A Beginner's Guide to Darts
Darts is a popular game where darts are thrown at a circular dartboard .
Each player begins the leg with 501 points and must score down to zero by throwing three darts per turn. To win the game, they must be the first to end on double points.
The board is separated in to segments numbered from 1-20. Land a dart in the black section of a segment and the player will score exactly that value. For double points, they will need to hit the outer, red and green coloured ring, and for triple they will need to target the thinner inner ring.
Players can also score 25 and 50 points by hitting the outer and inner circle in the middle of the board, commonly referred to as the ‘Bullseye’.
If a dart misses any of the above sections, or indeed the board completely than the player is awarded zero points.
Players must stand behind the oche – a line 2.73 metres from the board and the board must be exactly 1.73m from floor level.
Terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Arrows/Arraz | another term for darts |
| Barrel | the part of a dart players grip, behind the point |
| Bullseye | the red and green coloured circles in the middle of the dartboard |
| Double Top | a score of double twenty |
| Double Trouble | not being able to hit the double needed to win the game |
| Flights | also know as feathers. The 'wings' at the end of a dart that help it fly straight |
| Game on | called by the referee to signify the start of a game |
| Leg | one game of a match |
| Nine darter | when a player completes a game of 501 in the minimum possible number of nine-darts. This is a very rare event and there is usually a cash prize for doing so |
| Oche | (pronounced O-ki) the line which players must stand behind to the throw the darts |
| One-hundred-and-eighty | the highest possible score in darts made by hitting 3 treble 20βs. The standard reaction to this is for the announcer to melodically shout βOne Hundred And Eightyyyyyyyβ at which point the audience must cheer loudly, jump in the air and wave signs excitedly |
| Three in a bed | when three darts land in the same number section |
