Paddy Power have now donated £1million to Prostate Cancer UK after the number of 180s at the World Darts Championship hit a record-breaking 1,000.
With Luke Littler second in the running with 37 maximums so far – with Gary Anderson managing 40 – in his run to the quarter-finals, his fellow competitors have somewhat kept the pace and allowed the money to be raised.
The previous record for 180s at the tournament was 915, with that number already smashed, and Kevin Doets hitting the 1,000th maximum against Luke Humphries.
The number also means the bookmaker has passed £3million in terms of money raised in its first three years of sponsorship of the tournament, with a deal already agreed to keep the partnership going until at least 2031.
The campaign, titled the Even Bigger 180 campaign, saw Paddy Power renew their pledge to donate £1,000 for every 180 hit and £60,000 for every nine-darter hit – with an additional £120,000 split between the player who hits the nine-darter and a lucky fan in attendance.
They have also run a Darts of Destiny campaign, which will see one lucky fan take to the stage during the final to try and win £180,000 by hitting 180 in nine darts.
Paddy Power has hit £1million in donations to Prostate Cancer UK during the World Championship after 1,000 180s were hit
Luke Littler is second on the list of the most 180s with 37 after turning on the Alexandra Palace crowd on Monday
The campaigns to highlight the fight against prostate cancer, with Paddy Power keen to highlight that over 10,000 men a year receive a diagnosis when it is too late to cure.
Paddy Power are looking to get 180,000 men to check their risk of prostate cancer during the World Championship, with more than 250,000 taking the risk checker during the first two years of the campaign.
Paddy Power said: ‘As well as donations to the Darts of Destiny JustGiving page continuing to help fund life-saving research for Prostate Cancer UK, we also thought people might welcome the practice if they are the lucky person to be on stage throwing for £180k at this year’s Paddy Power World Darts Championship!’
Littler’s mother Lisa, meanwhile, has hit out at ‘vile t**ts’ in the crowd at the Alexandra Palace after her son was booed by some sections during his victory against Rob Cross.
The defending champion saw off his opponent 4-2 in a tricky last-16 clash and then bullishly thanked those who had jeered him for ‘paying for my prize money’.
Littler dubbed the atmosphere at the historic venue ‘hostile’, but his mother had far stronger words on social media as she rushed to the defence of her son as scores of fans denigrated his behaviour.
One commenter had wondered aloud why he wasn’t allowed to ‘call (Littler) a little pudding because he’s 18’ since he was able to ‘financially ridicule a whole audience who’ve paid their hard earned money’.
Lisa responded: ‘So they buy tickets with there (sic) hard earned money to sit there like t**ts and boo (thumbs up emoji)’.
