Rules for Playing Darts

The game of darts has been a common pastime since medieval days. However, the original rules of game play were vastly different among players. It wasn't until after World War II that a standard set of rules were established. These rules enabled players from around the world to play the sport on an equal basis. Teams, leagues and other competitive organizations have become prevalent since these rules were created.

  1. Board Setup

    • Mount a standard dartboard with a steel tip or soft tip face on a sturdy wall so that the double bull is 5 feet, 8 inches from the floor. The screw that attaches the board to the wall should be centered behind the bull to keep the board level against the wall.

      Place the oche, or throwing line of a steel tip board, 7 feet, 9.25 inches from the face of the board. The oche of a soft tip board is often 8 feet from the board. A raised wooden oche can be mounted to the floor. This makes it impossible for players to step over the throwing line.

    General Rules

    • Though many leagues, bars and sporting venues have their own house rules, there are standard rules that most go by.

      Your shooting order is determined by a preliminary throw. Whichever player's dart comes closest to the bull shoots first. The players then alternate turns. Three darts are thrown during a turn. The darts must hit the board. Darts that miss the board or bounce off the board cannot be thrown again.

      The board is separated into 20 numerical wedges and one bull. Each numerical wedge is composed of three sections. The smallest section is a triple point ring; the second to smallest section is a double point ring; and the largest is worth face value. The bull is divided into two sections: the single bull, which is worth 25 points, and the double bull, which is worth 50 points.

    Various Games

    • There are many variations of dart games, however the three most popular games are Round the Clock, X01 and Cricket.

      The objective of Round the Clock is to hit each number on the board in numerical order. The players begin at 1 and finish at 20. The players cannot move onto the next number until the previous number is hit. Whoever hits all 20 wedges in order wins.

      X01 begins with a set number, usually 301 or 501. The object of the game is to hit numerical wedges and count down from that number until you reach exactly zero. To win, the players must end the game with a double. If the point value falls below zero, the round is busted, and the player returns to his previous score.

      Cricket uses only the 15-20 wedges and the bull. The object is to hit those wedges and the bull three times to close out that number. The triple and double sections count as two or three hits. Once you close out a number, you can begin to score points by hitting that number again, until your opponent closes out the number as well. After the entire board is closed, the winner is the one with the most points.