Luke Littler may be world number one - but an amateur could have what it takes to beat him and become £501,000 richer.

That's the view of darts' greatest legend Phil Taylor, who believes a 'Rocky Balboa' fairytale moment could be in store in Netflix's new show.

Luke Littler holds a dart in promotional imagery for Netflix's Beat Luke Littler
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Littler will face 20 people bidding to win £501,000 by beating him in a leg of dartsCredit: James Parsons for Netflix/Target

Back-to-back world champion Littler will take centre stage in a live Netflix event on October 30.

What is Luke Littler's upcoming Netflix show?

Billed as ''Beat Luke Littler', the 19-year-old will battle 20 ordinary people, with £501k on the line for anyone able to beat 'The Nuke' in a one-leg game of 501.

Former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has already been confirmed as the host of the show, alongside TV star Richard Osman.

And for Taylor, who won a record 87 major titles during his career which included 16 World Championships, he has insisted a shock could be on the cards.

The 66-year-old was part of the judging panel to oversee thousands of bidding contestants.

He was joined by PDC president Barry Hearn and Sky Sports pundit Laura Turner at the regional heat at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday.

Applicants had already made it through two stages of the process to make it to London, with the second qualification heat being held in Manchester next weekend.

Potential contestants, who have to be 12 years old or older, had to check out 501 in 24 darts or fewer as part of the three-stage qualification process.

And Taylor has declared such has been the quality on show from what he has seen, he wouldn't be surprised to see an upset result.

What has Phil Taylor said about 'Beat Luke Littler'?

Speaking to the Press Association, Taylor said: "The event is great to be honest, it gives people the opportunity to change their lives.

Phil Taylor after winning the PDC World Championshp
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Taylor is darts' greatest ever player having a record 87 major titlesCredit: AFP

"It's a Rocky Balboa kind of fairytale really. It will boost the profile of darts even further.

"The standard of the applicants is so far really good, there has been a lot of really talented players coming through.

"Any player who can throw a 12-leg dart has a great chance but it's also about bottle as well as ability, so we will see.

"The amateur would need to have their best day and pray that Luke has a poor leg to be fair."

And despite Taylor retiring from professional darts in 2018, he remains confident he still has what it takes to get one over Littler.

Asked if he could beat Littler, Taylor gave an emphatic response, as he simply stated: "A simple answer, yes!"

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