The way you score darts depends on which game of darts is being played. There is the baseball, ’01 game, cricket, legs etc and they all have different rules on how to play the game and score on the mark.
The general rule is that you score in darts by checking the position of the dart on the dartboard. The dartboard is formed with its surface divided into 20 sections which are numbers. These sections score from one to twenty points.
Circular spiders or metallic wire subdivide each section within the outer wire. They are subdivided into the single area, double and triple areas.
The darts that hit the board are the ones which matter and that is what is counted as a score.
There is a standard version that most dart games use. This is where the players must start and finish with a double scoring dart.
Standard games, the score begins with 501 and the players’ scores keep being deducted from this 501 while aiming to be the first to finish.
This is why you score on the last dart with a double point in order for the final score to be 0.
Single area, double ring, and triple ring
On the dartboards, we have large portions, inner portions, and the thin outer region. When the dart hits any of the large portions, each of these numbered sections will score the player the points that are in this section.
On the dartboard, we have numbers indicated in each section. Since this is the single area, it will award you this exact point.
When the dart lands on the thin outer portion which is colored either red or green, it will score you double points on the value that is on the dart board. This is known as the double ring.
The highest point here is where you are able to attain a double-20. This is referred to as double-top. It is used to reflect the 20’s position on the dartboard.
Hitting the section in the thin inner portion of the dartboard but just halfway to the middle will score you triple points. This means that the number that is engraved on the dartboard you multiply it by three.
This is also either green or red. But no matter the color it still gives you triple points.
The Bull’s Eye
The center-most circle is known as the bullseye. It is however divided into either the inner circle or the outer ring of this central ring.
The outer ring of the bullseye which is green in color is worth 25 points. It is also known as the “Iris”, “outer bull” or just the “outer.
The innermost circle of the dartboard which is either red or black earns you 50points. It is also known as “bull”, “inner bully” or “double bull”. Bullseye can mean just the red/black innermost rings or either of these rings.
However, the bull’s ring is the green outer ring. People are mostly confusing these terms and find themselves using interchangeably but they are not the same thing. When you are doubling in or out; you double the results after you count the inner bull.
Added rules
The wires that are found in between the sections are known as spiders and when the darts hit any of them, they will mostly bounce back and will not be able to earn you any points. Hitting the area out of the outer most wire will also not score you any point.
Unless when using an electronic board, a dart that remains on the board until it is collected by the player is also counted as a point. This is in the case where the dart is not able to withstand the impact of a throw and instead bounces back and falls down. It is hard to tell exactly where it had hit so it is not taken as a point. However, if playing on an electronic board, the darts falling out all the time so they are counted as points.
It is also taken as a point if the point of the dart is touching the surface of the board or it is embedded in the playing surface. If by any chance this dart hits the board from an angle or hits its side but remains held by either of the two darts that had been thrown earlier, then it is taken as a point. In this situation, it will score points equal to where the dart point is touching.
Every player is given three darts to throw at any turn. The maximum possible score at any given turn is 180. This happens when each of the three darts land in the triple-20 in the three throws.
Recording the dart scores
There requires an ability to multiply, add and subtract correctly in order to record the scores. The scores after the three throws are added up and subtracted from the total of the team to produce the current score.
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