When you first start to play darts you think you know the games, but there’s more to it than just counting down, and plenty of opportunity to hone your skills. Keep reading to find out all you need to know.
How to play darts for beginners.
Darts rules are very simple. Usually played between two people, each player has a set of three darts and takes it in turns to throw at the dartboard.
To decide who is going to throw first, each player throws a single dart and tries to hit the Bullseye in the center of the dartboard. Closest to the bullseye goes first.
Whoever is closest to the bull throws their three darts, one at a time (and if playing 301 or 501) tries to get the highest score they can.
The players continue to take turns throwing their three darts, subtracting the scores they get each time from the number left after the previous throw. The aim of the game is to reduce your score to zero.
To end the game and be the winner, you need to throw your final dart into one of the doubles located on the outside of the coloured area of the board.
How to play 301
Each player starts with 301 points on the board and they take it in turns throwing their 3 darts to reduce their score until they are able to finish by hitting one of the doubles.
301 is a good way for beginners to start playing darts as you don’t need to score so highly to reduce your score down to zero (the professionals play 501).
Something to consider is that if you go below zero or “bust” (by scoring too many points), your score returns to the number you were trying to get before you bust.
So if you need double 9 to get the 18 you need to get to zero, but you hit double 12 (24) instead then you have bust your score and on your next turn will need to aim for double 9 again.
Scoring
If you hit the inner or outer single bed, you will score the value of that number multiplied by 1.
If you hit the outer ring, the double, then you double the score of the number you have hit. And if you hit the treble bed, you multiply the number you have hit by 3.
The concept of scoring in darts is the same for each number.
The outer bullseye (or single bull) is worth 25 points, whilst the double bull / bullseye at the center of the board is worth 50.
If you finish outside the number of segments, I’m afraid your score for that dart is zero!
Variations
Because its hard to hit doubles when you start playing the game as a beginner, there are ways to simplify the game until you improve your skills. One way is to avoid the need to hit doubles and just aim to get your score to zero by hitting the exact score you need. No doubles? No troubles!
How to play 501
Each player starts with 501 points on the board and takes turns to throw their 3 darts to reduce the score to a point where they can hit an out shot – reducing their score to zero – by hitting one of the doubles or the bullseye.
501 is a similar version of 301, but obviously you start with a higher score if you are a beginner, 501 can take longer to complete, as you are unlikely to score high enough to move the score down quickly. Professional dart players play 501 and the record for finishing is with only 9-darts. Something I can only dream of :(.
Because we have varying degrees of skill and experience of darts in our family, we usually play 301.
301 and 501 are obviously the standard darts games you can play. Let’s look at some other games you can play that are equally entertaining, but don’t rely on you finishing on a double but are still challenging and fun to play no matter what your skill level.
How to play darts baseball
Each player takes turns throwing their three darts at the number assigned to each inning. So in the first inning, you aim for the one on the dartboard. If you had a single one you get 1 run, a double is worth 2 runs and obviously a treble is worth 3. If you don’t hit a 1, that throw results in no runs.
In the second innings you aim for number 2, in the third for 3 and continue in the same vein through to the 9th innings where you aim for number 9.
Darts baseball gets its name from the fact that there are 9 rounds or as in its namesake, 9 innings.
The game is whoever has scored the most runs after the 9 innings. If there is a tie, just like in real baseball, there is a 10th innings where you aim for number 10. The game continues through the innings and numbers on the board until we have a winner.
For beginners playing darts, baseball darts is a great way to start!
But it’s also a great way for players with more experience to practice because you have to aim all around the board and usually are places that are less commonly aimed at.
How to play golf darts
Each player takes turns to hit the numbers 1 through 18. The person with the lowest score is the winner.
Each number counts as one hole on a golf course played in numerical order. The object being to hit a single of each number before moving onto the next “hole”.
As opposed to playing 301 or 501 games, hitting a double or a treble is bad!, as the aim of the game is to go from 1 to 18, hitting a single each time to achieve the lowest score. So if you hit a double, that counts as 2 strokes and a treble as 3.
To make it somewhat easier, each player can decide which dart he wants to count. If, for example, he hits a double on his first stroke, he might want to throw again to hit the single. Hitting the single results in 1 stroke, if however they then hit a treble, meaning 3 Strokes were scored from the last dart thrown so they may throw again, but missing the number altogether means that’s 5 Strokes!
I’ve obviously just explained the beginner’s version of the game for more skilled players, you would aim for the double for each hole 1 through 18. Missing the double would mean an extra stroke each time.
You can see then that this game can act as a way of improving your throwing.
How to play cricket darts
The object of cricket darts is to hit the numbers 15 through 20 3 times, then three bulls eyes before your opponents.
All beds of each number are in play, the double, the outer single, the treble and the inner single. The object being to score 3 points for each number. A single counts as 1, double as 2 and treble as 3.
Once a number is hit 3 times, the player hitting it then scores points in that number – equal to their score only in that number each throw – until the opponent hits the number 3 times. When that happens, play moves onto the next number.
The game continues through to 20 and then onto the outer bull (1 point) and bullseye (2 points).
The person with the highest score at the end of the innings is the winner.
As opposed to the English game, playing cricket darts is not as long and boring (sorry cricket fans only joking 🙂
How to play around the world darts
The object of round the world is to hit each number consecutively, 1 through 20, before hitting the outer bull, then Bullseye. The first person to consecutively hit each number wins the game.
It doesn’t matter which bed you hit each number as soon as you hit it whether it be BA double the trouble or one of the single beds you move on to the next. This is a great game for practicing hitting numbers around the board improving your aim.
Takeaways:
All the games we have looked at have their own challenges, but equally, each is entertaining and fun for all levels of skill and experience. With darts, as your skill levels increase, you will find ways to make each game more challenging, such as for Around the Clock, you can only move onto the next number if you hit the double or the treble.
Remember, the way to get better at darts is to play more games.
Frustrations:
If one of your darts bounces out of the board, that unfortunately means you get no points for that throw.
If one of your darts lands outside the coloured area on the board again, no points, I’m afraid.
If one of your darts ends up jammed into the shaft of another dart you have already thrown, once again that means no points for the second dart – The first dart still scores whatever amount of points it has hit on the board.
If one of your darts, which hasn’t landed securely in the board, falls out before you manage to retrieve it, then once again you score no points with that dart – these things can be very frustrating :-/
