A dartboard is almost always the attraction in any pub or local watering hole. Aside from billiards, a game of darts has traditionally been the pastime of drinkers as they wait for their alcohol to set in. The game is very deceptively tricky since you would have to reach a particular number to end the game, and it’s often an exact number. It requires a lot of skill and accuracy so it’s really funny that it’s a game that most people play while in varying degrees of inebriation. Not only that, it involves small, sharp objects, so it’s definitely not for kids.
Before starting with your game, you must make sure that the equipment and game rules being used are standard. The regulation dartboard is exactly 47.08 in diameter. The board has be equally divided along twenty sections, each with a corresponding value. The material used for the board should also be closely scrutinized. The best ones are the bristle dartboard models that have select fibers from East Africa. These types have the greatest durability and longevity as residents of the hallowed dartboard cabinets in local bar haunts. Obviously, magnetic dartboards are not regulation.
The dartboard should be positioned at a height of five feet and eight inches off the floor. This measurement is from the surface of the floor to the middle of the bull’s eye. It should be fairly easy to measure this with the help of a measuring tape or any measuring device. The line behind which players are supposed to throw their darts behind from is called the “oche”. The oche is traditionally seven feet and nine and a quarter inches from the face of the dartboard. Keep in mind that the measurement is from the face of the dartboard itself – not the wall where the dartboard and cabinet are hung from. This line is usually demarked by tape.
There is also another game called London 5 or Narrow 5 where in the bull’s eye is only five feet, six inches off the ground. The throwing distance is also at an even nine feet so it can be slightly easier than the standard game of darts.
Apart from the correct height and position of the dartboard, playing the game does, of course, involve proper positioning of the player. The game allows players to step on the tape, but the foot should not go past the demarcation line at any time. Players then throw three darts at every turn. To determine the succession of turns, players usually take turns in throwing just one dart, to see who gets to hit closest to the center.
Darts may seem like a very random game, but if you want to play things right, you have to follow the instructions to the letter. If you’re not that excited to follow the intricacies of the game, there are alternatives such as the electronic dart board. But if you want a taste of real competition and the thrill of the game, then the best way is to play using standard regulation.
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