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The Monday night dart tournament has begun at Lucky Devils.  This tournament is a 10 week tournament with a $1,000 gauranteed payout. 

FYI -

The Monday night tournaments at Lucky Devil’s in Houston is coming to an end.   It was scheduled to end April 2, but many people will be at the Astros (GO ‘STROS) opening game that evening, so it is being pushed back a week.  THe last week of the Monday night tournament will be April 9, 2007.

Keep checking for updates for the next tournament to start.    

Diddling - This is where all players throw one dart at the bulls eye.  Usually this (or a coin toss) will determine who goes first in a game. 

I have seen on another dart site blogs about whether one should remove a dart from the bulls eye when it is obstructing the opposents shot or not.   I personally, heve never seen a person remove their dart so the opponent has a better shot at the bull.   We (my friends and I) have always played where you change your stance in order to throw at the bull, but never have I removed my dart (or an oppenents) to diddle.  PERIOD. 

I suppose there are some who feel that it’s more fair to give them the same chance to hit the bull.  However, I think that one should be able to throw around the dart.  If you miss; you miss. 

I have an answer to the question: “Why are dartboards numbered that way?” 

Dart boards originally had various  designs, and regional variations remain in some parts.   The dart board may get its origin from the cross section of a tree.  There are some historical records that suggest the first standard dartboards were the bottoms of wine casks.   As the wood from the casts dried and cracked “sections” would develop naturally in the wood.  Regional standards began to emerge, as wood workers would fabricate dart boards in exchange for their bar tabs.

A great many configurations have been used throughout the years in various geographical locations across the globe, but the most common numbering plan, has a 20 on the top.  From what I have read online, the purpose of this numbering design is to reduce the element of chance or “lucky shots”.  The numbers are placed strategically to encourage accuracy.  The game would not be as challenging if the large numbers were all together.  The placing of small numbers either side of large numbers (e.g. 1 and 5 either side of 20, 7 and 3 either side of the 19, 4 and 1 either side of 18, and 3 and 2 either side of 17), in essence punishes players for inaccuracy.  The left-hand side of the dart board, around the 14, is preferred by beginners because it has a concentration of larger numbers on that side.

The man who is credited with the numbering sequence of the modern standard dartboard is Brian Gamlin.  He came up with the sequence in 1896.  There are 121,645,100,408,832,000 different possible arrangements of the 20 segments on a standard dartboard.  Gamlin’s arrangement of the numbers is perfect for dart games.

Last night was the second night of league play and we lost…again.  Week one, I wasn’t playing my best, but I thought for sure we (the team) would redeem ourselves last night.  We all played well.  The opposing team just played better. 

 I find that I do alright during league, but I usually play better after.  I am not sure if it’s because I have warmed up or because the alcohol takes away the inhibitions? 

I was reading some forums and found one that I thought was pretty interesting.  SEWA is offering a flight school thanks to George Siberzahn, the author of ‘How to Master the Sport of Darts’.  Flight School will be a tutorial via email that will guide enrollees through a process of problem identification and corrrective regimens.

For more details go to http://www.sewa-darts.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=735.  

A new event is coming in November that will bridge the divide between two rival dart bodies.  This event will have top players from the Professional Darts Corporation and from British Darts Organisation competing for a £60,000 first prize.   The event will take place in Wolverhampton Civic Halls from November 17-25; however, all the details have not been worked out.   Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/other_sports/darts/6382621.stm for more details. 

Dart boads originally had various  designs, and regional variations remain in some parts.   The dartboard may get its origin from the cross section of a tree.  There are some historical records that suggest the first standard dartboards were the bottoms of wine casks, also known as the game ”butts”. It is believed that the game originated among soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of the cask or at the bottom of trunks of trees.   As the wood from the casts dried & cracked “sections” would develop naturally in the wood.  Regional standards began to emerge and many woodworkers supplemented bar tabs by fabricating dart boards for the local pubs.

The most common numbering plan, has a 20 on top; however, a great many other configurations have been used throughout the years in various geographical locations across the globe.  Brian Gamlin devised the numbering layout in 1896 to penalize inaccuracy.  The left-hand side, around the 14 is preferred by beginners because it has a concentration of larger numbers on that side.  

Darts first appeared on British television in 1962 when Westward Television broadcast the Westward TV Invitational.  Darts coverage expanded over the next decade and there were many major tournaments broadcast on ITV and BBC during he 1970’s and early 1980’s.  In 1985 coverage of darts declined with the cancellation of ITV’s World of Sport, but it has again picked back up and is gaining popularity.

Cricket

Cricket uses the numbers 15 - 20 and the bullseye. The first player to hit a number or a bullseye 3 times has “closed” that number. In standard cricket a player may continue to hit a closed number for points until all opponents have closed the number. The last person or team to close a number closes the number for all players.

Cricket utilizes the single, double and triple points value areas. A player may close a number with a single dart, if he/she hits the triple ring for that number. Any additional hits to that number count as points until all players have closed the number.

Once a player or team has closed out the cricket numbers and has the highest score, that player has won. It is possible to close all the numbers and not have the highest score. In a close match, the score often decides the winner.

301, 501, and 701

The object of the 01 games is to count down from the starting number to zero without going over. If the total score of the three darts exceeds the remaining score, the player has busted (exceeded the correct amount of points) and the score returns to what it was prior to that throw.

01 games are sometimes played with a Double In (DI) and/oor Double Out (DO). In the case of doubling in or out, a double bull can be used to open or close a game. 01 games can also be played with “fat bulls”. This is where any bull counts as 50 points (single or double).