Darts 501 is the most common variant of the sport. Mostly all the professional Dart games that are aired on live television are Darts 501. Darts is one of the very few sports that can be played one on one, team versus team or even alone. In this step-by-step guide, you will learn about the rules and regulations of the game in detail.
Playing 501 darts, the basics of the game are straightforward. Each player or team begins with 501 points. Then, each player or team alternately takes a turn throwing darts at the dartboard. The scored points are deducted from the total, and the opposing person or team follows suit. The game is won by the first person or team to reach zero. However, to start the game or to start subtracting points from your 501 total a player or a team must double-in first.
What is double-in?
You must first land a dart in one of the double portions located around the board’s outer ring before you can begin scoring. This is referred to as “doubling in.”
Before you double-in, any dart you throw does not contribute to your advancement. On the dartboard, you can also double-in on the bullseye because it counts as a double as well.
The double 20 or the bullseye are the two targets you want to aim for while double in because they have the highest point values (40 and 50). Only one player on each team needed to double-in when playing in teams. Scoring starts as soon as a team member or a player doubles in. This dart and all subsequent darts from every team member are used to lower the score to bring it down to zero.
Winning Darts 501
The goal is to score as many points per round as you can after you have doubled in. As the highest-scoring target on the dartboard, the triple 20 is typically shot for in this situation. The maximum score possible in a round is 180 points, which is earned with three darts in the triple 20.
You will see in professional games that players strike triple 20s three times in a round with ease. But for beginners or amateur players, one thing they should keep in mind is that often the first two darts on the same spot can block your third dart going in that portion. Even if the first two darts land in triple 20 or any high-scoring portion, players are advised to throw the third into another high-scoring option as going for the same place three times in a row is extremely difficult and can even result in you not scoring any point. Once the scores near zero, the player or the team should start considering hitting double portions as you would want to double-out.
What is double-out?
You must double-out the same way you doubled in if you want to win the game. However, doubling-out can be a little more challenging. You may choose any double target on the board to initiate play when doubling in. To win the game when doubling out, you must hit a double that will put you exactly on 0 points. This is where it gets tricky while doubling-out. If you have 36 points remaining then you need to go for a double 18 as a double 19 or double 20 will result in you going bust and losing your turn. The highest double out is the centre of the bullseye worth 50 points followed by double 20 worth 40 points.
Variant of Darts 501
One of the most popular variations of Darts 501 is the absence of doubling-in. In professional games that are aired on television, double-in is removed to make the game more fast pace and interesting. This absence of doubling-in means that the players can directly go for the triple targets.
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