How To Win In Darts Game Pigeon

Darts is a well-known game all around the world, and millions of people love to indulge in it while drinking with their buddies. The game is addicting and fun to play, the rules are simple, and after a few games, you are wondering where all the time went. Whether you play with your friends at a local bar, or in a tournament, winning is an exciting feeling. There is a sense of accomplishment about beating others and being the best among your colleagues or competitors. You have rightfully earned their respects and there is no greater feeling than that.

No matter how easy the rules of darts may sound to you, but it is not easy to ace this game. The premise sounds simple – you just have to hit the center, right? How hard can it be? Turns out, very hard. Being consistent with your scores is not an easy thing to do and even the professionals struggle with consistency.

However, you can improve your game by making some minor changes to your gameplay. Here is a list of things which will help you to master the game of darts.

Know the Rules

How can you win a game without knowing the rules? Luck maybe, but it is highly unlikely. You are not God’s favorite child, so you can’t win via luck every time. To master this or any other game, you must know its rules inside out. Once you learn the rules of darts, you can use them to your advantage, and of course, avoid any penalties.

For example, did you know that if you hit the bull’s eye in the last throw, you will win the game straight away. Knowledge is power – in life, and in darts.

Use a smart Dart: It is important to mention that there is no such thing known as smart darts but. English people invented the game and therefore, British Darts Organization administers the game guidelines and rules. For your question on darts how to keep score, we will tell you about the formal rules of the game, different formats of the game like darts cricket, killer, around the clock, darts 501 and darts 301, and many other phenomenons.

Understand the Scoring System

This seems like a no brainer. If you want to master the game, you first have to understand how scoring works.

Most of the professional games start with each player having a total of 501 or 301 points. Each player has three darts and has to throw them simultaneously on his/her turn. The score is noted down from the board and is deducted from the players total score. The scoring is as follows:

  • Bull’s eye has a total of 50.
  • The outer ring will give you 25.
  • If a dart hits in the double or treble ring, the respective score is doubled.

The first person to reach the null point is the winner of the game. If in the later stages of the game, the players score goes below 0 after subtracting their score from the total, it will result in a bust. This bust will reset their score to what it was before they threw the dart. Other rules that will result in a bust are if players score comes to 1 after subtracting it from their total or it comes 0 but violates the double out rule. (Double Out: Players must hit a double to make the score zero.)

Improve the Throw

For a game like darts, you need the perfect hand to eye coordination. Your hands should follow what your eye sees. It is easier said than done and it takes years of practice to master this art. What you can do is train more with proper technique. If you have the proper stance, grip, speed and momentum, your dart will go wherever you want it to.

Here are a few tips that will help you improve your throw and control your darts curvature.

  • Stand in an inverted manner with your strong hand facing the dart board. Avoid facing it upright.
  • Lift your elbow to your shoulder’s length. Your elbow will act as a lever while throwing.
  • Use the pencil grip when holding the dart, neither too tight, nor too loose. Hold it from the center with the front tip facing little upwards.
  • Aim higher than the point where you want to hit the board.
  • Keep your body and shoulders steady and let go of the dart. Snap your wrist in the end to give it more speed.
  • Follow through the motion of your arm to maintain the desired trajectory.

These little tips can help you increase your accuracy. A professional player can win a game of darts with a minimum of nine throws. Think of that as your limit and keep practicing until you can achieve the same feat. Shoot for the moon, and you may end up getting the stars.

Watch Out for your Mistakes

One of the most important things to do when playing darts is to analyze your gameplay and find out what your strengths and weaknesses are. To this end, you can film yourself and see what you’re doing wrong. You can also ask a friend to watch you play and point out your mistakes.

Knowing your mistakes will help you use your strengths to your advantage. You should be so confident of your style that the dart should follow your intended path, even if it is going in the wrong direction, and you should be able to calculate its hit point. This way you can change its trajectory according to the need of the game.

Don’t Obsess on the Bully’s Eye

Also, make sure you practice hitting every point on the dart board and don’t emphasize too much on the center. It is important to get the bull’s eye, but it is not wise to practice only hitting the center. In the later stages of the game, you’ll be needing to hit the double ring at some point, and if you don’t know how to do it, your opponent will win.

Pro Tip: Aiming for the bullseye in the later stages is not safe, instead aim for the double ring. It has a wider area, so you have more chances of hitting it.

Get your Own Gear

If you really want to take your game to the next level, you need to practice playing it daily. It is not plausible for you or anyone to go the bar everyday just to play darts. Your girlfriend will start suspecting something is up, and who can blame her?

If you do want to give it a shot, it’s better to just buy one. Dart boards are not expensive and you can easily set one up at your home. All you need is an empty basement, room or garage and you’re good to go. Make sure you check in with your family before making such a decision though.

Dart boards and darts may not be expensive, but this project will take a lot of commitment and determination. So, make up your mind that you want to go all the way into this game, otherwise it will just be a waste of time and money.

Keep Things Quiet

You are going to need a calm and peaceful environment for the training sessions, so going to the bar is not a great option. It’s a lot of, but who can concentrate properly in a bar? Getting a personal board at home or going to a professional court will be a better option. Choose according to your budget and start practicing!

Which brings us to our next point…

Set up shop at home

Here is a list of things which you need to keep in mind while giving shape to your personal darts game room for real.

  • The room must be large enough to accommodate international dimensions of the game and then some extra space for standing and moving around.
  • Measure all distances carefully before hanging the board and marking the throw line.
  • The dart board should be hung far from windows and doors.
  • The flooring in this room should not be warped or twisted.
  • It should be child proof, as they need to be kept away from playing arena. Darts are very sharp and can injure anyone, especially children, if they are not handled with care.

Once you have made your own personalized dart room, start practicing the game. It’ll be a slow process, you can’t perfect your game overnight, so give it time and keep your head high.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You probably know about this one, it is a no brainer. Is there anything in this world that can’t be mastered by the right amount of training and determination? Whether it is the field of sports, academics, arts, music or anything else that you can think of, it can be mastered over time with practice.

When you do something repeatedly over a period, your muscle memory becomes strong. The game of darts is all about muscle memory and if you can develop it, it’ll all be smooth sailing for you.

To get started on your training routine, try hitting each number on the board in the ascending or descending order. This will give you an even accuracy over the whole board. If you can’t hit a triple or double, start working on it. Note down how many darts you take to hit each number and analyze them. You can see your progress week by week.

Closing Thoughts

Winning is addictive, and once you get used to the sweet taste of victory, you do not want to go back. An amateur can win one time, it takes real practice and determination to win consistently. This is something which luck or money can’t buy; you have to sweat in the arena to be good at it. Darts will not make you sweat, but you get the idea. So, whether you are training to make it big as a professional or just to beat your friends, buckle up, it is not going to be easy.

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Not many games are as versatile as darts. You can play by yourself, with a friend, with several friends, or with a large group of teams. You can play at home, inside or outside, at a bar, or even a break room at work. There are many different games that you can play, and multiple variations of those games.

A dartboard is a great addition to your home gameroom. Your family will enjoy it, and it’s great for entertaining.

This article covers all the basics of darts: what you need to play, basics of the game, different games that you can play, how to throw darts correctly, as well as safety precautions.

What You Need to Play

  • A dart board (bristle, electronic, or magnetic)
  • At least 1 set of 3 darts (can be soft-tipped, steel-tipped, or magnetic)

There are different types of dartboards, but the standard dartboard is 18 inches in diameter and has 20 numbered sections shaped like pieces of pie. There is a double ring on the outside and a triple ring further inside. The bullseye is in the center. There is an outer bull and an inner bull. The inner bull is worth 50 points and the outer bull worth 25 points. This type of dartboard is sometimes called a “clock” dartboard. The 20 section is at the top and the board should be flush against the wall. Optionally, you can have a scoreboard on the wall as well. Most electronic dartboards have an LCD scoreboard display. See our recommendations for the best dartboards (bristle and electronic), best darts (steel tipped and soft tipped), best dart flights, best dart cases, best electronic dart scoreboards, and best dartboard surrounds.

Winmau Blade 5 Bristle Dartboard with All-New Thinner Wiring for Higher Scoring and Reduced Bounce-Outs
Franklin Sports Professional Wire Dartboard - Regulation Size Dartboard - 18' Inch Bristle Dartboard
Winmau Blade 5 Bristle Dartboard with All-New Thinner Wiring for Higher Scoring and Reduced Bounce-Outs
Franklin Sports Professional Wire Dartboard - Regulation Size Dartboard - 18' Inch Bristle Dartboard

Darts Basics

There are a lot of different games and ways to play, and even different dartboards.

The board should be hung so the bullseye is 5 feet and 8 inches from the ground, according to the Professional Darts Corporation.

If playing with steel-tip darts, the toeline or throwing line is 7 feet and 9.25 inches from the dartboard (this distance is referred to as the oche), according to the National Dart Association. If playing with soft-tipped darts, the toeline is 8 feet from the dartboard. You can mark the line on the floor with tape, paint, or chalk. Some tournaments use a small wooden board that sticks up from the ground as the throwing line.

Rules of Different Dart Games

There are many different games that you can play. Here is a summary of the rules for several popular games.

Game: 501

Player of team starts with 501 points (can also be played with 301 points). You win by being the first to reach zero. This game can be played by two or more players or teams. A player or team throws 3 darts, and the scores from those throws are subtracted from 501 until the player or team reaches 0.

You must throw a double to hit zero. For example, if you have 40 points remaining you must hit a double 20 to win the game.

This can be played as a single game, or as a “best of” series. For example, best of 5 (first player or team to win 3 games will win the series).

An optional rule, is that the players must start and end the scoring with a double. Under this rule, at the beginning of the game no points are awarded until the player throws a double.

Game: Cricket

There are either two players of two teams. Only numbers 15 – 20 and the bullseye are in play. Each player or teams takes turns throwing three darts in succession. The throwing of three darts is referred to as an inning or a turn. The player of team must score three of a particular number in order to close the inning. This can be done with three singles of the number, a single and a double of the number, or a triple of the number.

When a player or team scores three of a number in one inning, that player or team “owns” the number. After both players or teams have scored three of a particular number, that number is closed and no more scoring will take place from that number by either team or player. Numbers can be owned or closed an any order. For example, you do not have to start at 15 and work up to 20. After a player or team has “owned” a number, that player or team can continue scoring points on that number until the opponent closes the inning.

For closing the bullseye, the inner bull is a double and the outer bull is a single. So to get three, you would need one outer bull plus one inner bull, or three outer bulls.

To win the game you must be the player or team that closes all the innings first, and has the most points. If points are tied, the player or team that closes all innings first is the winner. If you close all of the innings first but you are behind your opponent in points, in order to win you must score on any numbers not closed until you are ahead of your opponent in points.

Game: Killer

Killer is usually played with three or more players or teams. To start the game, each player or team throws a dart with his or her off hand (with your left hand if you are right handed, and with your right hand if you are left handed). The number hit becomes that player or team’s number for the game. If the number has already been taken by another player or team, or if the throw misses the dartboard completely, the player makes another throw.

Each player or team will throw three darts in succession. First, you need to hit the double of your own number. Once you have done this you become a “killer”. After you are a killer you can aim for the doubles of the numbers of other players or teams. Each player or team has three lives. Whenever a killer hits a player or team’s double, that player or team loses one life. So the object is to kill off all of your opponents. But you also lose a life is you mistakenly hit the double of your own number. The game ends when only one player has any lives remaining.

Game: Baseball

Baseball can be played by two or more players or teams. There are nine innings, and each player or team will get a turn to throw three darts in the inning. Only numbers 1 – 9 are in play, and only one number per inning. In the first inning, only the number one is in play. In the second inning, only the number two is in play, and so on. Scoring is the same for each inning, regardless of which number is in play. A single is worth one point. A double is worth two points. And a triple is worth three points.

At the end of nine innings, the player or team with the most points wins. If the score is tied after nine innings, the players or teams who are tied will continue with extra innings, starting with number 10. If one player or team leads after 10 innings, the game will be over. If it is still tied, the game will keep going.

Game: Shanghai

Shanghai is somewhat similar to baseball. It can be played by any number of players or teams. The numbers in play are 1 – 7, and there are 7 rounds or innings. In the first round or inning each player or team will throw three darts in succession, and points can only be scored on the number one. In the second round or inning points can only be scored on the number two, and so on.

Unlike baseball, the scoring will be different for each round. In the first round you will earn one point for each dart that hits the number one, so the most you can earn is three points. In the second round you will earn two points for each dart that hits the number two, so the most you can earn is six points. And so on. The possible scores get higher each inning.

How To Win In Darts Game Pigeon Forge

At the end of the seven rounds or innings, the player or team with the most points wins the game. The other way to win is by scoring a Shanghai. A Shanghai is when you get a single, double, and triple of the number in play with your three darts. If any player or team gets a Shanghai, the game is over and that player or team wins.

Game: Around the World or Around the Board

This game is played by two or more players or teams. Each player or team throws three darts in succession. In order to win you must be the first player or team to hit each number, 1 – 20. You can hit a single, double, or triple, but you cannot move on until you have hit each number in order. For example, you must hit one first, then attempt to hit two, and so on.

Game: 20 to 1

20 to 1 is a variation of Around the World. In 20 to 1 there can be two or more players or teams, and each player or team throws three darts in succession. You must hit each number is succession, starting with 20 and going down. After going all the way down to 1, the player must get a bullseye (outer or inner) to win.

Game: Legs

Legs can be played with two or more players or teams. All numbers on the board are in play, with singles, doubles, and triples being used for scoring. Each player starts with three legs. One player or team starts by throwing three darts in succession, scoring as many points as possible. The next player must score more points that the previous player or lose a leg. The last player with a leg remaining is the winner.

Game: 51 by 5’s

This game can be played by two or more players or teams. All numbers on the dartboard are in play. Singles, doubles, triples, and bullseyes are used for scoring. Each player throws three darts in succession. In order to keep any points from your round, the total number of points earned in that round must be divisible by 5. For example, if you had a single 5 and a double 10, that would equal 25 points earned. Twenty five divided by five equals five, so you would score a five for that round. If your score from the round is not divisible by five, you keep no points from that round.

The game goes on until one player or team reaches 51. But in order to win, the player or team must score all three darts in the final round (so if you have a number divisible by five after two darts, you can’t miss the board entirely on your third dart).

How to Throw Darts

There are a lot of different styles and techniques for throwing darts. Let’s take a look at the basics of grip, stance, and throwing motion.

How To Win In Darts Game Pigeon

How to Grip or Hold the Dart

The first aspect of properly throwing a dart involves your grip. While there are different techniques, what is most important is that you grip or hold the dart in a way that is comfortable and natural for you. There is no right or wrong way to hold the dart.

  1. Grip the dart just tight enough that it does not slip out of your hard, but not so tight that it puts pressure or tension on your fingers.
  2. The more fingers you use for the grip, the more control you can have. But more fingers on the dart also means that you will need better finger coordination so they are all releasing the dart together.
  3. Any fingers that are not used in your grip should be spread apart from your other fingers that are used for the grip. Be sure that these unused fingers are not bumping up against your other fingers or pressing against your hand.
  4. While there are a lot of different ways to grip a dart, the most common options are to use your thumb, plus two or three other fingers. The photo below shows an example grip using the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. The thumb and two fingers are lightly gripping the dart. The ring finger and pinky finger are kept away and not touching the other fingers.

Example grip with thumb and two fingers

Proper Stance for Throwing Darts

The correct stance is also important.

  1. If you are right handed your right foot should be at the edge of the toe line, and your left foot behind it.
  2. Your feet and shoulders should create a 90 degree angle to the toe line. This places your throwing should in front of you, facing the dartboard.
  3. You weight should be mostly on your right (front) foot, with your left foot mostly for support and balance.
  4. Lean forward very slightly.

If you throw left handed, this would be reversed. Your left foot would be forward and your right foot in the back.

Arm Motion for Throwing Darts

  1. Keep your shoulder still.
  2. The motion should be in your arm, with the rest of your body still.
  3. The tip of the dart should be slightly up. If the tip is turned down, even just a little, it will have trouble sticking when it hits the board.
  4. Use your eyes to line up the tip of the dart with your target on the board. Focus on the target.
  5. To start the motion, keep your elbow still and move your forearm back towards you to generate some momentum and force.
  6. Move your arm forward in the throwing motion. Keep it smooth and steady. You want some acceleration to throw the dart with some force, but you want to be under control.
  7. As you extend your arm to throw the dart, your elbow should move slightly up. Sometimes you’ll hear that you should keep your elbow totally still, but this is not true. If your elbow is stationary it will cause the dart to go below your intended target.
  8. Follow through with the motion after you release the dart. Your hand should wind up pointing towards the target. You can either snap your wrist or keep it locked. Snapping the wrist will give the throw more force, but uses more motion that you will need to control in order to have an accurate throw.

Starting position before the throwing motion

How To Win Darts In Game Pigeon

This video may be helpful.

How To Win In Darts Game Pigeon Play

Safety Precautions

Never place the dartboard where people will be walking between the throwing line and the dartboard. Don’t place the dartboard near windows or other breakable objects. Darts can bounce off of the dartboard or the wall behind it, so keep participants and observers back to avoid being hit.

How To Win In Darts Game Pigeon Free

You can use a mat to protect the floor. You can also use a surround to protect the wall behind and around the dartboard.

How To Win In Darts Game Pigeon Game

Have Fun!

Most of all, make sure that you have fun and enjoy the game with your family and friends.