Tournament Setup

General Tournament Rules

Organising a Darts tournament in your local club or pub need not be too difficult. Most fun tournaments can be organized with minimal hassle using the below items.

• Board should be hung securely from a wall, so the centre of the bulls-eye is 5ft. 8ins / 173cm from the floor. See dartboard setup
• Throwing distance for a standard game is 7ft. 9 3/4ins / 2.3 meters, measured horizontally from the face of the board.
• The Oche (pronounced Ockey) or toe-line should clearly be marked and be at least 18ins long. Toe-line can either be a painted line on the ground or a raised line indicator such as a piece of metal or wood. The latter is always preferred as it gives the player a firm edge to rest his/her foot against.
• Order of play can either be decided by each throwing a dart at the centre of the bull, the nearest being the player to throw first, or by a toss of a coin. Rules vary depending on the league you may be playing in. Always observe local rules.
• When throwing for the bull, if the first thrower hits the centre bull or outer bull the dart is usually removed before the second player throws. If the second player also hits the bull then the bulling-up procedure starts again. If the first players dart does hits neither the centre bull or the outer bull then the dart remains in the board until the second player throws. If the first player's dart is obstructing the bull the second player can request that the marker / referee straighten the dart.
• Once order of play has been determined, the winner starts leg one and odd legs thereafter. The looser will start leg two and even legs after that.
• Any standard darts can be used.
• Throws consist of three darts except where the game is finished in less.
• Darts may not be re-thrown, including darts that miss the board and darts that bounce out. Only darts that have their points touching the scoring area of board may score. Players may be told, if they ask, what number they scored, or what number they require to win the game, by the score announcer or referee, but not how to get it.
• If the number required to win the game is exceeded in the course of a throw, the throw ceases, and no account is taken of the score obtained during that particular throw.
• Inner bull (50) counts as double (25) the outer bull.
• The first throw is deducted from the player start number either 501, 301 or 701 (as previously agreed) and so on. The first player to get their score down to zero is the winner. The scorer should show both the score obtained for the throw and the deducing total remaining.
• Generally each player’s score must start and finish a game with a double (The out narrow ring of the board). Competition games, are usually played with a straight start with no compulsory double, but with a compulsory double to finish.

Darts Leg and Set Scorer

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Tournament Sheet 16 to 1

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