document: The 44-year-old Scot beat 16-time world champion Phil Taylor 7-6 in a thrilling final in January.
  Taylor will play Japan's Keita Ono or Filipino Alex Tagarao in the first round, while world number one Michael van Gerwen has been drawn against Thanawat Gaweenuntawong or Rene Eidams.
  A field of 72 players will compete for £1.5m in prize money from 17 December.
  Boulton, ranked 73 in the world, was runner-up in Monday's PDPA Qualifier in Coventry meaning he will face Laursen in the preliminary round at Alexandra Palace.
  Ricky Evans, who beat Boulton in the final at the Ricoh Arena, goes straight into the first round to play Australian Simon Whitlock.
  Paul Lim, the first player to hit a nine-dart finish in the BDO World Championships - in 1990, will play Russia's Aleksandr Oreshkin in the preliminary round with the winner facing Mervyn King.
  Elsewhere, five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld meets fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode, world number four Peter Wright will play former world youth champion Keegan Brown and Adrian Lewis, champion in 2011 and 2012, will take on Jan Dekker.
  The final takes place on 3 January.
  First-round draw in full:
  Wes Newton v Cristo Reyes
  John Henderson v Darren Webster
  Mervyn King v Aleksandr Oreshkin/Paul Lim
  Peter Wright v Keegan Brown
  Vincent van der Voort v Loz Ryder
  Kevin Painter v Kim Viljanen/Sven Groen
  James Wade v Warrick Scheffer/John Michael
  Stephen Bunting v Jyhan Artut
  Robert Thornton v Alan Norris
  Mark Webster v Qiang Sun/Mick McGowan
  Jamie Caven v Michael Rasztovits/Rob Szabo
  Gary Anderson v Andy Boulton/Per Laursen
  Benito van de Pas v Max Hopp
  Jelle Klaasen v Joe Cullen
  Jamie Lewis v Daryl Gurney
  Ian White v Dimitri Van den Bergh
  Phil Taylor v Keita Ono/Alex Taragao
  Simon Whitlock v Ricky Evans
  Dave Chisnall v Rowby-John Rodriguez
  Brendan Dolan v Kyle Anderson
  Justin Pipe v Christian Kist
  Michael Smith v Jeffrey De Zwaan
  Adrian Lewis v Jan Dekker
  Michael van Gerwen v Thanawat Gaweenuntawong/Rene Eidams
  Raymond van Barneveld v Dirk van Duijvenbode
  Kim Huybrechts v David Pallett
  Dean Winstanley v Ronny Huybrechts
  Steve Beaton v Koha Kokiri
  Andrew Gilding v Gerwyn Price
  Terry Jenkins v Darin Young
  Mensur Suljovic v Jermaine Wattimena
  Andy Hamilton v Joe Murnan
summary: PDC world champion Gary Anderson will start the defence of his title against Denmark's Per Laursen or Andy Boulton.