The dartboard scores 1–20 around the rim, with a thin triple ring (3× the number), an outer double ring(2×), a 25-point outer bull, and a 50-point bullseye. The two games you’ll actually play in a bar or league are 501 — count down from 501 to exactly zero, finishing on a double — and Cricket— close the numbers 15–20 and the bull by hitting each three times while out-scoring your opponent. Learn those two and a handful of checkout finishes and you can hold your own in any league.
Darts looks intimidating from the outside — the scoring seems to involve a lot of mental math and a board full of rings and wedges. It isn’t. Once you understand how the board is scored and the two games that make up the vast majority of league and bar play, the rest is just practice. This is the guide we wish every new player had before their first league night.
How the dartboard is scored
A standard dartboard has 20 numbered wedges arranged around the rim (not in order — they alternate to punish wild throws). Each wedge has several scoring zones:
- The large single areas score the face value of the wedge. Land in the 20 wedge, score 20.
- The thin outer ring (the double) scores twice the number. The 20 double is worth 40. The double ring matters enormously in 501, because you have to finish on it.
- The thin inner ring (the triple) scores three times the number. The triple 20 — worth 60 — is the highest-scoring single target on the board and the one pros aim at constantly.
- The outer bull (the green ring) scores 25.
- The bullseye (the red center) scores 50.
The maximum score with three darts is 180— three triple 20s. That’s the number you’ll hear a scorekeeper or crowd shout when someone lands all three in the triple 20.
501: the standard game
501 is the default game of competitive and league darts. The rules are simple to state:
- Every player (or team) starts with a score of 501.
- You throw three darts per turn, and the total of those darts is subtracted from your score.
- The goal is to reach exactly zero.
- The dart that takes you to zero must land in a double (the outer ring) or the bullseye (which counts as a double 25). This is called “double-out”and it’s the standard finish in league play.
Busting
If a throw would take you below zero, leave you on exactly 1(you can’t finish on a double from 1), or hit zero without a double, you bust. Your score reverts to what it was at the start of that turn and play passes to your opponent. This is why the endgame matters so much: you can’t just hammer at the score, you have to leave yourself a number you can finish on.
A worked example
Say you’re sitting on 40. The cleanest finish is a single dart at the double 20(worth 40), which takes you to exactly zero on a double — game over. If you instead had 32 left, you’d aim at double 16. Experienced players think in terms of these finishing combinations constantly, which leads us to the most useful thing a new player can memorize.
Checkouts worth memorizing
A “checkout” is the combination of darts that takes you from your remaining score to exactly zero, finishing on a double. You don’t need to memorize all of them — but knowing the common two-digit finishes will instantly make you look like you know what you’re doing.
| Score left | Common checkout |
|---|---|
| 40 | Double 20 |
| 36 | Double 18 |
| 32 | Double 16 |
| 24 | Double 12 |
| 16 | Double 8 |
| 8 | Double 4 |
| 50 | Bullseye |
| 60 | Single 20, then double 20 |
| 100 | Triple 20, then double 20 |
A handy habit: try to leave yourself an even number going into your finish. Even numbers can be closed directly with a single double (e.g. 32 → double 16), while odd numbers force you to throw a single first to “set up” an even number. Good players steer their scoring to land on friendly even finishes like 40, 32, and 16.
Cricket: the strategic game
Cricket is the other game you’ll see constantly in American bars, and it’s more tactical than 501. Instead of counting down, you race to “close” a fixed set of numbers while scoring points along the way.
The targets
Cricket uses only seven targets: 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, and the bullseye. Everything else on the board is irrelevant.
Closing a number
To “close” a number you have to hit it three times. The rings count as multiple hits:
- A single = one hit.
- A double = two hits.
- A triple = three hits (closes a number in one dart).
- The outer bull = one hit; the bullseye = two hits.
So a single triple 20 closes the 20 in one throw. Two darts in the single 19 plus one more closes the 19, and so on.
Scoring points
Here’s the strategic twist: once you have closed a number but your opponenthasn’t, every additional hit on that number scores its face value as pointsagainst them. If you’ve closed the 20 and your opponent hasn’t, each single 20 adds 20 points, each triple adds 60. The moment your opponent also closes that number, it’s “dead” — nobody can score on it anymore.
How you win
To win Cricket you must close all seven targets and have a points total equal to or greater than your opponent’s. Closing everything first isn’t enough if you’re behind on points — you’d have to keep an open number alive to catch up. That tension between closing fast and scoring points is what makes Cricket fun for mixed-skill crowds: a steady player can win on points even against someone who closes numbers faster.
A few rules new players always ask about
- What if a dart bounces out or falls off? It scores zero. Only darts still in the board when you finish your turn count.
- Does a dart that’s touching a wire count? The dart scores for whichever segment the pointis in, not where the flight ends up. If it’s genuinely ambiguous, the scorekeeper makes the call before the dart is pulled.
- Can I touch or lean past the line? No — you must throw from behind the oche (the throw line), standard distance 7 feet 9.25 inches from the board for steel-tip.
- Who throws first? Players usually throw one dart at the bullseye — closest to the center goes first. This is called the “cork” or diddle.
You don’t have to do the math in your head
Plenty of great players never get fast at mental subtraction — they let a scorekeeper or an app handle the running total and just focus on their throw. In a league or tournament, automatic scoring also settles disputes instantly: the score is whatever the screen says, and everyone can see it. That’s one of the things ThrowDown does — live leg-by-leg scoring on a phone, with the checkout suggestions and remaining score shown on a TV the whole bar can see.
Want to put this into practice? If you run a venue or league, you can try the live demo with no signup, or read our guide on how to run a bar dart tournament to host your first event.
Cricket scoring and closing rules cross-checked against Shot Darts’ Cricket rules guide and the Cricket (darts) reference on Wikipedia, retrieved June 2026. Found an error? Email [email protected]and we’ll fix it.