Playing Darts/Rules

Darts is played by two teams with each team having one member or more but an equal number in each team. Before the start of the game, the teams are generally allowed 9 throws each as warm-up. To decide who goes first in the game, each team will nominate one member to throw a single dart. The one which is closest to the bull's eye gets to go first.

A turn is made up of throwing 3 darts successively after which the darts are retrieved. Each member gets 1 turn. Turns are alternated between the two competing teams. The score from each turn is the sum of scores of each dart thrown. Any throw which is not a foul/no-throw is considered for scoring. If the foot crosses the throwing line, or the member loses balance and crosses the line after the throw, it is considered a foul. Darts which are on board at the end of turn are considered for scoring. Those darts which strike off-board, or fall off in middle of a turn are not considered.

Scoring: The dart board is divided into 20 sectors. Each sector has a number attached to it which will be the score if a dart lands in that sector. There are special zones where the scoring slightly varies Bull's-eye: 50 points : It is the innermost red circle. Bull: 25 points : It is the green ring surrounding the Bull's-eye. Triple ring: Sector points X 3 : It is the middle ring. A dart landing in this ring will receive thrice the sector points. Double ring: Sector points X 2 : It is the outermost ring. A dart landing in this ring will receive twice the sector points.

Game: The most common game that is played is "501". It literally is a count down from 501 to 0. All teams start at 501 points and the amount they score in each turn is deducted from this total. First team to reach 0 wins. The countdown to zero starts. The end gets quite tricky as the teams are expected to reach exactly zero. i.e. in the last turn the member is expected to hit the exact number of points required to reach zero. If he gets more than the required, he goes bust and the points in that turn won't be counted.

Each game is one leg and first to 3 legs wins the set, the number of sets required to win the match is determined before the match starts