The tournament's defending champion was Michael van Gerwen, who won the tournament in 2015 by beating Phil Taylor in the final 16–13,[2] and he retained his title by defeating James Wade 16–8 in the final.
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.
In case the list of qualifiers from the main tournaments produced fewer than sixteen players, the field of sixteen players is filled from the reserve lists. The first list consists of the winners from 2016 European Tour events, in which the winners shall be selected in ProTour Order of Merit position order at the cut-off date.
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.
In case the list of qualifiers from the main tournaments and the European Tour produced fewer than sixteen players, the field of sixteen players is filled from the reserve lists. The second list consists of the winners from 2016 Players Championship events, in which the winners were selected in ProTour Order of Merit position order at the cut-off date.
PDC Qualifying Event
A further eight places in the Grand Slam of Darts were filled by qualifiers from a PDC qualifier in Barnsley on 23 October 2016.
All group matches are best of nine legs From each group the numbers one and two after three games qualify for the knock-out stage, the numbers three and four are eliminated
NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; Q = Qualifier
NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/− = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Average = 3-dart average; Pts = Points; Status = Qualified to knockout stage
With Robert Thornton and Dimitri Van den Bergh finishing level on points and leg difference, a nine-dart shootout between the two took place to see who would play Michael van Gerwen in the second round. The match took place after the conclusion of Tuesday's group matches, and was the first time since the 2013 Grand Slam of Darts that a nine-dart shootout was required. Van den Bergh threw first.
