How do you play and score a game of 501 darts?

Each player or team starts with a score of 501 and throws three darts per turn, adding up the value of all three and subtracting it from whatever score remains. Players alternate turns until someone reaches exactly zero, but the final dart of the leg must land in a double, either a double ring or the inner bullseye, not just bring the score down to zero on any throw. That double-out requirement is what makes 501 a real contest rather than simple subtraction.

What is a bust in darts?

A bust happens when a throw would take a player's score below zero, down to exactly one, or to zero without the final dart landing on a double. When a bust occurs, the player's score reverts to whatever it was before that turn started, as if the three darts had never been thrown, and play passes to the opponent. The rule forces players to plan their last few throws around landing precisely on a double rather than just scoring as much as possible.

Why are the numbers on a dartboard arranged in a strange order?

A dartboard's 20 numbered wedges run 20, 1, 18, 4, 13, 6, 10, 15, 2, 17, 3, 19, 7, 16, 8, 11, 14, 9, 12, 5 around the circle rather than in simple numerical order, so a high number always sits between two low ones. That layout punishes a throw that drifts slightly off target, since missing a high number lands on a low one instead of another high one. It rewards genuine accuracy rather than just a strong arm, which is the entire point of the design.

What is the standard throwing distance and board height in darts?

The regulation throwing line, called the oche, sits 7 feet 9.25 inches from the face of the dartboard, and the board is hung so the center of the bullseye is 5 feet 8 inches above the floor. These two measurements are the accepted world standard for steel-tip darts and apply equally to a home setup and a televised match. Almost every commercially sold dartboard and cabinet is designed around them.

What is the difference between 501, 301 and cricket?

501 and 301 use the same rules, counting down from a starting score to exactly zero with a double-out finish, but 301 starts lower and plays faster; some leagues also require a double-in to start scoring in 301. Cricket is a different game entirely: instead of counting down, players close a set of numbers, usually 15 through 20 plus the bullseye, by hitting each three times, then score extra points on any number they have closed that their opponent has not. All three are commonly found on the same board, just played with different rules.

What are common checkout numbers a beginner should memorize in 501?

Because every double is an even number, the basic checkout strategy is to always leave an even number for the last dart in hand, throwing a single first if the score is odd. Easy two-dart finishes worth memorizing early are 40 (double 20), 32 (double 16) and 20 (double 10). The highest possible checkout is 170, using two triple-20s followed by the bullseye, though that combination is rare even among skilled players.

What are the most common mistakes beginners make in darts?

New players tend to throw too hard, treating darts like a power sport rather than a finesse one, which produces a flatter and less accurate path to the board. A grip that is too tight adds tension to the wrist and throws off the release, and letting the elbow drop mid-throw changes the dart's angle on the way to the target. Skipping a consistent pre-throw routine, a repeatable stance, grip and release, is another common reason a beginner's darts land inconsistently.

Darts Rules for Beginners: Scoring a Game of 501 Explained

Q: Where can I play darts in Metairie or the New Orleans area?

Pickle N Pins in Metairie offers Krazy Darts, an electronic-scoring dartboard that tallies scores automatically, as one of six indoor activities alongside pickleball, padel, duckpin bowling, axe throwing and shuffleboard. Darts and shuffleboard are both suggested for ages 8 and up, or younger with supervision, making it an approachable option for a family group. A lane can be reserved ahead of time through the venue's booking page, and the same building has a full bar and kitchen for before or after a game.

Darts is played by throwing three weighted darts at a circular numbered board and adding up where each one lands; the standard game, 501, has each player count backward from 501 points to exactly zero, with the last dart required to land in a double. Nearly everything else about the sport, the scrambled numbering, the oche line, the doubles and triples rings, exists to make that simple idea harder to pull off cleanly than it sounds.

This guide covers where the sport came from, how the board is laid out and why, the standard measurements used from a garage in England to a world championship, how to play and score 501 including the bust rule that trips up almost every beginner, the other formats worth knowing, and the basic technique that makes a first night at the board go smoothly. Most of it applies to any board, anywhere; a short section near the end covers playing locally at Pickle N Pins in Metairie.

A short history of darts

Darts traces back to soldiers in medieval England throwing broken arrow shafts at the bottom of an empty wine barrel or a sawn-off tree trunk for practice between battles. The natural rings and cracks in the wood grain gave the target rough sections, and by the 19th century British pub landlords had turned that idea into a standing fixture: a round wooden board, hung on a wall, that regulars threw at for a drink or a few pence. The scrambled numbering pattern used on almost every board today is widely credited to a Lancashire carpenter named Brian Gamlin in 1896, though the historical record on that specific claim is thin, and some dart historians treat it as legend rather than documented fact.

The organized history is better documented. Darts was well-known enough in British pub culture by 1908 that a landmark court case in Leeds ruled it a game of skill rather than chance, which kept pubs from running afoul of gambling law for having a board on the wall. The National Darts Association formed in the 1920s, and the British Darts Organisation followed in 1973 as the sport's governing body for most of the 20th century. In 1992, a group of leading players broke away to form the Professional Darts Corporation, which now runs the sport's best-known televised events, including the PDC World Championship. The PDC's own published rules are the closest thing the sport has to an official rulebook, and most of the scoring conventions below come from them.

The dartboard: numbering, doubles, triples and the bullseye

A regulation dartboard is a circle just over 17 inches across, divided into 20 numbered wedges. At its center are two rings: the outer bullseye, worth 25 points, and the smaller inner bullseye, often called the double bull, worth 50, the highest score any one dart can produce.

Each wedge is cut into scoring zones. The large outer and inner bands are both worth the wedge's plain number. Running through each wedge are two thin rings: one near the edge that doubles the value, and a narrower one roughly halfway to the center that triples it. A dart in the triple-20 wedge scores 60 points, the highest score available outside the bullseye, which is why serious players aim there far more often than at the bullseye itself.

Why the numbers are scrambled

The wedges are not arranged 1 through 20 in order around the circle. Instead they run 20, 1, 18, 4, 13, 6, 10, 15, 2, 17, 3, 19, 7, 16, 8, 11, 14, 9, 12, 5, so that 20 sits between 1 and 5, and 19 sits between 3 and 7. That layout is not decorative: putting a high-value wedge next to two low-value ones means a throw that drifts slightly off target, whether from a bad release or a hand shaking under pressure, gets punished rather than rewarded. A board arranged in simple numerical order would let a sloppy throw near 20 still land on 19 or 18 for nearly the same score; the scrambled layout makes accuracy, not just a strong arm, the thing that separates a good dart from a lucky one.

Standard setup: the oche, board height and equipment

Regulation steel-tip darts is played from a set distance and board height, and both are the same whether the match is a garage game or a televised world championship. The throwing line, called the oche and pronounced "ockey," sits 7 feet 9.25 inches from the face of the board, which hangs so the center of the bullseye is exactly 5 feet 8 inches above the floor. Both measurements come from the sport's governing bodies and are what nearly every commercial dartboard and cabinet assumes.

A standard steel-tip dart has four parts: a metal barrel that carries most of the weight, a point, a shaft, and a flight, the small plastic fin at the back that stabilizes it in flight the way feathers stabilize an arrow. Steel-tip darts typically weigh 18 to 26 grams; heavier darts fly a flatter path, while lighter ones are often easier for a beginner to control while learning a consistent release.

Setting up a board at home

Mounting a board correctly matters more than beginners expect, since a board hung too low or too high changes the angle of every throw. Measure 5 feet 8 inches up to the center of the bullseye, mount the board there, then measure 7 feet 9.25 inches out from the board's face, not the wall behind it, to mark the oche. A cabinet or a sheet of plywood behind the board protects the wall from the darts that miss, which will be more than expected at first.

How to play and score 501

The most common format, and the one worth learning first, is 501. Each player or team starts with a score of 501, and the goal is to reach exactly zero first. Who throws first is usually decided by "diddling for the middle": each side throws one dart at the bullseye, and whoever lands closer goes first. From there, players alternate turns of three darts, called a visit, adding up the total and subtracting it from whatever score remains.

Reaching zero is not enough on its own. The last dart has to land in a double, either an outer ring through a numbered wedge or the inner bullseye, which counts as a double since it is effectively "double 25." That double-out requirement is what turns 501 into a real contest rather than simple subtraction: a player can sit on a low score and still fail to close the leg for several turns if the doubles will not fall.

The bust rule

If a throw would take a player's score below zero, down to exactly one, or to zero without the final dart landing on a double, the turn is called a bust. When that happens, the player's score reverts to whatever it was before that visit started, as though the three darts had never been thrown, and the turn passes to the opponent. The bust rule is why experienced players slow down and count carefully as a leg gets close to finishing, since an aggressive throw that overshoots the target can cost an entire turn instead of ending the game.

Basic checkout strategy

Working out which combination of throws finishes a leg is called a checkout, its own skill separate from scoring points. Because every double is an even number, up to double 20, plus the bullseye at 50, the basic strategy is to always leave an even number for the last dart. A player on an odd number is usually better off throwing a single first, rather than aiming for an odd-numbered double that does not exist. Worth memorizing: 32 (double 16), 40 (double 20) and 20 (double 10); the highest checkout, 170, needs two triple-20s and the bullseye, rare even at a professional level.

Other formats worth knowing: 301 and cricket

501 is the standard, but far from the only game on a dartboard. 301 uses the same rules, counting down to zero and finishing on a double, but starts lower, making for a faster game. Many leagues also add a double-in requirement: a player's first scoring dart has to land in a double before any other points count, which rewards a player who can hit a double under pressure at the start of a leg, not just at the end.

Cricket works differently. Instead of counting down, players try to "close" a fixed set of targets, usually 15 through 20 plus the bullseye, by hitting each one three times, where a single counts once, a double twice, and a triple all three at once. Once a player closes a number, their opponent can no longer score on it unless they close it too; once both sides close it, it is dead. A player who closes a number first keeps scoring on it afterward, on top of closing everything else. The leg ends when one side has closed every number and the bullseye with a score equal to or higher than the opponent's.

A simpler option for a first game is "around the clock": players take turns hitting 1, then 2, then 3, and so on around the board, with the bullseye last. There is no scoring math at all, which makes it a good warm-up before adding 501's checkout rules on top.

Grip, stance, technique and etiquette

Most of what separates a controlled dart from an erratic one is repeatability, not strength. Hold a dart the way a pen is held, lightly, with two or three fingers and the thumb near its balance point, rather than gripped hard at the back of the barrel. A stance turned slightly sideways to the board, front foot pointed at the target and just behind the oche, gives a stable base and keeps the arm moving in a straight line. The throw itself is closer to a smooth push than a whip or a baseball throw: the elbow stays level and stationary while the forearm and wrist do the work, releasing the dart and following through toward the board.

Common beginner mistakes

Throwing too hard. Darts is a finesse motion, not a power one; most new players over-throw and end up with a flatter, less accurate path than a smoother release produces.
Gripping too tightly. A tense grip transfers tension into the wrist and throws off the release; a light hold is easier to repeat throw after throw.
Dropping the elbow mid-throw. Letting the elbow fall during the motion changes the dart's angle on the way to the board and is one of the most common reasons a throw drifts low.
Skipping a consistent routine. Players who set up differently every throw tend to group their darts less tightly than players who repeat the same small routine each time.

A few unwritten rules keep a shared board comfortable: stay quiet and still while an opponent is at the oche, wait until all three darts in a visit are thrown before walking up to collect them, and if a dart bounces out or falls without leaving a mark, most rule sets score it as zero rather than allowing a re-throw.

Playing darts at Pickle N Pins

For anyone in the Metairie or greater New Orleans area who wants to try darts without owning a board, Pickle N Pins runs Krazy Darts, an electronic-scoring dartboard that tallies scores automatically. That matters most for a first-time group: nobody has to keep a running 501 total in their head or argue over a bust, since the machine handles the scoring described throughout this guide in real time. Krazy Darts is one of six ticketed activities, alongside pickleball, padel, duckpin bowling, axe throwing and shuffleboard, and all of them are indoors. Darts and shuffleboard are both suggested for ages 8 and up, or younger with supervision, making a darts lane one of the more approachable activities on site for a family with kids of different ages.

Because dedicated, bookable darts setups are genuinely uncommon at other entertainment venues in the wider New Orleans area, this is not an activity most groups will have already tried elsewhere; treat it as a first exposure to the game rather than a repeat of something familiar. A lane can be reserved ahead through booking, current rates are on pricing, and the same building has a full bar and kitchen, with a menu running from appetizers to pizza, so a game of darts can turn into a longer evening without leaving. Anyone weighing darts against the venue's other activities may also want duckpin bowling, axe throwing, or the venue's sports-bar setup for watching a game between turns.

The bottom line

Darts is scored by adding up three-dart turns, and in 501, by counting down from 501 to exactly zero with the last dart landing on a double. The bust rule, the scrambled numbering, and the standard oche distance and board height all exist to make that idea genuinely test accuracy rather than raw power, and none of it changes based on where the board is hung. A player working on checkout strategy gets just as much from a garage board set to the regulation 7 feet 9.25 inches and 5 feet 8 inches as from any commercial venue, and there is no real reason to travel anywhere just to play a casual game of 501 or cricket with friends.

Where a venue adds something is in removing the friction of a first attempt: no board to buy, no wall to measure and protect, and, with an electronic setup like Krazy Darts, no scoring math to argue about mid-game. For a group in the Metairie area who wants to try the sport, pair it with something else in the building, or simply skip setting up a board at home, Pickle N Pins is a straightforward way to play a few legs. For everyone else, the rules, the scoring and the strategy above work on any board, anywhere.

Darts Rules for Beginners: How to Play and Score 501

A short history of darts