It’s interesting to watch dart championship, especially when you know its rules. There is only one rule to play hard darts, that is, 501 rule. This rule is usually used in regular domestic and international competitions, such as the World Darts Championships, the British International News Championships and China's first darts open competition.

The 501 affiliated rule: you can choose single or double target; normal or double entry; normal, double or triple out.

There are 20 rounds in a game. Each player starts with 501 points. Players’ scores decrease with throwing score. The one whose scores first reduced to 0 wins. If no player’s score are reduced to 0 points after ten rounds, the one who has the lowest score is the winner.

 

 

The highest target on the dart is not the big red heart 50 points, but the 20 point three times zone, that is, 60 points. So the maximum score of three darts per round is 180. In a game of 501, the fastest way to win is to use 9 darts, that is, three rounds.

 

Nine darts have many different combinations, and the most common is 180+180+141 (141=60+57+24). The big red is also a double zone, which can be used to end the game, so the highest point of the three darts that can end the race may be 170 (60+60+50).

 

In addition, if a player’s score becomes negative after throwing a dart, his score remains the number before the start of the round. It's called Busted. If the competition rules to "double out", then reduce to 0 points but did not hit two times, or reduced to 1 points (cannot be doubled here), also considered to be busted. Once busted, the runner's throw is over, though there’re still three darts. His score is restored to the point before the start of the race. It is his opponent's turn.

 

In order to do the best in the competition, professional players usually use the advanced tungsten alloy dart made of tungsten alloy dart shaft. Its dart tip is made of steel, which is very sharp. Because it has high density, tungsten alloy dart is thinner and easier to master than copper dart when the weight is same.