50 Fun Facts About Darts

What is the highest possible score with three darts?

Referees famously bellow the score in exuberant style on television.

What is the highest possible three-dart checkout, known as the 'Big Fish'?

It requires two treble twenties and the inner bull.

How far is the oche from the face of the dartboard under World Darts Federation rules?

The figure was a compromise between the distances used in the UK and the rest of the world.

How high above the floor is the centre of the bullseye on a regulation board?

It is meant to be eye level for a six-foot player.

How many points is the outer bull worth?

The inner bull counts as a double when finishing.

Which Lancashire carpenter is traditionally credited with devising the dartboard's numbering in 1896?

There are 19 factorial possible layouts once you fix the 20 at the top.

Modern quality dartboards are made from the fibres of which plant?

Before that, boards were solid elm that had to be soaked to stay soft.

Who proved in court in 1908 that darts was a game of skill, clearing a Leeds pub landlord?

Games of chance were banned on licensed premises at the time.

What is the maximum permitted weight of a dart in competition?

Most professionals throw darts of about 20 to 26 grams.

Which metal, twice as dense as brass, is used in most professional dart barrels?

Pure tungsten is brittle, so barrels are 80 to 95 percent tungsten alloyed with nickel, iron or copper.

In the standard game, what is the most common starting score for a singles match?

Teams sometimes start on 701 or even 1001.

What happens when a player 'goes bust'?

Under 'Northern Bust' rules the score only reverts to before the offending dart.

The segment nicknamed 'double top' is worth how many points?

The 20 sits at the top of the board, flanked by the 1 and the 5.

What is the minimum number of darts needed to finish a 501 leg?

Seven treble twenties, a treble nineteen and double twelve is the classic route.

Who threw the first televised nine-dart finish, at the 1984 MFI World Matchplay?

It earned him £102,000, a fortune in 1984 darts money.

How much prize money did that first televised nine-darter of 1984 earn its thrower?

The feat was not shown live; the first live TV nine-darter came later.

Who was the first player to hit a nine-dart finish at a World Championship, in 1990?

Phil Taylor holds the record for televised nine-darters, with 11.

How many World Championships did 'the Power' win across the BDO and PDC?

Two came in the BDO and 14 in the PDC.

The 1990 BDO world title went to a 125/1 outsider who beat which player, his mentor, 6–1 in the final?

Bristow had sponsored and mentored Taylor after Taylor claimed he could beat him at a Smallthorne pub exhibition.

In which city was 16-time world champion Taylor born?

His wife Yvonne bought him a new set of darts for his 25th birthday after he boasted he could beat Bristow.

Which player was nicknamed the Crafty Cockney?

He won five BDO world titles and was a regular on Bullseye.

How many BDO World Championships did the Crafty Cockney win?

He came from Hackney in East London.

Scottish world champion Jocky Wilson, who won in 1982 and 1989, came from which Fife town?

He turned professional after winning £500 at a Butlins competition in 1979 while unemployed.

Who won the first BDO World Championship in 1978?

The Welshman won it at the Heart of the Midlands Nightclub in Nottingham.

Keith Deller's 1983 world title was notable because he was the first what?

He used 18-gram spring-loaded darts that were later banned, then made legal again.

Where was the BDO World Championship held from 1986 to 2019?

The final BDO Worlds in 2020 was staged at Indigo at the O2 in London.

In which year did leading players split from the BDO to form what became the PDC?

Sky Sports signed up to cover three tournaments a year and transformed how darts was televised.

Who became chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation in 2021?

He took over in 2021 from his father Barry, who had run the PDC for two decades.

Where has the PDC World Championship been held since 2008?

From 1994 to 2007 it was at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex.

The PDC World Championship trophy is named after which commentator?

Waddell was 'the Voice of Darts' and, thanks to his puns, 'the Thief of Bad Gags'.

Which three events make up darts' Triple Crown?

Phil Taylor won six of the thirteen Premier Leagues he played in.

Who was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC/PDC world titles?

'The Menace' wore red and black in honour of the Beano's Dennis.

Raymond van Barneveld won how many world titles in total, across the BDO and PDC?

'Barney' is credited with darts' explosion of popularity in the Netherlands.

In which three years did Michael van Gerwen win the PDC World Championship?

He was world number one from 2014 to 2021.

Whom did rookie pro Rob Cross beat 7–2 in the 2018 World Championship final?

It was Taylor's last match before retirement; Cross's nickname is 'Voltage'.

Gary Anderson won back-to-back PDC world titles in which years?

He beat Phil Taylor 7–6 in the 2015 final.

Who beat Littler 7–4 in the 2024 PDC World Championship final?

Humphries, nicknamed 'Cool Hand', became world number one that January.

How old was Luke Littler when he became the youngest world champion in darts history?

He had reached the previous year's final at 16 as a 66/1 outsider.

In which Cheshire town was Luke Littler born and raised?

His nickname is 'the Nuke'.

Fallon Sherrock made history in December 2019 as the first woman to do what?

She beat Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljović before losing to Chris Dobey.

In April 2026 Beau Greaves became the first woman to do what?

She holds a record 57 PDC Women's Series titles.

How many BDO Women's World Championships did Trina Gulliver win?

She was nicknamed 'Golden Girl'.

Bobby George walks on stage in a crown and cloak, holding a candelabra, to which song?

He was the first full-time exhibition player and reached two BDO world finals.

Who hosted the ITV darts game show Bullseye for its original 14-year run?

Freddie Flintoff fronted the 2024 Christmas revival and the series that followed.

What is the name of Bullseye's animated bull mascot?

The show pulled audiences of up to 20 million at its peak.

Premier League Darts launched in 2005 on which broadcaster?

It began as a seven-player fortnightly event and now has eight players touring weekly.

How many players competed in the 2025 Premier League Darts?

The top four in the Order of Merit were joined by four wildcards.

A 1990s 'Quadro' dartboard added a quadruple ring. What was its maximum three-dart score?

It was used at the WDC UK Matchplay until 1996 and never professionally since.

Which regional variant, seen on the 1970s show The Indoor League, has no treble ring at all?

The London Fives board has only 12 segments.

Where was the PDC World Championship staged before it moved to north London in 2008?

Ally Pally's West Hall holds about 3,200 fans.