James Wade (7/1 in 2010 Ladbrokes PDC World Championship Winner betting) has been installed as the Totesport second favourite for the PDC World Professional Darts Championship, where Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor (1/3) will be throwing for his 13th global title.

The 26-year-old from Aldershot, nicknamed ‘The Machine’, beat Taylor’s conqueror Mervyn King in the final of the 2009 Premier League, but has been handed a much tougher draw than the world number one.

Wade’s path to the final could be blocked by talented Scotsman Gary Anderson (16/1), who he beat 6-4 in the Jocky Wilson Cup on Saturday, and almost certainly will be by former world champion Raymond van Barneveld.

Dutchman ‘Barney’ who threw a nine-dart finish in last year’s edition of the Alexandra Palace event, has been struggling to recapture his old magic recently and has lost on each of his last nine meetings with Taylor.

Some pundits believe an all English Taylor-Wade final would provide darts fans with the best spectacle in the New Year, but Barneveld (12/1) has proved his doubters wrong before.

The former postman opens his campaign against New Zealand’s Warren Parry while Wade, the world number three, plays Steve Brown.

Canada’s three-time world champion John Part (100/1) plays young Dutchman Toon Greebe, while fifth seed King (33/1), a semi-finalist last year, faces Matt Clark.

Terry Jenkins (40/1) could have been handed the toughest first-round draw against Geordie Paul Nicholson (100/1) who represents Australia and was booed by the Ally Pally crowd last year.

Check back later this month for all the darts match odds from Totesport.