How to Play Darts

A game of darts is usually contested between two players who take turns in throwing up to three darts.

Starting from a set score, usually 501 or 301, a player wins by reducing his score to zero. The last dart in the leg must hit either a double or the inner portion of the bullseye, which is the double of the outer bull, and must reduce the score to exactly 0. Successfully doing so is known as "doubling out" or "checking out" (see the Glossary of darts for more darts terminology).

A throw that would reduce a player's score to less than zero does not count, his turn ends, and his score is reset to what it was before that turn.

Sometimes in friendly games a player is allowed "splitting the eleven" if he has a remaining score of 1. This requires placing a final dart between the legs of the number 11 in the normally non-scoring part of the board.

Since the double areas are small, doubling out is usually the most difficult and tense part of a leg. Longer matches are often divided into sets, each comprising some number of legs.

Although playing straight down from 501 is standard in darts, other variations exist, notably "doubling in", where players must hit a double to begin scoring, with all darts thrown before said double contributing nothing to their score. Other games that are commonly played differ in their scoring methods. These include "Round The Clock", "Jumpers", "Killer" and the more complicated "Cricket".

In "Round the Clock", players must hit each numbered section in turn, finishing with a bull to win. Far from being a beginner's game, Round The Clock is a good training game since it practises targeting all areas of the board, a skill which is essential when finishing a classic leg.

In Killer, a number of players "own" a number on the dartboard (often selected by throwing a dart with their non-playing arm) and compete to build up "lives" (by hitting that number) until a threshold is reached (usually 4 or 6) before attempting to "kill" other players by removing the lives they have built up (by hitting those other players' number) until a single player is left.