Darts Rules

21g Darts Target Colin Lloyd Stone Grip Tungsten Darts ( 90 ) - CL21ST

Basic Rules for various dart games

501 or 01 Games

501 is the dart game that is generally played at competition level around the world.

701 and 1001 are also commonly played in team games, where two or more people are are playing on each side.

Shorter games of 301 and 401 are often played when there are a lot of people wanting to play and only one board.

Object of the Game

The players throw alternately subtracting there scores from the nominated total down to exactly zero, the first player getting there being the winner. A set of darts bringing the score to one or below is not scored at all. The player resumes from the previous total on the next throw.

"Doubles to Finish" is the game normally played in competition. This means that players are required to finish the game on a double. This double must bring the score down to exactly zero. Centre bull counts as 50 (i.e. double 25).

"Doubles to Start" is normally used in conjunction with "Doubles to Finish". This makes a more difficult game as players are required to throw a double before any score can be taken from their total.

There are many ways to determine who throws first.

A. Away team throws first in the first game of the match then alternate for rest of the match (Superleague Rules)

B. Diddle for the middle - Throwing a dart at the bullseye to determine the order of play, closest to bullseye going first.

C. Mugs Away - In a winner stays on the board situation - The challenger
(Mug) goes first.

American Cricket

American Cricket is a popular game, similar to Mickey Mouse, played in competition in some countries. Each team or player, must throw three of each of the numbers on the scoreboard.

The Scoreboard

A game of American Cricket begins with a pre-drawn scoreboard as below

Team 1		Team2
	20
	19
	18
	17
	16
	15
	Bulls

Object of the Game

The object of American Cricket is to be the first player or team to close all the numbers and to have the highest score. A player closes a number by throwing three of that number. Doubles count as two of a number and trebles count as three.

Scoring

A player can score on any number once he has it closed, providing the other team does not have it closed. Doubles and trebles count as two or three of that number.

Round The Board (Round The Clock)

This is the version of the game played in Darts Leagues in the north of England

Object of the Game
To go round the board from number 1 - 20 Finishing the game with the first Bonus Double of the Game, The treble of the same number and finally one Inner Bull or two outer Bulls.

If no Bonus Double has been hit before one player reaches 20 the Finishing
Double and Treble will be 1's

Bonus Doubles
Hitting the double of any number 1-10 (when it is your target number)
leapfrogs your next target to double that number plus one.

Double 1	Next Target Three
Double 6	Next Target Thirteen
Double 10	Next Target First Double of The Game

If you hit the single 10 then you have no option but to hit all the numbers
from 11 to 20.This is referred to as "Walking" or "Walking the Board"

For this reason most players start to look for doubles after 7 or 8

League Variations

A) The Treble component of the Finnish is omitted.

B) Any Bull finishes the game

C) Darts counted back. If the player who threw first finishes the game, his opponent is given the same number of darts to attempt a win or Draw.

This game looks complicated "on paper" but is easier to play casually in the pub than 501
as it does not require chalking.

It is also a great game for practicing those Doubles and Bulls.

The Perfect Leg

Double 1

Single 3

Double 4

Single 9

Double 10

Double 1

Treble 1

Inner Bull

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is one of the most fun and competitive darts games around. It can be played with two or more teams with one or more players per team. For the novice darts player, chance can play a part in the game as numbers all around the board can score. For the more experienced player it offers a fun alternative to the game of 501 and gives them an opportunity to practice numbers all around the board, which can be a real help when going for that high outshot.

The Scoreboard

A game of Mickey Mouse begins with a pre-drawn scoreboard as below.

Team 1		Team2
	20
	19
	18
	17
	16
	15
	14
	13
	12
	Doubles
	Trebles
	Bulls
	3 in a bed

Optionally more or less numbers can be used and the beds, bulls, doubles or trebles removed.

Object of the Game

The object of Mickey Mouse is to be the first team to close all of the categories on the scoreboard, twenty down to twelve, doubles, trebles, bulls and beds. To close a category a team must score three of that category. A treble twenty can count as three twenties or as a treble. Scores are taken once all three darts have been thrown. An inner bull counts as two bulls or a double. A bed is made when getting three darts in the same number on the same throw. A team as well as closing all categories must also have the highest score to be declared the winners. If they do not they must keep scoring on whatever is available to them. Put simply the winning team is the first team to have both the highest score and all the categories closed.

Scoring

A team may score in any category once they have three of that category until all other teams also have three of that category. Thus a treble twenty, twenty, twenty thrown on the first set of darts for the game, could either be taken as a treble and two twenties or three twenties and two twenties scored. Beds score the total of all three darts.

Cricket (English Version)

This is the game known as Cricket in Australia. It is based on the game of cricket played with bat and ball. The object of the game is to score as many runs as possible before losing your wickets. One or two inning matches may be played. An inning consists of each team having a turn at bowling and batting. The team with the highest score at the end of a match is the winner.

Players should first divide into two teams. Next, as is traditional in a game of cricket a coin is tossed to determine which team bats and which team bowls, the winner of the toss chooses which they want to do first.

The bowling side throws first, throwing at the bull. A single bull counts as one wicket, a double as two wickets.

The batting side goes next. Any score made above 45 counts towards the score for the innings. Thus if the total of three darts scores 60, then 60 minus 45 is 15. 15 is added to the innings score.

Teams take it in turn until the bowling side has taken 10 wickets. The batting side is then all out and it is now their turn to bowl.

a follow-on can be forced and declarations made as in a real game of cricket.

Follow the Leader

This is a good game for times when several players are available.

Each player/team starts by throwing for the bull to determine order of play. Every player/team begins the game with 3 lives (make this 5 if you want the game to last a little longer), when all of these are gone the player/team is out of the game. Play continues until only one player/team remains.

Play begins by the first player/team setting the lead by throwing one dart at the board with their wrong hand to set the lead. More darts may be used until a lead is set. Possible sets are the double of a number, the outer of a number (the bit between the double and treble), the treble of a number, the inner of a number (the bit between the treble and the bull), the outer bull and the inner bull. The next player/team has three darts to hit the previous set and to set a new lead. The player/team loses a life if the previous lead set is not hit. One additional dart is available if a new lead has still not been set with the first three darts. If no new lead is set then play reverts to the old set and that player/team loses a life. A player/team does not have to throw at a lead that they set themselves. They can choose to pass the throw if they wish.

Shanghai

Shanghai is a simple game for two or more players, that gets you throwing at the lower numbers on the board for a change.

Each player in turn starts by throwing 3 darts at number one, then number two and then all the numbers up to and including seven. A double counts for score as two of a number, a treble as three. The player with the highest tally at the end of the game wins unless.....

A Shanghai is thrown. If a single, double and treble of the target number is thrown, the player automatically wins. Players with a throw still remaining on that round may still attempt to throw a Shanghai for the draw.

Halve It (Burma Road)

Burma Road is a game for two or more players. Play begins with all players throwing for the bull. The closest player to the bull may choose to throw first or last. All other players throw in order of closest to the bull.

Each player begins the game with twenty points. Players throw in turn for the following numbers in this order - 20, 19, 18, double (any), 17, 16, 15, treble (any), 14, 13, 12, bulls (either), having three darts at each number. Only target numbers count toward score and any scores on the target numbers are added onto the persons score.

In the event of all three darts missing the current target the players score is halved (rounding up). This can be very deadly in the latter parts of the game. The winner is the player with the highest score at the end of the game.

Over's and Under's

These are two versions of the same game with the rules being basically the same.

Over's

Each player/team starts by throwing for the bull to determine order of play. Every player/team begins the game with 3 lives, when all of these are gone the player/team is out of the game. Play continues until only one player/team remains.

The first player/team throws a set of darts at the board with the wrong hand. The total scored by this set of darts is recorded and must be beaten by the next player/team. If the score is not beaten then a life is forfeited. The total made is then recorded as the new target. This continues with each player/team either beating the previous score or not and losing a life.

Under's

The same as Over's except the object is to score less than the previous players score. Darts that fail to score for any reason count as 60 !