Darts

Darts is a game in which darts are thrown at a target hung on a wall. It is commonly played in pubs in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Points are awarded for hitting the various sections. Hitting a white or black section gives points equal to the number aligned to that section. Hitting the outer red or green sections is worth double points, hitting the red or green section inside that is worth triple points. The outer ring in the centre of the board is worth 25 points, the inner ring (also known as "The Bull" or "Bullseye") is worth 50 points. Hitting outside of the layer of doubles merits no points.

Dart boards are often made of cork and each section is lined with thin metal wire. The numbers are normally made from twisted wire.

Darts is usually contested between two players usually playing a certain amount of legs, in which they have to reduce their score from 501 (or 301) to zero. The players take turns to throw three darts at a time. The last dart in the leg must hit either a double or the bullseye and must reduce the score to exactly zero. Sometimes matches are decided by who wins the most sets, each containing a certain amount of legs.

There are two main versions of the game at a professional level, in the 1990s a breakaway version was formed with the influence of Sky Television. The Sky version has a higher prize money and a better quality of players, but critics would say it is less prestigous than its traditional counterpart, which when televised is shown on the BBC.

The main traditional event is the World Professional Darts Championship.

Glossary

• Bounce-Out - Where the dart bounces back off the board or the wire, thus scoring no points.
• Bust - Scoring too many points in a three-dart throw, thus gaining no score for those three darts.
• Checkout - The final turn of throwing darts in a leg.
• Maximum - A score of 180 achieved in one turn of three darts.
• Maximum Checkout - A checkout of 170.
• Oche - The point from which players throw the darts.
• Outshot - Alternative name for checkout.
• Shanghai - A checkout involving treble 20, single 20 and double 20.
• Ton - A score of 100, sometimes means any score more than 100.
• Ton-80 - A score of 180.