Grand Slam of Darts 2014: Dates, Draw, Live Stream, TV Info, Prize Money

Phil Taylor gets his defence of the Grand Slam of Darts underway this Saturday as a strong and eclectic field converges on the Wolverhampton Civic Hall for the 2014 edition of the nine-day competition.

Taylor has dominated the event, now in its eighth year, winning it five times. Raymond van Barneveld and Scott Waites are the only other men who have won the title.

It is a unique UK event in the darts world, as it sees 32 players from a combination of both the PDC and BDO/WDF systems come together in competition.

Read on for a full look at all the necessary details in anticipation of what should be a stunning nine days of darts with all of the sport's biggest names on show.

Dates: Nov. 8-16 

TV Info: Sky Sports (UK only)

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK only)

Prize Fund: £400,000

Preview

Francois Nel/Getty Images

There is another irregularity about the Grand Slam of Darts in that, in a departure from usual practice, it includes a group stage before the straight knockout rounds.

Here are the groups for this year's event, as well as the opening-day fixtures: 

Group A
	Michael van Gerwen
	Kim Huybrechts
	Jan Dekker
	Darren Webster
Group B
	Alan Norris
	Scott Waites
	Terry Jenkins
	Ronny Huybrechts
Group C
	Adrian Lewis
	Dave Chisnall
	Keegan Brown
	Rowby-John Rodriguez
Group D
	Raymond van Barneveld
	Robert Thornton
	Vincent van der Voort
	Robbie Green
Group E
	Phil Taylor
	Andy Hamilton
	Christian Kist
	Richie George
Group F
	Peter Wright
	Simon Whitlock
	Michael Smith
	Brendan Dolan
Group G
	James Wade
	Mervyn King
	Tony O'Shea
	Jamie Caven
Group H
	Stephen Bunting
	Gary Anderson
	Dean Winstanley
	Wesley Harms

Saturday Session	Fixtures (Group)
Afternoon	Kim Huybrechts vs. Jan Dekker (A)
Afternoon	Scott Waites vs. Terry Jenkins (B)
Afternoon	Robert Thornton vs. Vincent van der Voort (D)
Afternoon	Alan Norris vs. Ronny Huybrechts (B)
Afternoon	Dave Chisnall vs. Keegan Brown (C)
Afternoon	Michael van Gerwen vs. Darren Webster (A)
Afternoon	Raymond van Barneveld vs. Robbie Green (D)
Afternoon	Adrian Lewis vs. Rowby-John Rodriguez (C)
Evening	Andy Hamilton vs. Christian Kist (E)
Evening	Stephen Bunting vs. Wesley Harms (H)
Evening	Mervyn King vs. Tony O'Shea (G)
Evening	Peter Wright vs. Brendan Dolan (F)
Evening	Gary Anderson vs. Dean Winstanley (H)
Evening	Phil Taylor vs. Richie George (E)
Evening	Simon Whitlock vs. Michael Smith (F)
Evening	James Wade vs. Jamie Caven (G)

The afternoon session begins at 1:30 p.m. GMT. The evening session commences at 7 p.m. GMT. 

Group G is a fascinating pool, as it guarantees a rematch of Sunday's epic Masters final, which eventually saw the in-form James Wade come from 9-2 down to beat Mervyn King 11-10.

King will be itching for revenge, but his first group encounter comes against Tony O'Shea, while Wade opens up against Jamie Caven to finish off Saturday's action.

While Wade will certainly be one to watch after his recent victory, the man to beat and the top seed is Michael van Gerwen, who has been on fire recently, winning both the European Championship and the World Grand Prix in October.

He lost to King last weekend, per Live Darts, and will be looking to return to winning ways as soon as possible. He faces Darren Webster in his first match.

Taylor kicks off his defence against former Lakeside Championship semi-finalist Richie George, with the second seed also set to meet Andy Hamilton and Christian Kist in Group E.

Former winner Van Barneveld showed his quality in his agonising Masters defeat to Van Gerwen in Edinburgh, per PDC, but he will fancy himself to go far at the Grand Slam despite a tough group of last year's runner-up Robert Thornton, Vincent van der Voort and Robbie Green:

The quality keeps on coming, with Adrian Lewis surely set to be a contender come the business end of the tournament. He takes on Rowby-John Rodriguez in his Saturday opener.

Lakeside's 2014 champion, Stephen Bunting, faces the irrepressible Gary Anderson in Group H, while the other members of that pool, Dean Winstanley and Wesley Harms, are hardly pushovers.

Group F is incredibly difficult to call, with only two of Peter Wright, Simon Whitlock, Michael Smith and Brendan Dolan set to make it through to the last 16, which begins on Wednesday.

There is so much quality set to be on show in Wolverhampton that the Grand Slam is one of the toughest tournaments of the year to call.

Taylor has unbelievable form in the competition, but he may yet lose his crown to one of the handful of others lining up to take it off him.

Van Gerwen and Wade are definitely ones to watch considering their recent form, but there will almost certainly be several upsets along the way.