The tournament kicked off at the Echo Arena Liverpool, which hosted the biggest ever crowd for a PDC event of almost 8,000 in 2008.

Phil Taylor was defending his Whyte & Mackay Premier League title once again, however he failed to retain it after losing to Mervyn King 10–6 in the semi-finals.

Jelle Klaasen and Wayne Mardle were named as the two Sky Sports wild card selections on 9 January.

[1] Qualifiers are as follows: Fifteen venues were used in the 2009 Premier League, with the only changes from 2008 being Edinburgh and Exeter replacing Plymouth and Bournemouth.

Mardle's match results from the tournament were also annulled, hurting some of the remaining players more than others.

Following Mardle's removal from the tournament, in order for each remaining night to have four matches, there was a series of challenge matches featuring Robert Thornton, Adrian Lewis, Dennis Priestley, Mark Webster and Gary Anderson.