Darts rules explained simply

The board

The dartboard is divided into 20 segments from 1 to 20. The narrow outer ring doubles the value (Double), the narrow inner ring triples it (Triple). In the centre sits the Bullseye (50 points), surrounded by the Single Bull (25 points). The highest score with a single dart is the Triple 20 (60), the highest score with three darts is 180.

Distance and height

Steel tip: the centre of the Bullseye hangs 1.73 metres above the floor, and the Oche is 2.37 metres from the board (2.93 metres diagonally). Soft tip in Germany: 2.44 metres distance, 1.72 metres height. When you throw, no foot may cross the line.

501: the standard game

1. Both players (or teams) start with 501 points.
2. A turn consists of up to three darts. The points you score are subtracted from what's left.
3. The leg is won when a player gets to exactly zero and the last dart lands in a Double or the Bullseye (Double Out).
4. If the remaining score drops below zero, to one, or to zero without a Double, the visit is void (“bust”). The score stays as it was before the visit.
5. Who starts the Leg is decided by a bull-up: both throw one dart at the Bull, the closer dart starts. After that you take turns throwing first.

Legs, Sets and match formats

A Leg is a single game of 501. Matches are played as “best of”: in a best of 5 Legs, whoever gets three Legs first wins. Big tournaments are played in Sets: a Set goes to the player who wins three Legs first, the match to whoever reaches the required number of Sets. In league matches and club tournaments, short formats like best of 3 or best of 5 Legs are common.

Variants you will come across

• 301: like 501, just with 301 starting points, often in electronic darts and short formats.
• Double In: the first scoring segment has to be a Double (mainly electronic darts).
• Master Out: you may finish on a Double, Treble or Bull.
• Cricket: the numbers 15 to 20 and the Bull each have to be “closed” three times; you score on open numbers.
• Shanghai, Around the Clock, Killer: practice and party games that are popular in clubs too.

Key terms

• 180: the maximum visit with three darts (three times Treble 20).
• Checkout or finish: the visit that ends a Leg.
• Big Fish: the highest Checkout, 170 (T20, T20, Bull).
• 9-Darter: a 501 Leg in just nine darts, the perfect Leg.
• Average: Average points per turn (three darts), the most important stat in darts.
• Bust: Invalid turn because the remaining score drops below zero, to one, or to zero without a Double.
• Oche: The throw line.

Conduct at the board

The waiting player stands quietly behind the thrower and does not talk. Darts are only pulled once the scorer has written down the points. The scorer or caller announces the points thrown and the remaining score. This etiquette applies in clubs and at tournaments alike.

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