (current sponsors: Unicorn)
|
By player
The following sortable table lists all winners of both versions of the World Championship (correct as of 1 January 2014).
| Player | Total | BDO | PDC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trina Gulliver |
10 | 10 | - |
 Anastasia Dobromyslova |
3 | 3 | - |
| Lisa Ashton |
2 | 2 | - |
| Francis Hoenselaar |
1 | 1 | - |
 Stacy Bromberg |
1 | - | 1 |
