John Paul
The ability to understand darts scoring relies heavily on understanding the dart board and how it is divided. With all the different types of darts games available, the dartboard usually has the same layout for each game. There are 20 divided segments on the board and the middle has the outer bullseye and inner bullseye, where scoring darts can earn you the most points. But some games will require you to hit other areas than the bullseyes.
Dart Scoring-Facts
The Dartboard:
As indicated, there are 20 divided segments to a standard dartboard. Each segment is made up of a single value area, double ring area, and triple ring area. On the top of each segment, there is a number which represents the number points you will receive if you strike the single value area of that segment. These numbers range from 1 to 20, but they are not in order on the segments. Starting from 20 and going clockwise, the numbers are 1, 18, 4, 13, 6, 10, 15, 2, 17, 3, 19, 7, 16, 8, 11, 14, 9, 12, and 5. If you strike a double ring or triple ring in that segment, then you will earn double or triple the number of points that is indicated; respectively.
For example, if you throw a dart into a single value area of the segment which has a 6 at the end of it, then you will earn 6 points. If you hit a double ring in that segment, you will earn 12 points. If you hit a triple ring in that same segment, you will earn 18 points. If you were to play darts in a regional tournament, the quickest way to win would be to score a triple ring in the 20-point segment three times. This would earn you 180 points which is the highest score you can get in a game. Of course, it is just as hard to do that as it is to score three bullseyes.
Speaking of which, the outer bullseye will earn you 25 points and inner bullseye will earn you 50 points. You might think that players would always want to aim for the bullseye because it is the center of the board and earns you a lot of points. The truth is that the bullseye is often too hyped up and overrated. You can score points a lot faster by aiming for the triple rings, especially the ring in the 20-point segment.
Manual Darts Scoring:
In the old days of darts games, players and/or spectators used to keep track of the score with a paper and pencil. The standard darts game is called 501, which is where each player starts with 501 points and they must reach 0 points to win the game. Each time they earn points on the dart board, they are actually subtracting those points from their 501-point total. A shorter variation of this game is 301, which is where players start with 301 points and must get to 0 to win.
If you know basic arithmetic, then keeping track of scoring darts on paper will be simple enough. You just keep subtracting from the total whatever you score on the dartboard. But you won’t just want to keep track of your own points, you’ll also want to keep track of your opponents’ points as well. That way, you know they’re not cheating by trying to give themselves more points than they really earned. Of course, if you’re playing a professional darts game, there will be referees keeping track of the points for both teams. But if you’re simply playing darts in a barroom or something, then you need to do this yourself.
Darts Scoring Apps:
The age of modern technology has made keeping track of scoring darts a whole lot easier. There are now darts scoring apps which automatically help you with all the mathematical calculations. After each time you or another player throws a dart, you simply enter the number of points that were scored for that throw into your app. It will separate your points versus their points and give you the total points that each person has. This ensures that you are not making any mistakes in your subtraction (or addition in some cases) that could cause you to lose the game. It also takes the stress off of having to worry about keeping an accurate score while you’re trying to concentrate on playing the game.
When a darts player hits a double ring, triple ring, or bullseye, you don’t need to do the multiplication in your head for this score. Darts scoring apps will do this multiplication for you. For example, if you were to hit the triple ring of the 15-point segment, then you would type T15 into the app rather having to type 45 points (the result of 15 * 3). The app will automatically factor the result of the multiplication into the total points scored. If you were to score a double ring of 15, then it would be written as D15. Single and bullseye areas don’t need a letter in front of the score because there is no multiplication involved for them.
Darts Cricket Scoring:
Rather the traditional 501 or 301 darts games, the other very popular darts game is cricket. Darts cricket scoring involves having to hit each number on the dartboard approximately 3 times. This includes having to hit the bullseye approximately 3 times as well. If you happen to hit the triple ring or double ring of a particular number, then it counts as hitting that number 3 times or 2 times; respectively. If you hit the inner bullseye, then it counts as hitting it 2 times. The outer bullseye would count as just 1 time.
As you can see, there is no adding or subjecting the number of points earned here. You are just eliminating certain numbers until there are no numbers left. This is an example of a game that would definitely be easier to play with a darts scoring app that has a cricket option programmed into it.
