A Pro Darts “Starter Pack”, Part 2
You’re ready to watch some darts. What are you about to see?
(A screen grab from the greatest leg ever played. Why? Find out. PDC, Sky Sports)
(Editor’s note: The 2025 World Darts Championships are close! Opening night begins Sunday December 15. Consider this post your “pre”-preview to get ready to watch. My full World Championship preview should drop later this week.)
In part 1 of this pro darts “Starter Pack”, I tried to explain how professional darts is structured. For part 2, let’s look at how the pros play a game we just mess around with in a bar.
When you play a game of darts in the bar, it’s fun, the rules are loose and most of the time you’re not very good. When the pros play a professional game, they’re following clear rules, strategies and of course, they’re just way better than anyone at it. Understanding the pro game itself, how the pros go about it, and some key stats will make watching darts on TV a lot easier and more fun. With the World Championships coming up and more casual eyes set to watch the sport, consider this your introduction to watching a darts match on TV.
Let’s set the basics.
As mentioned in part one, professional matches are built around steel-tip games of 501. A player starts on a score of 501 and gets to throw three darts a turn. In the end, they must get down to 0, with the last shot to bring the score to zero having to be a double (outer ring or inner bullseye). The first player to do that wins the game.
A single game of 501 is called a leg. Pro darts matches are made of up multiple legs. A standard Pro Tour match is best of 11 legs, so first to win 6 legs wins the match. Bigger competitions mean longer matches, with the World Matchplay Final for example a best of 35 legs match. The World Championships are an exception to all of this, as they go sets, with each set being a best of five legs. The World Final is a best of 13 sets match.
Throwing first is an advantage. Breaking throw is a big deal.
If you watch tennis, you know that having the serve in a game is an advantage, and winning game against the serve is a break of serve and a huge achievement.
In darts, this is similar with who throws first in a leg. Throwing first or “having the throw” is an advantage in darts. Players alternate who throws first each leg. If you win a leg “against the throw” or you “break throw”, it is a big advantage in terms of the match. (Note: who gets to throw first in a match is determined by a “closest to the bullseye” throw-off backstage before the match.)
Phase One of a Darts Leg: Scoring (Know your average)
Starting at 501, a darts pro to trying to get down to zero as quickly as possible, so the goal of the first 3 visits is get to as many points as possible. When you watch a match on TV, the main board camera angle is almost always aimed at the treble 20, because it is the largest possible score on the board and where almost all pros begin their aim. When a player puts all three of his darts in the treble 20, that’s a Max or a 180, which brings loud reactions from the referee and the crowd. If one of their first two darts “block” the treble 20 bed, a player will switch to another high score spot, like the treble 19 (57) or treble 18 (54). Pros are always trying to avoid a visit to the board without at least one treble.
The most cited statistic for scoring is match average, which is the average score a player will achieve each time they throw three darts. Most pros consistently average in the 90s. A high 90s or low 100s average typically means truly high quality.
Phase Two of a Darts Leg: Finishing (and Setup) (Know your checkout percentage)
As a player gets closer to 501, their visits to the board are going to be more focused on ensuring he can finish the leg (or checkout) with a double. 170 (Big Fish) is the highest possible checkout in one turn (two treble 20s and an inner bullseye). You’ll often see on TV scoreboards a “possible route” to a checkout when a player is on a finish. Whether or not they go that route is up to them.
(Humphries has a 136 left to go, his easiest route is two treble 20s followed by a double 8, Sky Sports, PDC)
Players have “favorite” doubles so they will often plan their routes to get to their favorites. (For example, if a player is left on 52, they have a decision to make with their first dart. They can choose to hit a single 20, leaving Double 16 (32), or they can choose to hit a single 12, leaving Double 20 (40), otherwise known as Tops since it is the top of the board. Players also try to leave themselves on scores where, if they miss inside and hit a single, it still leaves them with another option (Double 16 if missed inside would allow for Double 8, which if missed allows for Double 4 and so on.)
The most used stat here is checkout percentage, which is pretty much a batting average for finishing. Anything 40% or above in a pro match is usually pretty good.
Let’s talk about nine-darters.
The fewest number of darts possible for a player to complete a leg is nine. Thus, a nine-dart leg is darts’ version of a perfect game. Nine-darters, like perfect games, are very rare, but unlike baseball perfect games they do not guarantee that a player wins a match. That said, they can happen at any time and when they do, they’re celebrated by crowds and announcers like the worthy achievement they are.
Some notable nine-darters In the past we’ve seen include:
A nine-darter to win a match (Willie Borland at the 2022 World Championships).
A nine-darter that started with a double as well (Brendan Dolan at the 2011 Grand Prix)
Two players hitting nine-darters in the same match (James Wade and Robert Thornton at the 2014 Grand Prix)
A player hitting two nine-darters in a single night (Gerwyn Price during the 2022 Premier League)
A player hitting two nine-darters in a single match (Phil Taylor at the 2010 Premier League Final)
A nine-darter nearly being followed by another nine in the next leg (Michael van Gerwen at the 2012 World Championships)
Then, there’s the greatest leg of darts ever played: the 2023 World Championship Final. Set 2. Leg 2. Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith going for the nine in the same leg. One misses their last dart. The other hits. Take it away, Wayne Mardle.
(The ESPN Daily episode about this leg is one of the best explainers of the sport I’ve ever heard. Pablo Torre does a magnificent job speaking with Wayne Mardle about the sport itself and why that leg got so viral so quickly.)