One million pounds. Ten hundred thousand pounds. 100,000 ten pound notes. 100 million one pence pieces. A sum of money historically valued as life-changing.

That is what the winner of the PDC World Darts Championship will walk away with come January 3.

Growing up, the idea of £1 million was unfathomable. It marked lottery winners, the top 0.00001 per cent, a sum of money that would change your existence forever.

Back in 1994, inaugural PDC worlds winner Dennis Priestley walked away with £16,000. In today's terms, that equates to around £32,125.

That £32,125 is now around what you get for losing in Round Three. Make it to Round Four? That doubles and takes up nearly what was the entire prize pot 32 years ago.

Flip it around- if Priestley had won £1 million back in 1994, the winner in 2026 would be walking away with around £2,155,502.75.

It is the most marked symbol yet of how darts has grown exponentially.

So, what does someone spend £1 million on? Back in 1994, Dennis Priestley's £16,000 would have got him around a third of a way to buying a house outright with the average cost of a property £51,362.

The current average house price in the UK is approximately £272,000 so if the winner wants to buy property - property they can get!

While inflation is at play, £1 million can still get you some lavish luxury, it still changes your life, it still is a symbol that darts is not what it used to be.

And to think, this is only the beginning. The rapid rise is in it's infancy. Many marking the change coming around the introduction of the one and only Luke Littler in 2023. That accelerated an already rapidly moving machine to where we are today: The worlds prize pot being £5 million.

So, of the 128 players vying to become the first "million pound" winner, there is many where that sum would be a ground-breaking moment in their life.

Imagine the fairytales some are envisioning: From qualifier to million pound man. From women's circuits to the top. From plumber to millionaire.

For someone, the dream will become a reality.

It also makes a hefty shift in the rankings, with whoever wins the worlds getting a sizeable sum that will either move them way up or put them further ahead in the PDC Order of Merit.

So, even if, like Littler, they say money does not motivate them - expanding his lead as world No 1 would as he looks to not only be at the top of the darting world but stay there for as long as he possibly can.

It emboldens dreams, it reinvigorates, it makes the World Darts Championship even more tangibly important, if that were even possible.

Of course, we know who the favourites are, we know who is most likely to take home the big cheque, but with such a momentous amount on the line, there will be the other 100 or so players who will be doing all in their power to boot out the best and carve out a route to the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy and that life-altering pot of money.

On December 11, the National Lottery of darts begins. 128 players have bought their tickets. Some have gone with their trusted numbers while for others, it is a lucky dip. It is not long until we find out who has the winning numbers.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 11 to January 3 on SportsNews' dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407 from December 10). .