Pictured: Moment Luke Littler fingers a wad of money to his brother after his £500,000 world darts championship title win

Luke Littler netted £500,000 after winning the PDC World Championship Darts final last night – and he’s already splashing the cash.

The 17-year-old teen sensation was spotted handing a wad of cash to his older brother Leon, who was dressed in a £125 Zavetti parka jacket.

Luke was joined by his family as he left the Alexandra Palace after beating Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in a comfortable 7-3 victory on Friday night.

He was dressed in a blue hoodie bearing his own customised branding and wearing a leather-style backpack, while much of his entourage was dressed in his officially licenced shirts.

His mother Lisa Littler, 40, and father Anthony Buckley, 43, were among those to follow him out of the Ally Pally after watching the nail-biting final. 

As they approached a Mercedes-Benz minivan that would whisk them away from the Ally Pally, Leon could be seen talking to his brother in front of their parents as Littler looked in his backpack.

And after being handed a substantial wad of notes, Leon was barely able to disguise his delight.

The older sibling, who turns 21 this weekend, had earlier joked that he would celebrate on behalf of his brother this weekend, as Luke will not be able to enjoy his first pint until he turns 18 later this month.

After Luke’s victory, Leon told The Sun of their celebration plans: ‘Can’t do much with him, can you? He’s 17.

‘He’ll go out, chill on his game, maybe order some food. I’ll do the celebrating for him.’

Littler’s family have been his number one fans from the get-go. Parents Lisa and Anthony encouraged him to pick up magnetic darts at the tender age of 18 months and nurtured his promising career as he trained to compete professionally.

Alongside brother Leon he has another two siblings, Harry and glamorous older sister Caitlin, 22.

Littler has netted £1.5million in prize money during his career to date and experts say he’ll likely scoop £20million over the next decade. 

And that eye-boggling sum doesn’t even consider the commercial tie-ins and appearance fees he will have collected since he began competing professionally.

Littler has already accepted sponsorships from Xbox, boohooMAN and KP Nuts as well as Target Darts, which sells officially branded Luke Littler merchandise such as darts, flights, cases and shirts.

He has come a long way from last year, when his shirt’s primary sponsors were a building supplies firm and his local Skoda car dealership. 

Experts predict he will find himself over-run with new sponsorship deals after his first world title.

He broke down in tears after sealing the win before being presented with the Sid Waddell trophy by Sir Chris Hoy – 12 months after he had to accept the runners-up trophy following his loss to Luke Humphries.

Among those to have watched Littler play at various stages of the championship this year are Ed Sheeran, Jack Whitehall, Spurs footballers Brennan Johnson and James Maddison, and Coleen Rooney and her family, who saw him surge to victory. 

Last year’s narrow loss saw him win a runner-up prize of £200,000 – much of which was lost to the taxman.

Nevertheless, Littler has notched up a number of title wins in the last year and has moved his family into a plush £6,000-a-month mansion on the outskirts of Warrington with its own private indoor pool.

While Leon will be off celebrating today, Littler is unlikely to have accepted his offer of a pint even if he was of legal drinking age – having admitted to have ditched his kebab habit to take his fitness more seriously.

He told the Times last year: ‘Soon as I got my tour card, my manager sat me down and said when you finish it could be 11 or 12(pm), it’s literally all fast food, burgers or whatever.

‘So I’ve got to look after myself, eat before I play. And when I’ve finished, even if I stay up to whenever, I just won’t eat.

‘This is my new way of living. I love darts, and it’s going to be like this for ten, fifteen years.’

There’s little that can stop ‘The Nuke’ – but PR expert Mark Borkowski says he should nevertheless keep his head above water as the tie-ins come calling. 

He told The Sun: ‘For Littler, the greatest financial misstep would be overexposure or signing poorly thought-out exclusivity deals. A young star’s appeal can be diluted quickly if he becomes “just another” sponsored athlete.

‘His team needs to ensure exclusivity and align his endorsements with long-term gains, not short-term payoffs. He is a multi-million pound heavyweight. The UK’s new working class hero.’

Dr Rob Wilson, speaking to LuckyBlock, said: ‘Littler’s earnings should be extrapolated like compound interest. As each year passes his prize money will increase year on year, as will his endorsement activity as his profile grows.

‘He should comfortably earn £20m in prize money over the next 10 years. Add to that sponsorship, the inevitable ‘at home with the Littlers’ documentary that will follow and other revenue streams and his career earnings could easily hit £100m.

‘In sport no one has seen this sort of meteoric profile and earnings explosion. The likes of Ronaldo, Messi and Beckham have all exceeded these numbers, but that came later in their careers. Littler is unique.’

Littler is arguably helping to reignite general interest in darts too, after the sport spent years suffering dwindling popularity and an enduring association with beer bellies.

YouGov polling suggests the sport’s popularity is at its highest level in years, with 51 per cent of Brits said to be fans of the sport.

Search interest for darts has also exploded since Littler came onto the professional scene.