Darts Scoring

If you hit the bulls eye in a game of darts, you score 50 points, but that's not the maximum you can score from a single shot. Scoring can be a bit complicating, and can take some time to understand. But being well versed in it gives you a definite edge in the game of darts, and there is no doubt about it. So how does darts game scoring actually work? In order to understand that, you need to get well-versed with the layout of a dartboard.

Dartboard Layout

A dartboard, at times spelled as a dart board, is a circular board of wood, which is used in the game of darts. The dartboard is divided into 20 segments, which are assigned numbers from 1 to 20 in a specific order. Imagine a large pie being cut into twenty pieces, that's what a dartboard actually looks like. The specific order in which the numbers are assigned to each of these segments is 20, 1, 18, 4, 13, 6, 10, 15, 2, 17, 3, 19, 7, 16, 8, 11, 14, 9, 12 and 5, with number 20 at the top (12 o'clock) and number 3 at the bottom (6 o'clock) of the board. Other than these segments, the dartboard also features two concentric circles. The inner circle is referred to as the 'Triple Ring', while the outer circle is referred to as the 'Double Ring'. At the center lies the 'Bulls Eye', which is again divided into two sections - the Outer Bull, marked in green, and the Inner Bull, marked in red. When it comes to scoring, all these features on the dartboard play a crucial role.

Darts Scoring Explained

Each of these segments on the dartboard have a particular number assigned to it. This is the number of points you can score if you hit this segment. For instance, if you hit the segment assigned the number 1, you score one point. If you hit the segment assigned the number 2, you earn 2 points. Similarly, a hit at segment 5 earns you 5 points, segment 10 earns you 10 points and so on till 20 points which you earn if you hit the segment marked 20. But these are not the final points that you score when you hit these segments. Along with the segment that you have hit, even the region marked by the concentric circles is taken into consideration while scoring in darts.

If your dart hits the region within the double ring, but outside the triple ring, the points you score get doubled. For instance, if you hit the dart at the segment marked 10, and within the double ring, you earn a total of 20 points (10×2). Similarly, if your dart hits the region within the triple ring, but outside the bullseye, your score gets tripled. For instance, if you hit the dart at the segment marked number 10, and within the triple ring, you earn 30 points (10×3). In case of bulls eye, hitting the outer bull earns you 25 points, whereas hitting the inner bulls earns you 50 points. But as we said earlier, this 50 is not the perfect score. If you hit the segment marked number 20 within the triple ring, your points get tripled, which means you score a total of 60 points (20×3) in one shot.

Coming back to the darts basics, almost all the matches start with '01 Up' format, wherein each player starts with a score ending with '01' (501, 601, 801, etc.). The objective of the game is to come down to zero, and whichever player achieves this feat first wins the game. Each player gets three shots at the dartboard, and the score gained from these three shots is deducted from the score at the beginning. This is where the darts technique comes into play, as the darts which don't hit the dartboard, or the ones which bounce off, are not taken into consideration.

The catch here is the ending, wherein you are supposed to come down to a score of an exact zero, that too with the last dart hitting either the double ring area or the inner bull. Though this can be easily done when the score is some even figure (dividable by 2), it is a tough job when the score is some odd figure (not dividable by 2). For instance, a score of 18 can be brought to zero by hitting a 9 double, but if the score is 19, then first the player has to come down to even score by hitting a triple summing up to odd figure, and then come down to zero with doubles. Games starting with the score of 301 are also similar, except for the fact that the player has to hit a double to start the game.

Scoring in a game of darts can get quite confusing at times, and there come instances wherein a simple mistake costs the player the entire game. Proper understanding of darts rules and regulations, and abiding by the simple darts tips, can help you avoid any goof up which can cost you the game. Considering that you start the game with an odd score, it is better off to come in the even zone as quickly as possible, and more importantly, stay there to win the game.