The 1996 world champion Steve Beaton is giving his predictions to oddschecker throughout the 2025 World Darts Championship. 

His outright predictions for the event included Luke Littler to win the event, while his two best outsiders were Chris Dobey and Gerywn Price. 

"I think Luke will be good for a few years then get married, have kids and then you slightly drift off"

 

Missing out on this year's World Championship

SB: I mean they do it in golf, when you win a major, you qualify for the later ones. But I don’t think so. If qualified for 33 on the trot through merit so I don’t think it’d be right to be given a free pass. It would’ve been nice if this year if they’d given me a free entry, but it doesn’t work like that. They’ll probably start doing that next year now I’ve retired!  

Phil Taylor’s dominance of the sport

SB: When Phil (Taylor) came on the scene, he was like 10 points ahead of everybody, and it made everybody realise that you’ve got to play better. I don’t think anybody will beat his 16 World Championships, not even Luke Littler now.  

Phil wouldn’t have had it so easy now, no way. I think he would’ve found it a lot harder now but at the time he just seemed to be nine or 10 points ahead of everybody. You always had to get the 100 checkout against Phil because he was already on the double, that’s the only way you were going to win legs.  

Luke Littler's meteoric rise to stardom

SB: I think Luke will be good for a few years then get married, have kids and then you slightly drift off. I think he’ll make enough money in the next few years to finish anyway! 

 

The Nuke's failure to win Sports Personality of the Year

SB: Well, he got the Young Personality of the Year, and I didn’t think he was going to get the main one. I don’t think they really recognise darts as a sport, they just must put it in due to its popularity. However, if he has another good year, they’re going to be pushed not to give it to him. It’ll be interesting to see how this year goes.  

Steve's training routine in his pomp

SB: There were only 4/5 TV channels in my day so there was no chance I was going to stay at home in the evenings, it was more of a pub life then. I was in the pub virtually every night of the week. There was always somebody there to have a game with you, so that was my practice. I always felt playing against people was better practice than playing at home on your own.  

A changing of the darting culture...

SB: They started cleaning it up in the 90s, but you could have a pint on stage and a fag. Eric Bristow used to always have a big puff of smoke and blow it over the dartboard as he’s walking off, it was like playing through fog!  

I remember falling off stage once in Ireland. I did a commando role off and bounced back up, luckily, I don’t think anyone saw! 

The best trash talkers in the game

SB: No, not really. Eric (Bristow) was great at the talk; he’d talk you out of a game before you got up there. He said he’d do this and that and that made you want to beat him more. You’d then end up trying too hard and losing the game, not because he played better but just because he was talking during the game. 

In my hay day, he (Eric) used to be my idol. I used to love the way he said, I’m polishing the trophy up and taking it home with me. Nine times out of 10 he used to do that. He was probably the best at talking you out of a game.  

Dark horses to win the 2025 World Championship

SB: I think Gerwyn Price, they keep writing him off. I mean he was about 35/40-1 (now into 22/1). He’s got that attitude about him that he wants to win it. He doesn’t really mix with the others at tournaments, I think that comes from his rugby background. He’s there to win and not make friends, which is probably a good way to tackle it.  

Chris Dobey’s been playing well all year and I’m excited to see him play.  

Where to find the best darts atmosphere

SB: The best is when I played for England, when we played Scotland. To put an England shirt on and play for your country was a dream come true, with Eric Bristow as captain.  

Obviously, winning the World Championship at Lakeside, that was great. Lakeside could only hold around 1500 people, but the atmosphere was brilliant. Ally Pally can sometimes lose its atmosphere because it’s so big. 

Lakeside got the hairs on the back of your head standing because people were so close. They were also very knowledgeable about darts, they kept quiet when you were throwing, it was a different era from what it is now.  

Party at the Palace

SB: I think the problem with the Alexandra Palace is that it is a party. The Ally Pally is great for Christmas because everyone dresses up and enjoys themselves, however, everyone’s singing having it large, not actually watching the darts. That can be a slight problem, but I’d rather have loads of noise than it being too quiet in there. I’ve played after COVID and that was awful, you could hear somebody having a conversation.  

It was completely different at Lakeside, there was no singing and all that. The crowd would be quiet when you’re throwing your darts, they’d roar after you’d thrown and then go quiet again. Things have changed now; there’s no way you can keep 5000 people quiet; they’ll just be even louder.   

The worst thing is the whistling, that’s the one thing I hate. I think you should kick them out. It’s like somebody screaming, it just goes through your ears. But if the ref tries to stop one and kick them out, somebody else would just start! 

Origins of the Bronzed Adonis

SB: It was Tony Green who came up with it, back in the 90s. The Embassy (BDO World Championships) used to be held in January, so I’d always used to get away on holiday beforehand and come back with a tan. I didn’t realise until the end of the week, because you had to buy the VHS recordings, but Tony had called me the Bronzed Adonis and it stuck. Every year, I had to make sure I went on holiday! 

The best advice for youngsters trying to break into the professional scene

SB: I think the best thing a youngster can do is get into an academy, which they are setting up all over the country. Since last Christmas the academy scene has boomed. I didn’t think darts could get much bigger, lots of schools are getting darts board now and it helps with the kids' maths skills.  

Like I said, going into an academy where you will get paired with another kid at your level is the best way to improve. You can stand there practicing all day by yourself but it’s not going to give you that match feel. Playing against others is the best practice you can get.