Week 1

Week 1 provides players with a fundamental understanding of the game of darts, including basic mechanics, terminology, and competitive formats.

Watch

The world #1 “Mighty” Michael van Gerwen takes on “Snakebite” Peter Wright in the 2020 World Championship final from Alexandra Palace, London. If you’ve never watched, or even heard of professional darts before, then you’re in for quite a surprise. WWE theatrics surround a non-stop series of clutch moments amidst thousands of fans having such a great time that it makes the most intense fraternity party look tame in comparison.

Learn

Live Darts Masterclass with Paul Nicholson

Terminology

Bounce out: When a dart bounces back off the board, usually after hitting a wire.
Break: Winning a leg as the player to go second at the start of that leg. Analogous to the usage of the term in tennis.
Bullseye: The center-most red portion in the middle of the board. Scores 50 points.
Checkout: Scoring exactly the score that is left, to win the leg. A final double is required to win a leg in an x01 game.
Double: The thin outer ring of the board. In standard x01 games, a double counts for two times the number hit.
Double top: The double-20.
Finish: A remaining score in a game of x01 that can be checked-out (scored in 3 darts, with the final dart landing in a double). This consists of the numbers 2-170, excluding 159, 162, 163, 165, 16, 168, and 169.
“Game Shot”: Called by the referee to signify that the leg-winning double has been hit.
Hat-trick: A score of three bullseyes.
Leg: One game of a match. Most professional matches are played as a race to win a certain number of legs.
Mad house: The double-1. At least two explanations for the term have been proffered; because it can drive you crazy trying to hit one in a game of x01, or because it is impossible to “get out” of the mad house - once a player has a score of 2 the only way to finish the game is by hitting a double-1.
Match dart: A dart thrown at a double to win the match.
Maximum: A score of 180 in a game of x01, also known as a “Ton-Eighty”.
Oche: The line from behind which a player throws (pronounced like “hockey” without the “h”).
Robin Hood: Throwing a dart into the shaft of another making it stick, sometimes splitting the flight.
Set: A darts match may be played in set format (as in tennis), with players racing to win a certain number of sets, each of which are a race to 3 legs (best-of-5).
Shanghai: Refers to hitting a single, double and triple of the same number.
Ton: A score of 100 in a game of x01. May also be combined with other numbers, for example “Ton-Thirty-Seven or Ton-Forty” to verbalize scores of 137 and 140, respectively.
Treble: Synonym for triple.
Twenty-Five (25): The green center ring outside of the bullseye, also referred to as “bull”, “outer bull”, or “center”. Scores 25 points.
Two-Dart Finish: A remaining score in a game of x01 that can be checked-out in 2 darts. This consists of the numbers 2-110, excluding 99, 102, 103, 105, 106, 108, and 109.

Train

Become A Darts Master with Matthew Edgar

The current world #63 has produced a 10-part series for first-time dart players to help you gradually hone your skills around the board. We’ll complete his 9-part practice guide over the course of our 8-week season. His YouTube channel, EdgarTV, is full of darts tips and behind-the-scenes looks into life as a touring professional.