Las Vegas Desert Classic

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Las Vegas Desert Classic

Sport	Darts
Founded	2002 (2002)
First season	2002
Ceased	2010
Country	United States
Venue(s)	MGM Grand (2002–2005) Mandalay Bay Resort (2006–2009)
Last champion(s)	Phil Taylor (2009)
Tournament format	Legs Sets

The Las Vegas Desert Classic was a darts tournament, organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and was held each year in July from 2002 until 2009. Its original venue was the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada from 2002 to 2005, but the tournament moved down the strip to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino from 2006 to 2009.

The tournament carried a total prize purse of £126,400 (approx US$250,000). Due to the time difference between the UK and US, the matches were played in the morning local time – which is prime-time evening in the UK where the tournament was broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Initially Fox Sports World transmitted the tournament live but in recent years they broadcast recorded coverage in the United States. Partypoker.net became the first sponsors of the event in 2006.

The format of the Classic changed over the years. In 2002, the tournament had a sets format with best of 7 legs per set. In 2003, the tournament had a legs only format throughout with a round robin group stage of 8 groups with 3 players each, before it became straight knockout from the quarter-finals onwards. In 2004 and 2005, the tournament reverted to straight knockout with a sets format with best of 5 legs per set throughout. In 2006, the tournament had a legs only format in the Last 32, before reverting to a sets format with best of 5 legs per set for the Last 16, Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and the Final. From 2007 to 2009, the tournament remained straight knockout but moved back to a legs only format throughout.

Phil Taylor won the title five times out of the eight years the event was staged. Peter Manley, John Part and Raymond van Barneveld were the only other winners of the event.

The Las Vegas Desert Classic tournament was retired in 2010 and a new tournament held in Las Vegas, the Tropicana World Series, has been put in its place. However, the tournament is not televised.

Year	Champion (average in final)	Score	Runner-Up (average in final)	Prize Money			Sponsor	Venue
				Total	Champion	Runner-up
2002	Phil Taylor (103.98)	3–0 (sets)	Ronnie Baxter (98.46)	$58,000	$20,000	$10,000	None	MGM Grand Casino and Hotel
2003	Peter Manley (96.81)	16–12 (legs)	John Part (95.07)	$88,000	$22,000
2004	Phil Taylor (100.80)	6–4 (sets)	Wayne Mardle (95.22)	£84,100	£15,000	£7,500
2005	Phil Taylor (101.97)	6–1 (sets)	Wayne Mardle (94.77)
2006	John Part (92.79)	6–3 (sets)	Raymond van Barneveld (92.85)	£90,500			PartyPoker.com	Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
2007	Raymond van Barneveld (101.55)	13–6 (legs)	Terry Jenkins (92.37)	£120,000	£20,000	£10,000	None
2008	Phil Taylor (105.53)	13–7 (legs)	James Wade (92.26)				PartyPoker.com
2009	Phil Taylor (102.21)	13–11 (legs)	Raymond van Barneveld (98.52)	£182,000	£30,000	£15,000

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Prize Money			Sponsor	Venue
				Total	Champion	Runner-up
2002	Deta Hedman	2–1 (sets)	Crissy Manley	£50,000	£25,000	£10,000	PartyPoker.com	MGM Grand Casino and Hotel
2003	Stacy Bromberg	6–4 (legs)	Deta Hedman
2004	Trina Gulliver	6–5 (legs)	Stacy Bromberg
2005	Trina Gulliver	6–1 (legs)	Deta Hedman

The Las Vegas Desert Classic was broadcast in the UK by Sky Sports from the first to the last tournament.

Presenters of Sky Sports

• Jeff Stelling (2002, 2005)
• Dave Clark (2003–2004, 2006–2009)

Co-presenters

• Eric Bristow (2002–2005)
• Rod Harrington (2005–2009)

Commentators

• Sid Waddell (2002–2009)
• Dave Lanning (2002–2009)
• John Gwynne (2002–2009)
• Nigel Pearson (2007–2009)

• Las Vegas Desert Classic Winners on Darts Database