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James Wade has appeared in all but one edition of the Grand Slam of Darts while Mickey Mansell is having his first crack at the age of 51 after stunning three-time champion Gerwyn Price in the qualifying event last week.
Mansell has never progressed far in any major he's featured in down the years and it's hard to imagine it starting now and we can probably expect Wade to begin his campaign with a pretty routine win.
Verdict: 5-1
Gary Anderson is the number one player in the world when it comes to seasonal averages and 180 hitting but he's struggled to convert his superb floor form to the major scene over the past couple of years.
That said, he reached the quarter-finals of this event 12 months ago before narrowly losing to eventual champion Luke Humphries, who was also responsible for his only group stage defeat, and he has statistically improved since then.
His current performance levels are keeping Father Time at bay, especially in short format tournaments, and he'll want to come out all guns blazing against Ryan Joyce to take the pressure off a meeting with Michael van Gerwen.
A victory and most 180s seems a pretty safe bet despite Ryan Joyce's obvious capabilities.
Verdict: 5-2
Statistically this is one of Dimitri Van den Bergh's weaker seasons but he's still managed to win a UK Open, reach two other televised semi-finals and also pick up a Players Championship title.
He saves his best for the big stage and with that in mind he should cruise past Lourence Ilagan who doesn't have the firepower to back up his fiery - albeit entertaining - temperament.
Verdict: 5-1
Michael Smith is another outright pick at huge odds and although that does require a bit of a leap of faith, I think he's great value with the Worlds looming.
First it's a case of getting the job done against Suljovic and as you can see above, Smith still leads his opponent in all major statistical categories despite a generally modest season by his high standards.
Close to 2/1 about Smith winning the match treble against the former semi-finalist, who was thumped in his opening match when last playing the event.
A repeat is on the cards.
Verdict: 5-2
Michael van Gerwen has endured a tough season by his standards but there will still be too big a gulf in class for Noa-Lynn van Leuven to overcome.
MVG will need a real off day to give the Women's Series qualifier a chance so for that reason I'd advise the match treble of him to win, hit most 180s and have the highest checkout.
Verdict: 5-1
Keane Barry is a journeyman veteran compared to Luke Littler despite only being 22 and playing most of his darts on the Development Tour.
The Irishman has played a whopping 100 matches since the start of September across all competitions and although he produced a good standard in the qualifying competition to book his Grand Slam spot, you just have to wonder if he'll burn himself out at this rate.
Littler, by contrast, has played about 50 games in the same time period and took a break after his early European Championship exit to rest up for this final push of the season and I can see this being quite a demolition job.
Verdict: 5-1
Luke Humphries should coast through Group A, starting with a routine victory over Rowby-John Rodriguez, who is only here by virtue of Austria's surprising run to the World Cup final.
There's a huge gulf in class when it comes to form, stats, experience and star quality and I can't see an upset here.
Cool Hand should dominate the 180s too and if he wins the vast majority of legs, then the high checkout will probably be his too.
Verdict: 5-1
Mike De Decker and Jermaine Wattimena both experienced career highs in October thanks to shock victories over Luke Humphries so it's pretty fitting they face each other in their opening match at the Grand Slam.
While De Decker upset the odds to land his maiden major title at the World Grand Prix, Warimena shot down the world number one en route to reaching the European Championship final which he eventually lost to fellow outsider Ritchie Edhouse.
Their seasonal stats are pretty similar when it comes to averages but De Decker is more consistent and has a much more prolific 180 per leg rate so I'm siding with the Belgian.
Verdict: 5-3
Stephen Bunting is one of my outright tips to not only win his group but also challenge for the title so I'm hoping the Bullet can make a fast start to his campaign in the opening match of the tournament.
Wessel Nijman is statistically one of the most dangerous players on the tour at the moment but he lacks major experience and that might prove the difference in what could be a thrilling clash with lots of maximums.
Both have healthy maximum per leg ratios this season and although Nijman's is marginally better, I do think if Bunting settles quicker he could well hit most 180s in victory. That's 11/4 and looks worth a bet.
Verdict: 5-3
Sunday November 10
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Monday November 11 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Tuesday November 12 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Wednesday November 13 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
Thursday November 14 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
Friday November 15
Evening Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Saturday November 16
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Sunday November 17
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)
Every session of the Grand Slam of Darts will be televised live on Sky Sports.
Group Stage (Potentially complicated!!)
The 32 players are drawn into eight groups of four players during the round-robin stage, and they will play each other once. The opening games are decided by a draw, with the second set of matches seeing the two winners from the first games meeting each other, and the two losers also playing each other. The third set of matches will consist of the pairings which have not previously met.
Two points are awarded for a win and no points will be awarded for a loss. Each game is the best of nine legs.
The top two players in each group will progress to the knockout phase. Should there be a two-way points tie for first place in any group, then the player with the best leg difference will be deemed to have won the group. If both players have the same leg difference, then the player who won the group match between the two players will be deemed to have won the group.
Should Points, Leg Difference, Tournament Average and Legs Won Against Throw not be able to separate three players, then if one player has defeated both of the other two players then this player will be deemed to have finished higher, and the winner of the group match between the remaining two players will be the ‘second’ of the three. Should the three players have secured one win apiece against each other, then a Nine-Dart Shoot-Out will be played between the relevant players to determine final standings, with the highest aggregate score over nine darts being used to separate players.
In the event a “Nine-Dart Shoot-Out” finishes level between two or more players, those players who have tied on the most points will continue to throw three darts each in the same order until one player scores more points than the other player(s) with his three darts.
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format.
Knockout stage (far more simple!)
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format. There will be no tie-break rule employed in any match.
Grand Slam of Darts Most Titles