The rules
of darts
Darts is not one game but several, all played on the same board with three darts a turn, and a dart scores according to the band it lands in: a plain single, the double ring, the treble ring, or the bull at 25 and 50. No visit can score more than 180. Three games cover nearly all of it — 501 and 301 subtract a starting score to exactly zero on a double, while Cricket instead closes seven targets, 15 through 20 plus the bull, at three marks apiece.
What never changes
Whatever you play, you throw three darts a turn from a line 7' 9¼" from the board, with the bull 5' 8" off the floor. What a dart is worth depends only on where it lands.
Single
The plain bands of a segment.
Double
The thin outer ring.
Treble
The thin inner ring.
Bull
Green ring, then the red centre.
Which game to play
Subtract from 501 to exactly zero, finishing on a double.
- Who for
- The format of every televised match, and of most league nights.
- A game takes
- 10 to 20 minutes — under three at professional pace
The same rules from a lower start, so the finishing zone arrives at once.
- Who for
- For learning, and for when several of you are waiting on the board.
- A game takes
- 5 to 10 minutes
Close 15 to 20 and the bull three times each, then score on the numbers your opponent has not closed.
- Who for
- For players who would rather think than score heavily.
- A game takes
- 15 to 25 minutes
Vocabulary you will hear
Oche
The throwing line. Pronounced “ockey”, and the word for the place you stand.
Visit
One turn of three darts. Sometimes called a throw.
Leg
One complete game. A match is a race over several legs — and in some formats those legs are grouped into sets.
Ton
A hundred points in a visit. A ton-eighty is the maximum, 180.
Checkout
The combination that takes you from your remaining score to zero.
Bust
A visit that goes past zero, leaves exactly 1, or reaches zero without the double you needed. None of it counts: the score goes back to what it was before the visit, and the turn ends.
Who does the arithmetic
Traditionally the loser of the previous game — winner stays on, loser chalks — or whoever is nearest the chalk; in league play a designated marker does it. Marking is its own skill: the subtraction has to keep up with the throwing, and a mistake spotted three visits later is an argument nobody wins.
DartSync does it instead. Set the game up, share the link, and everyone follows the same scoreboard on their own phone — the busts are caught, the checkout is suggested when you come into range, and a mis-typed dart is one tap to undo.
Frequently asked questions about the rules
What are the basic rules of darts?▼
You throw three darts a turn from a line 7 ft 9¼ in from the board, with the centre of the bull 5 ft 8 in off the floor. A dart is worth the number it lands in, doubled in the outer ring and trebled in the inner one. What you do with those points depends on the game: 501 and 301 subtract, Cricket claims numbers.
Which darts game should a beginner start with?▼
301, because the finishing zone arrives after three scoring visits instead of six or seven, so you learn the part that matters soonest. Move to 501 once the double stops being a lottery — that is the format everyone else plays.
How much is the bull worth?▼
The green outer ring is 25 and the red centre is 50. In 501 and 301 the centre counts as a double 25, so you can finish a leg on it. In Cricket the outer ring is one mark and the centre is two.
What happens if a dart bounces out?▼
It scores nothing and is not thrown again. The same goes for a dart that misses the board entirely — the dart is spent.
What is the highest score with three darts?▼
180 — three trebles in the 20. Players call it a ton-eighty.
Who keeps score?▼
Traditionally the loser of the last game — winner stays on, loser chalks — or whoever is nearest the chalk. Marking well is its own skill, which is why most people now let a phone do it: DartSync keeps the same scoreboard on every player's screen from one shared link.
More questions? See the full FAQ