Official Rules for British Darts

Darts evolved from the sport of archery, as a miniature version of the centuries-old sport. It moved into public houses as a game popular with English archers looking to show off their skills. King Henry VIII is reported to have been a darts fan and Anne Boleyn may have presented him with an ornate dartboard during her time as queen. The game spread, along with the British Empire, before the sport's rules were officially codified in the 1920's.

  1. The Board

    • An official regulation dartboard is split into 20 sections. These are numbered 1-20 and a dart thrown into a section is worth the number of points relative to the number of the section. If the dart lands in the thin band at the top, it is worth double points while the middle band trebles the points. For example, a dart landing in the small red band in the middle of the section marked '20' is worth 60 points. The red circle in the middle is the bullseye, worth 50 points, and the thin band around it is worth 25.

    The Oche

    • The official, standard height of a dartboard is 5 feet 8 inches from the floor to the bullseye. The oche (the line behind which a player must stand to throw) should be 7 feet 9 ¼ inches from the board. Darts must be thrown one at a time in sets of three from a standing position. There are few restrictions as to the size and weight of the darts themselves.

    The Game

    • Most darts tournaments feature matches that are played over a predetermined number of games of 501. In this game the player seeks to reduce a starting score of 501 to zero using as few darts as possible. Players take it in turns to throw their darts at the board in sets of three. The darts land in the numbered sections and the total score is then subtracted from 501 until the player reaches zero. To win, a player must finish with a double or the bullseye i.e. if a player has 36 remaining he must finish with double 18.

    Television

    • The British Darts Organisation (BDO) took darts onto television with its world championship in the 1960's, before darts split in 1992. Now the BDO and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) vie for supremacy with rival world championships but both play under almost identical rules.