How to Play Darts
Most places have their own house rules, but the following are some standards commonly found:
Getting Started
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To decide who shoots first, all players shoot for the bullseye on a single board. The player who comes closest to the center of the bullseye shoots first. For multiple players, the next closest would go second and so forth. Once the order is decided, you alternate turns.
- A turn consists of one player throwing three darts from behind the line.
Playing / Throwing Darts
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The point of the dart must touch the board to count. In soft tip darts, the board will register the number (score) for the hit. In steel tip darts, the general rule is the dart must stick in the board to count.
- Darts that miss the board or bounce to the floor cannot be rethrown. However, a player may pick up and play a dropped dart.
Scoring
The playing area is divided into wedges, like slices of pie. Each wedge is marked along the outer edge with a point value. THere are two rings overlapping the playing area. The outer ring counts as double points and the inner ring is triple points, if you hit these spots.
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A. Single = one dart hitting part of the wedge that is not the inner or outer ring. The number of points is the face value of the pie wedge.
- A Double = one dart hitting the outer ring and it counts as 2 times the face value of the pie wedge.
- A Triple = one dart hitting the inner ring and it counts as 3 times the face value of the pie wedge.
- A Single bull = one dart hitting the outer circle of the bullseye. It counts as 25 points
- A Double bull = one dart hitting the inner circle of the bullseye and has a point value of 50.
