World Darts Championship

Find your target, aim and shoot!

Darts is a sport in which small missiles/torpedoes/arrows/darts are thrown at a circular dartboard fixed to a wall. Though various boards and rules have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules. As well as being a professional competitive game, darts is a traditional pub game, commonly played in Britain and Ireland, across the Commonwealth, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, the United States, and elsewhere.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Each player takes a turn in rotation, throwing 3 darts.

2. Each player throws one dart at the bullseye to decide who will start; the one closest begins the game. (If you prefer, a coin toss may be used.)

3. Each dart thrown counts against the three in the player's turn. But any dart that misses, bounces off or falls from the board, earns no score. If a dart sticks in another dart, it counts as a throw but gets no score.

The score earned by any dart that sticks in the target is based on the point of entry within the wire divisions and not the colour.

GAME MODE:

ROUND THE WORLD

1. Darts 301

A player must hit a "double" before any score is counted. See diagram 2 indicating the wires on the outer rim of the board. When a double is thrown, that dart will count, as will any following it.

A player's score is determined by subtracting from 301 the count of each dart. As shown on the diagram, the outer counts double; the smaller inner ring counts triple the designated score.

To win, a player must reduce his score to exactly zero, and the last dart must be a double. For example, if you need 41 to finish you could do it with a single 9 and a double 16.

When a player scores more than the exact score needed, his turn of three darts does not count; his score remains ~ as it was before that turn. That means if 20 is required and the player scores 21, his score remains at 20. Also note that if the player hits a single 20, that turn does not count; his score remains at 20. And if 19 if hit, the throw does not count because you cannot go out on a single 1.

2. Darts 501

Except that the "double" is not required to begin scoring, "501" is played the same as "301". Scores are subtracted from a starting point of 501, and the rules to finish on a double are the same as 301.

For team play, the score may be increased to 601 or higher, depending on the number of players. 501 is the game used for most tournament or championship matches.

3. ROUND THE WORLD

Round the world or round the clock, is a fun game for all skill levels. The game uses all the numbers on the board, which makes it especially good for beginners. A player must hit the numbers, 1-20, in sequence before your opponent. Hitting double and triples counts but just a single score. A perfect turn would advance you three numbers.

Variations:

Plus Bull’s-eye - Either make the bull’s-eye the first thing you need to hit or the last. If playing with the bull’s-eye in the beginning, the first person to hit the bull’s-eye has a chance to get a serious head start. If playing with bull’s-eye at the end, you give the person trailing a better chance to catch up.

Doubles & Trebles - Hit a double jump ahead one number, hit a triple score area jump ahead two numbers.