How to play darts: rules, scoring and a checkout chart

A dartboard has 20 numbered beds around a bull in the middle. From the top, clockwise, the numbers run 20, 1, 18, 4, 13, 6, 10, 15, 2, 17, 3, 19, 7, 16, 8, 11, 14, 9, 12, 5. Two thin rings cross every bed: the treble ring halfway out, and the double ring at the edge.

The most one dart can score is 60, a treble 20, so the most a turn of 3 darts can score is 180. Players write the darts short: T20 is treble 20, D16 double 16, and 25 the outer bull.

• Hang the board so that the center of the bull is 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) above the floor, with the 20 at the top.
• Mark the throw line, the oche, 2.37 m (7 ft 9¼ in) from the face of the board, measured along the floor.
• Check it on a slant: from the bull to the oche on the floor is 2.93 m (9 ft 7⅜ in).
• For soft-tip darts, many leagues throw from 2.44 m (8 ft), with the bull at the same height.

1. Set up the board. Hang the board with the center of the bull 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) above the floor. Mark the throw line, the oche, 2.37 m (7 ft 9¼ in) from the face of the board.
2. Decide who throws first. Each player throws one dart at the bull. The player whose dart is closer to the center throws first.
3. Start on 501. Each player starts with a score of 501. A turn is 3 darts, and the players take turns.
4. Take your points off. Add up the points of your 3 darts and take them off your score. 60, 60 and 20 make 140, so 501 becomes 361.
5. Finish on a double. To win, bring your score to exactly 0 with a double or the bull as the last dart. On 32, a double 16 wins. This is called a checkout.
6. Watch for a bust. A dart that takes your score below 0, to 1, or to 0 without a double is a bust. The turn ends, and your score goes back to what it was at the start of the turn.
7. Win the leg. The first player to check out wins the leg. A match is a set number of legs, and big matches group the legs into sets.

You are on 32. Your first dart hits 20, which leaves 12. Your second hits 10, which leaves 2. Your third hits 4: that would take you below 0, so the turn is a bust, and you start the next turn on 32 again.

A score of exactly 1 is a bust too, because no double is worth 1. On 32, a single 16 leaves 16, and a double 8 then finishes. That is why players like to leave a double they can split, like 32: a miss into the single still leaves a double.

A checkout is a way to finish from your score in one turn, with the last dart on a double or the bull. This chart gives a common route for every score that 3 darts can finish. Charts differ on a few scores, and any route that adds up and ends on a double works.

The green dart ends the game. After or comes a route with fewer darts, where one exists: it is shorter, but it needs the bull, a small target.

Cricket uses only the numbers 15 to 20 and the bull. You win by closing all of them before your opponent, with at least as many points.

1. Hit a number three times to close it. A single counts as one mark, a double as two, and a treble as three.
2. Close the bull with three marks too: the outer bull counts as one mark, and the bull as two.
3. Close the numbers in any order. Players mark the board with a slash, then a cross, then a circle round the cross.
4. After you close a number, more hits on it score its points, until your opponent closes it too.
5. Once both players close a number, it is out of the game.
6. The first player to close every number with equal or more points wins.

Close the 20 and the 19 early: they score the most once they are open. When you are behind on points, close the numbers your opponent scores on. In cut-throat cricket, a version often played by three or more, your points go to the players who have not closed that number, and the lowest score wins.

Hit every number in order, from 1 to 20, and many players finish with the bull. Any part of a number counts: the single, the double or the treble. Each hit moves you on to the next number, and the first player to hit the last target wins.

Some players make it harder: only doubles count, or a double or a treble jumps you on two or three numbers. Agree on the rule first. It is a good warm-up, because it makes you aim at every part of the board.

301 plays like 501 from a lower start, and is often played double in: your scoring starts with a double. In Shanghai, each round has a target number, from 1 up, and only hits on it score. A single, a double and a treble of the target in one turn, a Shanghai, wins at once. In Killer, each player gets a number, hits its double to become a killer, then hits the doubles of the others to take their lives.

• Stand side on to the board, with your front foot at the oche and your weight on it.
• Hold the dart lightly and keep your elbow still. Move only your forearm, and follow through toward the target.
• Aim at the treble 20 to score fast. If you often hit the 1 and the 5 beside it, try the treble 19.
• Practice your doubles: most games are won or lost on the last dart.
• Learn a few checkouts by heart, like 40 for a double 20 and 32 for a double 16.

Practice 501 and around the clock in our free darts game, against the computer or a friend. It uses the sizes of a regulation board, and shows a checkout when you are on a finish.