
Ted Hankey suffered defeat to Scott Waites on his debut in the PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts on Sunday afternoon.
The Count, the current BDO World Champion and number two seed in the Grand Slam, slumped to a disappointing 5-3 loss to Waites in Wolverhampton in his first group game.
He will now face a must-win clash with Wayne Mardle in Monday's second phase of group games if he is to keep alive his hopes of progressing to the last 16.
Hankey never settled in losing to his BDO rival, and at one stage hit out at jeers from the crowd.
Mardle's bid for the tournament also took a knock as he went down 5-1 to Australian ace Simon Whitlock in their opening fixture.
Number three seed James Wade defeated American Gary Mawson 5-3 in a below-par performance, while Robert Thornton overcame Andy Hamilton 5-2 in Group H's other fixture.
Terry Jenkins and Darin Young made winning starts in Group G with impressive victories against Denis Ovens and Adrian Lewis respectively.
Jenkins averaged 103 in seeing off Ovens 5-1, while American left-hander Young came from 2-0 down to win five successive legs, including a 147 checkout, to take a 5-2 victory.
Gary Anderson and Steve Beaton were the early winners in Group F, with Scottish star Anderson, a semi-finalist last year, defeating Kevin McDine 5-2.
Beaton, the recent European Championship runner-up, defeated Holland's Co Stompe 5-2 in their opening game and now meets Anderson on Monday night.
PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts
Sunday November 15
Afternoon Session
Groups E-H First Games
Steve Beaton 5-2 Co Stompe
Robert Thornton 5-2 Andy Hamilton
Darin Young 5-2 Adrian Lewis
Simon Whitlock 5-1 Wayne Mardle
Scott Waites 5-3 Ted Hankey
Gary Anderson 5-2 Kevin McDine
James Wade 5-3 Gary Mawson
Terry Jenkins 5-1 Denis Ovens