Tap to Read ➤

Dart Board Rules

Rahul Thadani
Playing darts is a great pastime for many people, and the most important rules and regulations to be remembered are those that deal with the scoring system. Many people find this slightly hard to understand, but in reality, it is quite simple and elementary.
Darts is a great social game to play, and its rules and regulations are really quite simple to learn and adhere to. The objective of the game is to simply throw darts on the dartboard, and to score more points than the opponent.
The dartboard is divided into concentric circles, and each circle has some points attached to it. At the center of the board is the bulls eye, which gives a player maximum points if he can land his dart there.
As the circles start moving away from the bulls eye, the number of points won keep decreasing. Thus, the closer the dart lands to the bulls eye, the more points one earns. This game is very popular in places of social gathering like clubs, bars, and restaurants.

Playing the Game

The game is either played by 2 people against each other, or by 2 teams with 2 or more players on either side. Each player gets a set of 3 darts to throw, and he must throw all of them one after the other. He must remove these darts from the board once his turn is done.
The rules almost always refer to the game of 'oh-one'. What this means is that each team starts with a score of one of the following - 301, 501, 701, 801, or 1001. The first team to reach a score of 0, wins the game.
After a person has completed 3 throws of his darts, he must subtract the score from the team's score. Darts that bounce and fall off the board do not count, and at any point there can be no more than 3 darts on a board.

Scoring

Once you see a dartboard you will be able to better understand the scoring system involved. On the outer perimeter of the board there are different numbers from 1 to 20.
There are 2 narrow rings that are also present, and if the dart lands inside the larger narrow ring, it scores double the corresponding number. If the dart happens to land in the smaller narrow ring, it signifies triple the score of the corresponding number.
The outer circle of the bulls eye signifies 25 points, and the inner circle signifies 50 points. The more points that a team scores, the quicker they can reach 0.

More Rules

While playing this game one must also adhere to the following code.
  • The final score must reach 0 exactly.
  • The darts must remain on the board for at least 5 seconds after a throw is over.
  • The person throwing the darts must not cross the throw line while throwing.
  • Doing so will mean that the throw does not count.
  • The scores are counted at the end of all 3 throws of a person.
In normal cases the dart board is hung so that it is 5 ft and 8 inches above the ground. This makes it possible for people of all heights to be able to play the game fairly. Some clubs and pubs make their own rules and regulations, and even alter the height of the board.
There are 2 professional organizations of dart throwers, and these are British Darts Organization (BDO) which was founded in 1973, and the World Darts Federation (WDF) which was founded in 1976. Both of these federations have laid down rules which must be followed by anyone playing darts officially.