Adrian Lewis is nicknamed Jackpot, and the name comes from a machine in Las Vegas in 2005. He hit the jackpot but never saw a cent, because he was 20, under the US gambling age of 21. Six years later he won his first world title, and the year after that he defended it. Here's where Adrian Lewis's Jackpot nickname came from, and the career of a two-time world champion.
Who is Adrian Lewis: Phil Taylor's protégé
Adrian Lewis was born on 21 January 1985 and comes from Stoke-on-Trent, England, the same city as 16-time world champion Phil Taylor. Taylor was his mentor, and the two practised together for years. Lewis told The Guardian in 2011 that he had qualified for a couple of TV events before he actually met Taylor: "Then we just started talking and practising together."
Where the Jackpot nickname comes from: a Las Vegas win he couldn't collect
In 2005 Lewis went to Las Vegas to play the Las Vegas Desert Classic. In the version he told the Las Vegas Sun in 2009, he was playing a five-dollar machine at the MGM Grand when "three lions came across". "I just froze." Lights flashed and a big red buzzer went off on top. The amount, as he remembered it: "something like $72,600".
The problem was that he was only 20, and the legal age in US casinos is 21. Once security established that he was the one playing, they told him he was too young to collect, and he didn't get back the few hundred dollars he'd put in either. As he told The Guardian: "At the time I was only 20, I could have bought a house round Stoke with that amount of money. But I've made up for it since." No money, but a nickname for life. For more stories like this, see where darts nicknames come from.
Back-to-back world champion in 2011 and 2012
In the 2011 PDC World Championship final, Lewis beat Gary Anderson 7-5 for his first world title, and hit the first nine-darter ever seen in a World Championship final along the way (full story in our nine-dart finish history). On 2 January 2012 at Alexandra Palace he beat Andy Hamilton 7-3 to retain the title, becoming only the second player after Phil Taylor to win back-to-back PDC world titles. He reached a third final in 2016, losing 7-5 to Anderson.
Four World Cups alongside Taylor
Mentor and protégé later became teammates. Lewis and Taylor represented England at the World Cup of Darts and won it four times: 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. In the 2016 final they beat the Dutch pair of Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld 3-2.
2016: that leg in Belfast
On 14 April 2016 the Premier League visited the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Lewis hit a nine-darter against James Wade on his way to a 7-5 win. Ten years later the same city saw another one, this time from local hero Josh Rock. Read about Josh Rock's night in Belfast.
Where Adrian Lewis is now
In April 2023 Lewis announced a break from the professional circuit, saying that after more than 20 years he needed time away. He lost his PDC Tour Card at the end of 2024. In August 2025 he returned at the MODUS International Pairs, partnering Steve Beaton. Then in September 2026 came fresh news: Phil Taylor is coming out of retirement to pair up with Lewis again at the MODUS International Pairs in November.
Vegas never paid out, but darts did. The Phoenix soft-tip machines at AI DARTS run 24 hours, and members earn points for check-ins and missions; see the member system for details. Want your own darts first? Browse aidarts.club.