So for instance, if a player has double 16 left, and hits a 16, he has double 8 left and if he then hits an 8 he has double 4 left and so on - this is advantageous because no extra darts need to be thrown in order to reduce the score to an even number. So on the last turn, it is not necessary to throw all 3 darts - a player can win with the first or second dart of the turn.īecause a player who misses a targeted double is likely to score the single of that segment, good players attempt to leave themselves with a repeatably bisectable number such as 24 or most ideally 32 - double 16. if a player has 32 to go out and the first dart is a 16, the second is a 15, the player is bust and the score is returned to 32. If a player reduces the score to 1 or goes below zero, the score is bust, that turn ends immediately and the score is returned to what it was at the start of that turn. The objective is to be the first player to reduce the score to exactly zero, the only caveat being that the last dart thrown must land in a double or the bullseye. Bullseye scores 50, the outer ring scores 25 and a dart in the double or treble ring counts double or treble the segment score. The score for each turn is calculated and deducted from the players total. Each player starts with a score of 501 and takes turns to throw 3 darts. The front of the oche should be 2.37m (7 feet, 9 and 1/4 inches) from the front of the board. Players should stand behind a raised horizontal block called the "oche" (pronounced "okky") 38 mm (1 1/2 inches) high, although any mark on the ground will do for casual play.
The board is placed so that the middle of the bullseye is 1.73m (5 feet, 8 inches) above the ground. So, for instance, if a dart lands in the segment marked 14 and is within the treble ring, a "treble 14" has been scored.Įach player has 3 darts which are front-weighted, flighted, weapons a few inches long with a sharp point. The segments spread out from this ring broken only by the "treble" ring about half way to the edge and "double" ring which marks the rim of the circle. At the centre is a small black circle called the "bullseye" and, surrounding that, a thin red ring called the 25 ring. It consists of a circle of 20 segments numbered from 1 to 20 in a seemingly random fashion. The pattern on the board is delineated by wire and hue.
A good board should be made from vegetable fibre and is called a "bristle board".
By far the most commonly used design of darts board today is the "clock" or "trebles" board and that is the only board that will be considered in these instructions.