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Darts Rules: Object of The Game

Darts is a game that originated with soldiers throwing arrows at tree trunks and is now widely played around the world, especially in pubs and bars. The standard game is 501 where the objective is to reach zero by throwing doubles or bullseyes. Players use darts weighing no more than 50g thrown at a dartboard divided into numbered sections, with the highest score being 180 for three treble 20s. Matches are typically best of a set number of sets, with the biggest tournament being best of 13 sets.

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382 views3 pages

Darts Rules: Object of The Game

Darts is a game that originated with soldiers throwing arrows at tree trunks and is now widely played around the world, especially in pubs and bars. The standard game is 501 where the objective is to reach zero by throwing doubles or bullseyes. Players use darts weighing no more than 50g thrown at a dartboard divided into numbered sections, with the highest score being 180 for three treble 20s. Matches are typically best of a set number of sets, with the biggest tournament being best of 13 sets.

Uploaded by

Tony Gonzalez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Darts Rules

Photo credit: PeterPan23 (Source)

Being a “sport” – many argue it is a game – mainly played in pubs and requiring little or
no physical fitness, darts is one activity at which Britain excels! Darts is thought to have
been created when soldiers began throwing short arrows at cut tree trunks or
alternatively at the bottom of the cask. As the wood dried cracks appeared, creating
sections which, steadily, over time became set scores, albeit with much regional and
international variation.

Darts is now widely played in many parts of the world, but especially in former
Commonwealth countries, the Netherlands and Belgium, the United States and
Scandinavia. There are two main professional governing bodies, the PDC and BDO, the
latter being the longer running of the two. Given the presence of the sport in pubs and
bars it is probably one of the largest participatory sports in the world.

Object of the Game


501 is the standard version of the game in competition and the object is to “check out”
by getting your score down to 50 or less before ending the game by reaching zero by
either throwing a double or a bullseye with your final dart.

Players & Equipment


Darts only requires a board and the darts themselves, this limited list of equipment
being one of the reasons for its success. The board that is now used as standard was
created in 1896 by a Lancashire carpenter with the aim of penalising inaccurate
throwing by keeping large numbers apart and bordering them with small numbers.
Whilst mathematicians have long argued over the best board layout to minimise the
reward for inaccurate efforts, the current design is actually pretty good.

The board itself is made from compressed sisal fibres and despite modern electronic
versions is now the accepted norm. In the early days after the First World War darts
was played using a heavy, solid wood board, normally made from elm and subsequently
clay versions were trialled.

The standard board is 17¾ inches (451mm) in diameter and is divided into 20 radial
sections by thin metal wire. The sections are numbered from 1-20 and contain a thin
section at the outer edge (double) and slightly smaller area midway towards the centre
(treble). The bullseye or “bull” is a small circle, usually red, at the very centre of the
board and is surrounded by the larger, green, outer bull.

The darts are usually used using a combination of metal, nylon and plastic for the
points, barrels, shafts and fletching. The exact style and make-up of the dart will vary
according to the player’s style and ability (or what pub you’re in!) but they must weigh
no more than 50g and be no longer than 300mm.

Scoring
A player scores points by throwing the darts at the board. Each player throws three
darts on their turn with the maximum score being 180, achieved by hitting three treble
20s. The bull is worth 50 points, the outer bull 25 points and the various numbers score
their own value, unless they are doubled (the outer rim) or trebled.

Winning the Game


To win a player must reach zero by hitting a double or a bull, having first got their score
down from the 501 starting point. If they do that they win the leg and the first to three
legs wins the set. Most matches are normally played “best of” a defined (odd) number of
sets, with the sport’s biggest prize, the PDC World Championship, involving a final that
is best of 13 (therefore the winner is the first to seven sets).

Rules of Darts
The rules of darts are very simple and have basically been discussed in previous
sections. Some key points to note are as follows:

 Which player takes the first turn in a game is decided by throwing a single dart
each with the nearest to the bull taking the first throw.
 A throw consists of throwing three darts unless the game is won in fewer.
 Only darts in the board at the end of the throw are counted and ones that bounce
or fall out cannot be thrown again.
 If a player scores more than their remaining points total their throw ends and is
scored zero (for example if they have 16 remaining and accidentally hit a 20 with
their first dart).
 The centre of the bull should be exactly 5ft 8in (1.73 metres) high.
 Darts are thrown from a clearly marked toe-line, often called the oche, at least 7ft
9 ¼ in from the board, measured horizontally.

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