The Game of Darts Explained

So, I went out the other night for some darts at the Poet (or as they call it, "The Poet & Patriot"), and it seemed like it was like this:

B
20
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15

That was the scoreboard. The scoreboard just showed a vertical row of squares down its center, with the listed values displayed inside each square. But get this: you weren't supposed to hit the scoreboard, in order to score. No. There was a separate board, called variously the "round board," the "dart board," and the "target" - that was hung just over and to the left of the scoreboard. You were supposed to hit that board. There were numbers arranged around the perimeter of this circular board, and the idea was to get a dart into the section that corresponded to the certain numbers you were after (as listed on the scoreboard).

Sounds crazy, right? But it worked! Each "slice" of the board, or perhaps I should say "arc," was bordered in a thin metal wire that made it impossible to land a dart "right on the line." The dart would be forced to one side of the wire or the other, so you always knew what you'd hit (after a little close inspection). No "either-or," no arguments. Sweet!

There were also two "rings" that cut across all of the slices. A hit within these narrow rings was worth special. The outer ring around the circumference of the scoring area of the target - that was worth double. The inner ring, that bisected each section, was worth triple. And then there was the "bull's-eye."

Now, if you're like me, you kept calling the whole target the "bull's-eye" all night, annoying everyone with triumphant but ultimately unjustified exclamations such as "bull's-eye!" just because you hit the target. But no - the term "bull's-eye" is technically reserved for the double-circle located dead center on the target. A hit on the bull's-eye was worth extra special: 25 points for the outer green circle - fifty points for the inner red circle!

"But what's this 'points' business?" you ask? It's tricky, I admit. The first game we screwed up the scoring entirely and ended up with a double-forfeit once a helpful passerby noticed and explained how it worked. That was one crazy, high-scoring game, though!

Here's how it works: before you can begin scoring at all, you need three "hits" in the section in question. The first hit gets you a slash next to that box, on your side of the scoreboard. The second hit adds a slash to make an "X". The third hit puts a circle around that "X" - now you can score. First side to get a "circle-X" in that section "opens" it for them to be able to score, and "closes" it for the other side. After the hit that "opens" the section, subsequent hits are worth the same number of points as the number of that section.

But remember: a hit in the outer ring is worth double - so if you haven't hit in that section yet, that gives you two hits worth - an "X" not just a slash! And if you hit the inner ring it would be a circled X in one fell swoop! Same when it comes to scoring points: if the 15 section is open for scoring, and you hit the inner ring - that's a sweet 45 points!

But you can only score in a section from the time when you "open" it for your side by getting a circled-X, up until the other side closes it by getting a circled-X of their own. It's a struggle of offense versus defense: the first side to score three hits can run up points in that section, until the other side shuts it down by scoring their third hit. Once both sides have the circle-X, that section is CLOSED FOR BUSINESS.

So anyway, I'd already played one game of darts years ago, but I'd forgotten a lot of the little details. I won that game (years ago) on a very tough throw, though. So I've always been a little reluctant to put my undefeated streak on the line. Good news: My undefeated streak is still in business! Undefeated in team play, over 3 marathon games of "girls vs. boys" (which I switched on the scoreboard header to "XY versus XX" after the first game - to add a little dignity to the proceedings and also because as I observed, "women are always right"). The first game, as I alluded, was a double-forfeit debacle due to everyone running up the score even on sections that had already been "closed down." But on the two games after that, I not only served on the triumphant side, I also hit the game-winning shot both times! "Bull's-eye!"

So the upshot of all that is, if you ever have any questions about darts - I'm the guy to ask.