Smith reached the last 32 of the
2010 UK Open, knocking out
Peter Manley and
Matt Clark before losing to
Mervyn King. He was one of a number of young players to make a significant impact in the tournament, along with
William O'Connor,
Arron Monk, and Reece Robinson. He was the number four seed for the
2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, where he lost in the quarter-finals to
Benito van de Pas. On 26 February 2011, Smith hit a
nine-dart finish in a PDC Youth Tour event in
Barnsley, against
Michael van Gerwen. He reached the final but lost to
Shaun Griffiths. The following day, he won his first
PDC Pro Tour event, defeating
Dave Chisnall 6–5 in the final of the
2011 UK Open Qualifier 2.
2012 Smith became a full-time professional on the PDC darts circuit and made his debut at the
PDC World Championship in
2012, losing to
Co Stompé 3–0 in the first round. Smith only hit 3 of his 14 darts at a double during the match. Smith won his second professional tournament in January 2012, at
Players Championship Event 2 held in
Benidorm. He won seven matches, concluding with a 6–3 victory over
Justin Pipe to take the title and the
£6,000 prize money. In April, he earned a place in the
European Tour Event 1 in Vienna by defeating
Les Wallace and
Shaun Griffiths in the UK qualifier. He played
Jamie Caven in the first round and hit a nine dart finish on his way to a 6–4 win, but then lost 5–6 to
Mark Walsh in round two. His results meant he qualified for the
World Matchplay for the first time in his career via the ProTour Order of Merit. He faced
Raymond van Barneveld in the first round and was beaten 4–10. Smith also played in the
World Grand Prix for the first time, losing to
Phil Taylor 0–2 in the first round. After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Smith was 25th on the Order of Merit, inside the top 32 who qualified for the
Players Championship Finals. It was Smith's first appearance in the tournament and he beat
Ian White 6–5 in the first round before losing 6–10 to
Kim Huybrechts.
2013 Smith's position on the ProTour Order of Merit also saw him qualify for the
2013 World Championship, as he took the second of sixteen places that were awarded to the highest non-qualified players. However, he ran into an in-form
Raymond van Barneveld in the first round who averaged 108.31 as Smith could only win one leg during the match in a 0–3 defeat. Smith reached the final of the third UK Open Qualifier in March, but was beaten 2–6 by
Michael van Gerwen. Smith won the 2013 PDC World Youth Championship with a 6–1 victory over Ricky Evans, which was broadcast just before the 2013 Premier League Darts Final. Smith led van Barneveld 3–0 in the third round of the
UK Open but went on to lose 8–9. In October, he advanced to the semi-finals for the second time in 2013 at the 12th
Players Championship but his run was ended with a 6–3 defeat to
Kevin Painter. His youth title earned him a place in the
Grand Slam of Darts and he produced an impressive display in his first group match against
Dave Chisnall as from 3–1 down he hit legs of 11, 12, 14, and 13 darts to win 5–3 with an average of 103.17. However, he then lost 5–2 to
Scott Waites and 5–1 to
Ted Hankey to finish third in
Group H and be eliminated from the tournament.
2014 Smith broke into the world's top 32 on the Order of Merit just before the cut-off for the
2014 World Championship to qualify through the main ranking list for the first time. He beat
Morihiro Hashimoto 3–1 in the first round. He then defeated reigning and 16-time world champion
Phil Taylor 4–3 in the second round, taking out the bullseye on a 128 finish to win the match. In the next round, Smith hit a 136 finish, with his opponent
Peter Wright waiting on 41, to lead 3–2 but only won one more leg after this to lose 4–3. He was named the PDC's Young Player of the Year at the Annual Awards in January. Smith won through to the final of the sixth
UK Open Qualifier of the year but averaged just 70.94 as he was whitewashed 6–0 by Michael van Gerwen. A rematch against Wright followed in the third round of the
UK Open with Smith throwing for the match in the final leg, but he missed a total of seven darts at doubles to lose 9–8. His second final of 2014 was at the fifth
Players Championship, which he reached by beating
Raymond van Barneveld 6–3 in the quarter-finals and
Gary Anderson 6–4 in the semis, but he was again whitewashed in the decider, this time by
Brendan Dolan. At the
World Matchplay, he recorded a 10–8 victory over
Justin Pipe before losing 13–6 to Taylor in the second round. At the
European Darts Grand Prix, Smith eliminated
Gary Anderson,
Adrian Lewis, and
Stephen Bunting en route to facing
Mervyn King in the final. Smith missed too many doubles throughout the match, including one to claim the title, as he lost his third ranking final of the year 6–5. Another final followed a week later at the 14th Players Championship where he lost 6–4 to Van Gerwen. Smith's rich vein of form continued into the
European Darts Trophy as he reached the final and came back from 3–0 against Van Gerwen to win the title 6–5, which included a 158 finish to break throw in the ninth leg. He suffered first round exits at the
World Grand Prix and
European Championship, but topped
Group F at the
Grand Slam by winning all three of his games. Smith knocked out
Christian Kist 10–5 but was then beaten 16–3 by Taylor in the quarter-finals, losing 13 consecutive legs from 3–3. His year in the major events concluded with a 6–4 defeat to
Andy Smith in the opening round of the
Players Championship Finals.
2015 After seeing off
Mensur Suljović 3–1 in the first round of the
2015 World Championship, Smith beat
Brendan Dolan 4–2 after having been 2–0 down, to set up a third round tie with fellow St. Helens player
Stephen Bunting. Despite taking out checkouts of 170 and 132, Smith was 3–0 down, before finding his scoring game to restrict Bunting to one leg as he closed the gap to 3–2. Ultimately his slow start to the match proved costly as he lost the next set to be knocked out 4–2 in a game that saw each player average 102 and hit eight 180s apiece. Smith won the fifth
UK Open Qualifier by beating
Adrian Lewis 6–5. A rematch with Bunting followed in the third round of the
UK Open, with Smith missing two match darts in the deciding leg to be beaten 9–8. He claimed the second European Tour title of his career by winning the
International Darts Open with a 6–3 victory over
Benito van de Pas in the final. Smith suffered a 10–4 defeat to
Gerwyn Price in the first round of the
World Matchplay, but retained his
European Darts Trophy title by seeing off
Michael van Gerwen in the final for the second year in a row. At the
World Grand Prix, he punished two missed match darts from Price to beat him 2–1, but Smith then lost from 2–0 up in sets against
Jamie Lewis in the second round. Wins over
Wayne Jones, Lewis and
Andy Fordham saw Smith top his group at the
Grand Slam and he then averaged 104.59 to beat
Dave Chisnall 10–7 and reach the quarter-finals. Smith's first major event semi-final soon followed as he defeated Lewis 16–11, but he was heavily beaten 16–6 by Van Gerwen.
2016 At the
2016 World Championship wins over
Jeffrey de Zwaan,
Steve Beaton, and
Benito van de Pas saw Smith reach the quarter-finals for the first time, where he was 3–0 ahead of
Raymond van Barneveld. He could only win two legs as Van Barneveld moved 4–3 up, but he took the next to take the match to a ninth and final set. Smith finished 130 on double five to move within a leg of the match and missed one dart to win it, before Van Barneveld won four legs in a row to end Smith's event. Smith made his debut in the
Premier League after receiving a wildcard from the PDC. On the opening night, he played twice due to
Gary Anderson being ill. Smith lost his first matches 7–2 to
Peter Wright and 7–1 to
Adrian Lewis. His first point came in week three courtesy of a 6–6 draw with
Dave Chisnall.
Michael van Gerwen scored a world record three-dart average of 123.40 against Smith in a 7–1 win, but the following week, Smith got his first Premier League victory by beating Van Barneveld 7–5. However, Smith lost his last two matches to finish bottom of the table and be eliminated from the event. Smith played in the final of the
2016 Austrian Darts Open and lost 6–4 to
Phil Taylor. He saw off
Simon Whitlock 10–6 at the
World Matchplay before losing 11–7 to
Steve Beaton in the second round and was knocked out 2–1 in sets by
Alan Norris in the first round of the
World Grand Prix. Smith was also eliminated in the first round of the
European Championship and
Players Championship Finals.
2017 Smith entered the
2017 World Championship without a match win since September 2016 having lost 10 in a row. He took the deciding set of his first round match with
Ricky Evans without dropping a leg and said he had been "fighting his demons" recently. In the next round, he missed five darts to eliminate
Mervyn King 4–1, but kept his composure to eventually see him off 4–3. Smith went 3–1 up on
James Wade in the third round, but after Wade took the next set, Smith lost six legs in a row to be eliminated 4–3. He missed two darts to win the third
UK Open Qualifier as
Peter Wright beat him 6–5. Four 6–5 wins saw him reach the final of the
Gibraltar Darts Trophy and at 4–4 he took out a 132 finish with
Mensur Suljović waiting on 56 to break throw and took home his first title in nearly two years with a 6–4 victory. Smith qualified for the
2017 European Championship as third seed, losing in the quarter-final to
Rob Cross.
2018 Smith was thirteenth seeded at the
2018 World Championship, losing in the second round to eventual champion
Rob Cross, having missed two match darts. Following the championship, Smith was invited into the
2018 Premier League, the second invitation to the
Premier League he had received. Smith finished the league phase in second place, qualifying for the play-offs. He beat
Gary Anderson in the semi-final before losing in the final 4–11 to
Michael van Gerwen. 2018 also saw Smith win his first event on the
World Series of Darts, taking the
2018 Shanghai Darts Masters with an 8–2 win over Rob Cross in the final. Smith reached the final of the
2018 World Series of Darts Finals, missing five darts to take the title in a 10–11 defeat to
James Wade.
2019: World Championship and World Matchplay finals Smith was tenth seed at the
2019 World Championship. In the second round, he eliminated
Ron Meulenkamp before beating
John Henderson and
Ryan Searle to reach the quarter-final. He reached his first World Championship semi-final with a 5–1 victory over
Luke Humphries, then beat
Nathan Aspinall in the semi-final to set up a final against
Michael van Gerwen. Smith was defeated in the final, 7–3. He reached the final of the
2019 World Matchplay, where he faced
Rob Cross. Smith lost the first 9 legs of the match and eventually succumbed 18–13.
2020 Smith suffered an early exit at the
2020 World Championship, losing to
Luke Woodhouse in the second round. Smith missed three match darts to beat
Peter Wright in the final of the
2020 Masters, losing 11–10 in a last leg decider. He had previously defeated
Mensur Suljović,
Adrian Lewis, and
Nathan Aspinall to reach the final. On 27 February 2020, in week 4 of the
2020 Premier League, Smith hit his first televised
nine-dart leg in a 7–5 victory over
Daryl Gurney.
2021 Smith had another early exit at the
2021 World Championship, losing again in the second round, this time to
Jason Lowe. At the
2021 Grand Slam of Darts, he beat
Michael van Gerwen 16–13 to reach the semi-finals, where he eventually lost 16–12 to
Peter Wright. Smith led 12–8, but Wright won eight consecutive legs to clinch a place in the final against
Gerwyn Price.
2022: First major title Smith began his
2022 World Championship campaign with a comfortable 3–0 win over
Ron Meulenkamp, before defeating
William O'Connor 4–2. The next two games saw him take on two of the most in-form players from the 2021 season; first defeating
Jonny Clayton in a last-set shootout that went to extra legs; and then triumphing over defending champion
Gerwyn Price, surviving two match darts and a 9 darter before winning the final set. In the semi-final Smith took an early lead over
James Wade and eventually triumphed 6–3, reaching the final for the second time in his career. Smith lost the final 7–5 to
Peter Wright and claimed £200,000 as runner-up. Smith reached the final of the UK Open in March, but lost 11–10 to
Danny Noppert despite Noppert only averaging 84.82 to see his 7th final defeat. He recovered well to win a night event on the final standard night of the
2022 Premier League, but came 7th in the table and did not qualify for the playoff places. His good form after the UK Open continued, winning 3 Pro Tour titles in a short period and performing well in the European Tour and was victorious at the US Darts Masters at Maddison Square Gardens beating Michael Van Gerwen in the final 8-4 . In July, Smith reached the last 16 of the
2022 World Matchplay, where he was beaten 11–7 by
Dirk van Duijvenbode. In October, Smith reached an eighth major televised final, losing 11–8 to namesake
Ross in the
European Championship final. The following month, Smith finally won his first major title at his ninth attempt in the
2022 Grand Slam of Darts. He consecutively defeated
Lisa Ashton,
Joe Cullen,
Ritchie Edhouse,
Rob Cross,
Joe Cullen (second time in the tournament), and
Raymond van Barneveld before defeating
Nathan Aspinall 16–5 in the final.
2023: World Championship win Smith opened his
2023 World Championship campaign with a 3–0 win over
Nathan Rafferty. In the third round, Smith came from 3–1 down to beat
Martin Schindler 4–3, before beating
Joe Cullen and
Stephen Bunting to reach the semi-finals. In his semi-final match, Smith beat
Gabriel Clemens 6–2 to reach his third World Championship final. In the final, Smith hit a
nine dart finish only seconds after
Michael van Gerwen missed Double 12 for his own nine-darter. It is widely considered the best leg in darts history. After a back and forth match, Smith broke van Gerwen's throw and held his own throw to lead 6–3. After losing the tenth set and going two down in the eleventh set, Smith won two legs in a row to throw for the match. Smith finished in eleven darts to win 7–4 and become world champion for the first time and move up to world number one in the
PDC Order of Merit for the first time. Smith followed his world championship victory by winning the inaugural edition of the
Bahrain Darts Masters, defeating
Gerwyn Price 8–6 in the final to claim his third World Series title. He won his sixth European Tour title at the German Darts Grand Prix by beating
Nathan Aspinall 8–5 in the final. Smith qualified for the
Premier League playoffs following a run of three consecutive nightly wins near the end of the league stage. He lost 10–8 in the semi-finals to eventual champion Michael van Gerwen.
2024: World Cup win after their win in the
2024 PDC World Cup of Darts At the
2024 World Championship, Smith opened the defence of his world crown with a 3–2 second round victory over
Kevin Doets. In the third round, Smith defeated
Madars Razma 4–1 and criticised his
gamesmanship in an interview after the game, claiming, "He just tried to think about putting me off, I guess, but lessons learned. I learned my lesson, and he's learned his as well." In the fourth round, Smith was whitewashed 4–0 by
Chris Dobey, ending the defence of his world title. In May 2024, Smith won a first PDC ranking title for eleven months at
PC9. Smith partnered with
Luke Humphries to win the
2024 PDC World Cup of Darts for England, defeating Austria 10–6 in the final on 30 June. Smith was runner–up at the
2024 World Series of Darts Finals, losing to
Luke Littler 11–4 in the final.
2025 At the
2025 World Championship, Smith suffered an early exit, losing 3–2 to
Kevin Doets in a rematch of their 2024 World Championship meeting. This loss resulted in Smith exiting the top ten in the PDC Order of Merit. He reached the quarter-finals of the
UK Open, where he lost 10–8 to
Jonny Clayton. Smith failed to qualify for the
World Matchplay for the first time since 2013, falling to world number 21 by the time of the cut-off date for qualification. After a series of issues relating to
arthritis and other injuries, he earned his way into the
Grand Slam of Darts in November through
the Tour Card holder qualifying event, marking his first televised appearance since the UK Open in March. He reached the quarter-finals of the tournament following a 10–9 win over
Chris Dobey in the second round. He was eliminated in a 16–8 defeat to
Luke Humphries. ==Personal life==