Some say darts are just a game, while others also see it as a sport; either way, this activity can be played recreationally or competitively. But regardless of how you play this, it requires you to understand its rules, mainly how many darts are there in a set.
So, how many darts are there in a set? Typically, a set of darts would have five legs or games, with the first player to win three legs wins the set. The World Masters Tournament is the only exception as it consists of three legs per set. Every turn consists of three throws, with each member getting one turn. To win the match, you will need to win a certain number of sets – something determined before starting the match.
How Many Sets Should be Played in Darts?
The Darts World Championship starts its first round with the best-of-five sets, and these sets increase with the championship rounds. It reached up to a best of thirteen. The top thirty-two ranked players have their first-round byes.
Firstly, 501 is the game’s standard version when done competitively, and its objective is to “check out” by bringing your rate down to fifty or even lesser before the game ends. Thus, the game should end when a player finally reaches zero by their final dart’s bull’s-eye or by hurling a double.
Because this game or sport only requires its players to acquire a dart set and a dartboard, the limited equipment list is one reason it rose to fame. However, its board is already utilized as a standard and was created during the year 1896.
The carpenter who is widely credited with creating the first dartboard (although this is heavily debated!) aimed to penalize inaccurate dart hurling by keeping big digits apart and separating them with the smaller digits. Mathematicians have actually argued about this before, especially about the best dartboard layout. They argued about minimizing the prize for inaccurate throws; nevertheless, the modern design looks like it’s here to stay.
What is the Main Difference Between Dart Legs and Sets?
A dart set includes a leg sequence. Generally speaking, a particular set should consist of the best-of-five legs, and the winner is the first player who will win three. The sequence will end when the leg count you have won has met specific criteria.
Throwing first is seen as a leg advantage; thus, players will alternate who must throw first in every leg throughout the entire set. Although there will be several exceptions, the most famous is the World Masters, wherein the set is the best-of-three legs.
What are the Rules of Throwing the Dart?
So far, the most known and most used dart board design nowadays is the trebles or clock board. This is the only dartboard that is considered and acknowledged in the manuals. So, how should you play darts?
A famous game that is only played recreationally is the Around-the-Clock. This game requires every player to take a turn to hurl three darts. They must also throw a dart into each segment from one up to twenty before finishing up to the twenty-fifth and finally the bull’s-eye.
Players should begin with one and should not move to the next digit until another player has successfully thrown a dart into the current segment. Trebles and doubles are ignored. The first player who hits all targets and finishes with the bull’s-eye will win.
The ’01 dart rules are straightforward and less complicated compared to other games. However, below are several key points you should take note of when playing darts.
- The player who will take the starting turn of the game is chosen by throwing one dart each, and then the player who hits the spot nearest to bull’s-eye will take the starting throw.
- Each throw includes throwing 3 darts unless fewer can win the game.
- The only counted darts are those that hit the board. Any that fall, didn’t hit, or bounced from the board shouldn’t be counted and shouldn’t be used again.
- If someone can score more than how much their remaining points are, their throws will end. They will be scored zero— which means they won (for example, they have sixteen remaining, and they unintentionally targeted a twenty).
- The center of the dartboard is called the bull’s eye. This should precisely measure five feet and eight inches high (1.73 meters).
- Darts should be thrown from a marked toe-line. This clear marker is usually termed the oche. This should be at least seven feet and nine and one-fourth inches from the dartboard (measured horizontally).
Aside from the general rules, here are other games you can play with a dart and a dartboard.
Cricket
The number of players required to play this game is either two teams or two individual players. The digits involved should be twenty to fifteen, then bull’s-eye. The objective of this game is to close or own specific numbers on the dartboard and attain the highest possible score.
The team or player to attain the highest score will be declared the winner. Each team or player should take turns when throwing. To close the inning, the team or player should score 3 of a digit. This will be attained with 3 singles, a double and a single, or a triple.
’01 games
Any number of players can play the game. However, this is typically played by two teams or two individuals. All digits in the dartboard are involved in the game; however, some have greater value than others. For example, the nineteen and twenty are extensively utilized for point scoring because they’re the highest digits on the dartboard.
All digits can be utilized to throw the game’s necessary doubles. Moreover, each player should start with three hundred-one points, and their goal is to obtain zero by subtracting their score from the amount of score they had during their previous turn.
Killer
Any number of players can play this game; however, this is actually more exciting when played by 3 or more individuals. Players will be the ones to decide what numbers to include in the game. Each of them should throw a dart using their opposite hand. For example, if a particular player is right-handed, they should throw using their left hand. If they are left-handed, they should throw with their right hand.
Each of them will try to target the double of their own number. After doing so, that player should be labeled as the “killer.” After being known as the killer, another player will start targeting the opponent’s numbers’ doubles. Each of them has 3 lives.
Whenever the killer successfully hits their opponent’s number’s double, that opponent will lose one life. However, if the killer hits their own number’s double accidentally, he or she will lose on life. Thus, it is possible to lose your own life and eventually lose the game unintentionally.
It can also be possible to hit an opponent’s double in 1 exceptional 3 turns by hurling three doubles. This entire game will continue until there’s only one player who has any number of lives left. That remaining player is the winner.
Final Thoughts
The general rules of playing darts are pretty much simple. But, again, it will always be up to you whether you want to play it competitively or recreationally. As long as you have a quality dartboard and a dart set, you and your friends will be able to decide which dart game to spend your leisure time in.
