Analysis – Darts Checkout Assistant

Category: Analysis

It’s an undeniable fact that you can’t hit a checkout until you reach a checkout. How you get from 501 down to a number that can be taken out is not just a matter of scoring as many points as possible until you reach a score of 170 or less. There are pitfalls along the way that must be avoided. Land on the wrong number and you will be forced to waste darts to reestablish a clear path to a double.

The highest score you can take out in three darts is 170, which makes 350 the highest score you can take out in six darts (180-170). So that’s your first goal in 501 – leave a score below 351 that can be taken out in six darts.

You’ll see many mentions below to bogey numbers. What I mean by this is that there are scores that require more darts to finish than would be required by a slightly higher score. Here’s an example:

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
439	100 leaves a bogey	99: T20-S20-S19	340

Starting with 439 and scoring 100 leaves 339. How is this a bogey? I addressed this in detail in a previous post (The Bogey Numbers), but to make a long story short, 339 can not be taken out in six darts whereas 340 can. So you’re better off throwing 99 to leave 340 than 100 to leave 339. Makes sense, right?

Just to be clear, if you start with a score of 439 I’m not suggesting you should throw a 99. By all means, throw a 180 or 140. But if you throw a treble 20 with your first dart and hit the single 20 with your second dart, do not throw the third dart at the treble 20 – throw at the treble 19 and if it lands in the single 19 the resulting 99 leaves you on 340.

The suggested throws are provided to give you an idea of what you’ll need to throw to reach your goal, and to help you avoid the bogeys that will force you to throw more darts. If you can score more points than the suggested throw, and avoid a bogey, by all means do so.

Tip: All bogey numbers (above 50) end in the digits 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 – so, when in doubt, leave a score that ends in 0, 1, 4, or 7.

Let’s look at some starting score ranges to see what you’ll need to throw, and what you’ll need to avoid, to reach a checkout.

501-451

At the start of a leg of 501, you’ll need to hit three big trebles (or two and the bull) to get below 351 and keep your hopes for a 9-darter alive. If you stumble out of the gate with a poor first round, two big trebles are enough to get you back in the race for a 12 dart leg. Unfortunately, there are many minefields for starting scores in this range. Two treble 20’s and a stray outside the 20 – (think: 121, 123, 125, 135) can result in a bogey for many of these starting scores, as can a poorly considered cover shot.

In summary, do your math here and avoid ending the round with a score of 349, 348, 346, 345, 343, 342, or 339, as these scores make it impossible to leave a checkout after the next round.

With most of this range, a score of 140 will get you to your goal, with the exception of a just a few of the scores listed below which will require a bit more finesse to reach a safe number below 351.

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
501	Need 3 big trebles (but not three T18’s)	180, 177, 174, 171	321- 330
500- 491	Need 3 big trebles	180, 177, 174, 171, 170, 168, 165, 162
490	140 will get you to 350	140: 7 20’s	350
489	140 leaves a bogey S20 1st dart leaves a bogey	142: T19-T20-25 139: S19-T20-T20	347 350
488	140 & 139 leave a bogey S20 or S19 with 1st dart leaves a bogey	138: S18-T20-T20	350
487	140 is good Avoid: 139, 138	140: 7 20’s	347
486	Good: 142, 139, 136 Avoid: 140, 138, 137 S20 1st dart leaves a bogey	142: T19-T20-25 139: S19-T20-T20 136: S19-T19-T20	344 347 350
485	Good: 138, 135 Avoid: 140, 139, 137, 136 S20 or S19 with 1st dart leaves a bogey	138: S18-T20-T20	347
484	Good: 140, 137, 134 Avoid: 139, 138, 136, 135	140: 7 20’s 137: T20-S20-T19 134: S20-T19-T19	344 347 350
483	Good: 142, 139, 136, 133 Avoid: 140 Avoid: 138, 137, 135, 134 S20 1st dart leaves a bogey	142: T19-T20-25 139: S19-T20-T20 136: S19-T19-T20 133: 7 19’s	341 344 347 350
482	Good: 138, 135, 132 Avoid: 140, 139, 137 Avoid: 136, 134, 133 S20 or S19 with 1st dart leaves a bogey	138: S18-T20-T20	344
481	Good: 140, 137, 134, 131 Avoid: 139, 138, 136 Avoid: 135, 133, 132	140: 7 20’s 137: T20-S20-T19 134: S20-T19-T19 131: T20-S20-T17	341 344 347 350
480	Good: 140, 139, 136, 133, 130 Avoid: 138, 137, 135 Avoid: 134, 132, 131	140: 7 20’s 139: T20-T20-S19 136: T20-T19-S19 133: 7 19’s	340 341 344 347
479	Good: 142, 139, 138 Good: 135, 132, 129 Avoid: 140, 137, 136 Avoid: 134, 133, 131, 130 S20 1st dart leaves a bogey	142: T19-T20-25 139: S19-T20-T20	337 340
478- 451	140 is good here, but for each of these there are several scores in the 102-139 range that will leave a bogey. Be careful.	140: 7 20’s	338- 311

Notice for 489, 488, 486, 485, 483, 482, and 479, we’re not throwing the first dart at treble 20. This is because a single 20 will put you on a bogey. For instance, if you score 20 from 489 you’ll be left with 469 from which you can not reach a score with your two remaining darts that can be taken out in the next two rounds. Start on 19’s and if you hit the single, two treble 20’s will take you to 350 for the next round. For 488, 485, and 482, single 19 also puts you on a bogey, so start with 18.

Here are two opportunities to make use of the bull with your third dart:

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
455	105 leaves a 6 dart checkout	105: T20-S20-25	350
452	105 leaves a 6 dart checkout	105: T20-S20-25	347

450-351

Generally speaking, you don’t need to score more than 100 from here to have a chance to leave a checkout after the next round. However, the danger zone mentioned above (349, 348, 346, 345, 343, 342, 339) still must be avoided, as noted in the chart below:

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
450	Good: 100 Avoid: 101, 102, 104, 105 Avoid: 107, 108, 111	100: 5 20’s	350
449	100 leaves a bogey	99: T20-S20-S19 99: S20-S19-T20 102: S20-T19-25	350 350 347
448	100 leaves a bogey	98: T20-S20-S18 98: S20-S18-T20	350
447	Good: 100, 97	100: 5 20’s 97: S20-S20-T19	347 350
446	100 leaves a bogey	99: T20-S20-S19 99: S20-S19-T20 102: S20-T19-25	347 347 344
445	100 leaves a bogey	98: T20-S20-S18 98: S20-S18-T20	347
444	Good: 100, 97, 94	100: 5 20’s 97: S20-S20-T19 94: S20-S20-T18	344 347 350
443	100 leaves a bogey	99: T20-S20-S19 99: S20-S19-T20 102: S20-T19-25	344 344 341
442	100 leaves a bogey	98: T20-S20-S18 98: S20-S18-T20	344
441	Good: 100, 97, 94, 91	100: 5 20’s 97: S20-S20-T19 94: S20-S20-T18 91: S20-S20-T17	341 344 347 350
440	Good: 100, 99, 96	100: 5 20’s 99: T20-S20-S19 96: S20-T19-S19	340 341 344
439	100 leaves a bogey	99: T20-S20-S19 99: S20-S19-T20 102: S20-T19-25	340 340 337
438- 416, 414, 413, 411	100 leaves a 6 dart checkout. Beware of scores just below 100 that may leave a bogey	100: 5 20’s	338- 316, 314, 313, 311
415	65 leaves a 6 dart checkout	65: S20-S20-25	350
412	65 leaves a 6 dart checkout	65: S20-S20-25	347
410	60 leaves a 6 dart checkout.	60: 3 20’s	350
409	60 leaves a bogey	59: S20-S20-S19	350
408	60 leaves a bogey	58: S20-S20-S18	350
407	60 leaves a 6 dart checkout.	60: 3 20’s	347
406	60 leaves a bogey	59: S20-S20-S19	347
405	60 leaves a bogey	58: S20-S20-S18	347
404	60 leaves a 6 dart checkout.	60: 3 20’s	344
403	60 leaves a bogey	59: S20-S20-S19	344
402	60 leaves a bogey	58: S20-S20-S18	344
401	60 leaves a 6 dart checkout.	60: 3 20’s	341
400	60 or more will leave you on a 6 dart checkout. (Other than 61. Don’t throw 61.)	60: 3 20’s 100: 5 20’s 140: 7 20’s 180: 9 20’s	340 300 260 220
399	60 leaves a bogey	59: S20-S20-S19	340
398- 351	60 or more will leave you on a 6 dart checkout.	60: 3 20’s 100: 5 20’s 140: 7 20’s 180: 9 20’s	338-291 298-251 258-211 218-171

As mentioned previously, the advice here isn’t to throw a 58 from 408. The suggestion is that if your first two attempts at treble 20 land in the single 20, throw the third dart at the 18’s.

If you look the last row above, you will see that scores of 60-180 will all leave you on a 6 dart checkout. There are no bogeys in this range, so score as much as you can. The more you can score from here the easier it will be to leave a good checkout after the next round.

350-291

At the top of this range you’ll need three big trebles to reach a score of 170 or less (avoiding the bogey numbers 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159). A score of 140 is sufficient at the bottom of the range.

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
350, 347, 344, 341	180 leaves a checkout	180: T20-T20-T20	170- 161
349, 348, 346, 345, 343, 342, 339	Bogey numbers. Can’t reach a checkout with three darts.	Don’t ask me. I told you not to land on these numbers.
340	Only 180 or 170 will do	180: T20-T20-T20 170: T20-T20-Bull	160 170
338 337 336, 333 335, 332 334 331 330	Need 3 big trebles 180, 177, 174, 171 180, 177, 170 180 180, 177, 174, 171 180, 177, 174, 170 180, 177, 174, 171 180, 177, 174, 170	180: T20-T20-T20 177: T20-T20-T19 174: T20-T20-T18 171: T19-T19-T19 171: T20-T19-T18 170: T20-T20-Bull
329-316	140 is not enough – need 3 big trebles	180, 177, 174, 171
315	140 is not enough 145 leaves a checkout	145: T20-T20-25	170
314, 313	140 is not enough – need 3 big trebles	180, 177, 174, 171
312	140 is not enough 145 leaves a checkout	145: T20-T20-25	167
311	140 is not enough – need 3 big trebles	180, 177, 174, 171
310	140 leaves a checkout	140: 7 20’s	170
309	139 or 142 leaves a checkout Throw 1st dart at 19’s	142: T19-T20-25 139: S19-T20-T20	167 170
308	138 leaves a checkout Throw 1st dart at 18	138: S18-T20-T20	170
307	140 leaves a checkout	140: 7 20’s	167
306	140 is no good Throw first dart at 19’s 136, 139, 142 leave a checkout	142: T19-T19-25 136: T19-S19-T20 139: S19-T20-T20	164 170 167
305	140 is no good S20 or S19 1st dart is no good 135, 138, 145 leave a checkout	145: 25-T20-T20 138: 18-T20-T20 135: 15-T20-T20	170 167 160
304	140 leaves 164 Avoid: 135, 136, 138, 139	140: 7 20’s	164
303	140 is no good Throw first dart at 19’s 133, 136, 139 leave a checkout	133: 7 19’s 136: T19-S19-T20 139: S19-T20-T20	170 167 164
302	140 is no good Throw first dart at 18’s 132, 135, 138 leave a checkout	132: T18-S18-T20 135: S18-T19-T20 138: S18-T20-T20	170 167 164
301	140 leaves a checkout	140: 7 20’s	161
300	140 leaves a checkout	140: 7 20’s	160
299	140 is no good Throw first dart at 19’s 129, 135, 139 leave a checkout	129: T19-T18-S18 135: T19-S18-T20 139: S19-T20-T20	170 164 160
298	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 139, 136, 135 Avoid: 133, 132, 130, 129	140: 7 20’s	158
297	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 138, 135, 134 Avoid: 132, 131, 129, 128	140: 7 20’s	157
296	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 137, 134, 133 Avoid: 131, 130, 128, 127	140: 7 20’s	156
295	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 136, 133, 132 Avoid: 130, 129, 127, 126	140: 7 20’s	155
294	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 135, 132, 131 Avoid: 129, 128, 126, 125	140: 7 20’s	154
293	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 134, 131, 130 Avoid: 128, 127, 125, 124	140: 7 20’s	153
292	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 133, 130, 129 Avoid: 127, 126, 124, 123	140: 7 20’s	152
291	140 leaves a checkout Avoid: 132, 129, 128, Avoid: 126, 125, 123, 122	140: 7 20’s	151

Notice for 309, 308, 306, 305, 303, 302, and 299, we’re not throwing the first dart at treble 20. This is because a single 20 will put you on a bogey. For instance, if you score 20 from 309 you’ll be left with 289 from which you can not reach a checkout with your two remaining darts. Start on 19’s and if you hit the single, two treble 20’s will take you to 170 for the next round. For 308, 305, 302 a single 19 is also a bogey, so start with 18.

290-231

A score of 140 is good at the top of this range, scores around 100 will work in the middle and 60 is not quite enough at the bottom of the range. A big score could leave you with a two dart checkout.

Bogey numbers to avoid: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
290-276	Need two big trebles. 140 is good. Beware of bogeys for scores of 107-131	140: 7 20’s	150- 136
275	100 is not enough 105 leaves a checkout	105: 4 20’s + 25	170
274	100 is not enough 104 leaves a checkout	104: T20-S19-25	170
273	100 is not enough 103 leaves a checkout	103: T20-S18-25	170
272	100 is not enough 105 leaves a checkout	105: 4 20’s + 25	167
271	100 is not enough 101 or 104 leaves a checkout	101: T19-S19-25 104: S19-T20-25	170 167
270	100 leaves a checkout	100: 5 20’s	170
269	100 is no good 99 or 102 leaves a checkout	102: T19-S20-25 99: S19-T20-20	167 170
268	100 is no good 98 leaves a checkout	98: T18-S19-25 98: S18-T20-S20	170
267	100 leaves a checkout	100: 5 20’s	167
266	100 is no good 96 or 99 leaves a checkout	96: T19-S19-S20 99: S19-T20-S20	170 167
265	100 is no good 95 or 98 leaves a checkout	95: 5 19’s 98: S19-S19-T20	170 167
264	100 leaves a checkout	100: 5 20’s	164
263	100 is no good 96 or 99 leaves a checkout	99: T20-S20-S19 96: S20-T19-S19	164 167
262	100 is no good 95 or 98 leaves a checkout	95: 5 19’s 98: S19-S19-T20	167 164
261	100 leaves a checkout	100: 5 20’s	161
260	100 leaves a checkout	100: 5 20’s	160
259	100 is no good 95 or 99 leaves a checkout	95: 5 19’s 99: S19-T20-S20	164 160
258-236	100 leaves a checkout Beware of scores below 100 that may leave a bogey	100: 5 20’s	158- 136
235	60 is not enough 65 will leave a checkout	65: S20-S20-25	170
234	60 is not enough 64 will leave a checkout	64: S20-S19-25	170
233	60 is not enough 63 will leave a checkout	63: S19-S19-25	170
232	60 is not enough 65 will leave a checkout	65: S20-S20-25	167
231	60 is not enough 61 will leave a checkout	61: S18-S18-25	170

230-171

At this point you don’t need more than three big singles to leave you on a checkout for the next round, but one and two dart checkouts can be reached with a big score.

Bogey numbers to avoid: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
230	60 leaves a checkout. Don’t throw a cover shot after two 20’s	60: 3 20’s	170
229	60 leaves a bogey so move to 19’s after two single 20’s	59: S20-S20-S19	170
228	60 leaves a bogey so move to 18’s after two single 20’s	58: S20-S20-S18	170
227	60 leaves a checkout	60: 3 20’s 57: S20-S20-S17 57: 3 19’s	167 170 170
226	60 leaves a bogey so move to 19’s after two single 20’s	59: S20-S20-S19	167
225	60 leaves a bogey so move to 15, 18 or bull after two 20’s	65: S20-S20-25 58: S20-S20-S18 55: S20-S20-S15	160 167 170
224	60 leaves a checkout	60: 3 20’s 57: S20-S20-S17 57: 3 19’s	164 167 167
223	60 leaves a bogey so move to 19’s after two single 20’s	59: S20-S20-S19	164
222	60 leaves a bogey so move to 15, 18 or bull after two 20’s	65: S20-S20-25 58: S20-S20-S18 55: S20-S20-S15	157 164 167
221	60 leaves a checkout	60: 3 20’s 57: S20-S20-S17 57: 3 19’s	161 164 164
220	60 leaves a checkout	60: 3 20’s 59: S20-S20-S19	160 161
219	60 leaves a bogey so move to 19’s after two single 20’s	59: S20-S20-S19	160
218- 171	60 leaves a checkout	60: 3 20’s	158- 111

170-159

If you’ve been paying attention, you’re on a checkout – so take it out!
If not, you’re not. Do your best to clean up the mess and take it out next round. If you get a next round.

Score	Comment	Throw	Leave
170 167 164 161	Take it out! (With 161, S20-S20-25 gets you below 100)	T20-T20-Bull T20-T19-Bull T19-T19-Bull T20-T17-Bull
169	If you’d thrown one less point somewhere along the way, you’d be on a checkout now.	137: T20-T20-S17	32
168	If you’d thrown one more point somewhere along the way, you’d be on a checkout now.	136: T20-T20-S16	32
166	This is an awful number to leave. You can’t even do something cute with the bull to fix it. What were you thinking?	134: T20-T20-S14	32
165	Hello? This isn’t a checkout. 2 20’s and a single bull leaves 100	133: 7 19’s 65: S20-S20-25	32 100
163	2 20’s and a single bull leaves 98	131: T20-T19-S14 65: S20-S20-25	32 98
162	2 20’s and a single bull leaves 97	130: T20-T20-S10 65: S20-S20-25	32 97
160	Take it out if you can, but don’t throw a cover shot after two single 20’s – 60 leaves a 2 dart checkout.	T20-T20-D20
159	A) You shouldn’t be here B) Don’t leave 99	127: T20-T19-S10 59: S20-S20-S19	32 100

Tip: Calculate your score remaining after every dart thrown. You’ll make fewer mistakes if you know your exact score before you throw your next dart.

Twitter Poll: With 3 darts and 68 left, where do you throw your 1st dart?

June 27, 2020

Analysis Poll

With 3 darts and 68 left, where do you throw your 1st dart?
— Darts Checkout Assistant (@DartsCheckout) June 26, 2020

I don’t think there are any wrong answers to this poll. Each option leads to a common double, but each also has some risks.

The most important consideration is that you absolutely must leave 60 or less after the first dart to give yourself the best chance of having at least one dart at an outer ring double.

Treble 20
Pros: You’ve been throwing at the T20 the whole game, so it’s a comfortable shot. A T20 leaves 2 darts at D4 for the win. A S20 leaves 48, which easily leads to D16 or D20 for the final dart. Even missing into the T5 works – a S13 leaves Tops.
Cons: Miss on either side of the 20 (S1, T1, S5) and you’re looking at a Single to leave Bull or a Treble to leave an outer ring Double. Even if you hit the T20, S4-S2 leaves D1 for your return to the oche. I’m not sure I’m in that much of a hurry to get to The Madhouse.

Treble 16
Pros: T16 leaves 2 darts at D10. S16 leaves 52 which is a Single away from D16 or D20. Missing high into the 8 is fine (S8 leaves 60, T8 leaves 44). Missing low into the T7 leaves 47 which is also a Single away from D16 or D20.
Cons: Missing low into S7 leaves 61 and will require a Treble with the 2nd dart or a Bull finish.

Treble 12
Pros: T12 leaves 2 darts at D16. S12 leaves 56 (S16-D20 or S20-D18). Missing into the 9 is fine (S9 leaves 59, T9 leaves 41). Missing into the T5 leaves S13 for Tops.
Cons: Missing into S5 leaves 63 and needing a Treble with the 2nd dart or a S13 to leave Bull.

I’ve used all of these over the years, but I’m now going the T12 route. I prefer to have my first chance at a double be D16 or D20 and almost all of the outcomes of aiming at T12 with the first dart lead there.

While it does come down to personal preference where to throw the first dart, keep in mind that that choice is also deciding which Double you’ll have to hit to win the game. The last dart is much more important than the first.

The Bogey Numbers

May 21, 2019

Analysis

A bogey number is a score than can not be taken out in the same number of darts that a higher score can be taken out.

Everyone knows the bogey numbers, right? 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159

170 is the highest score that can be taken out in three darts while lower scores 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, and 159 can not. We learn these numbers so we can give ourselves the opportunity to land on the higher number that gives us a chance to win the leg in the fewest number of darts rather than the lower number that will require an additional visit to the oche.

If you have one dart in hand and a score of 186, it would be a mistake to throw at treble 20, as a single 20 would leave you on a bogey 166 that you won’t be able to finish on your next round. Better to throw at treble 19 and let the single leave you on 167, which you can take out in style on your next visit.

Tip: If you have 220 left after two darts and the treble 20 is blocked, don’t switch to a different treble – they’ll all leave you on a bogey number. Instead, throw a double bull to leave 170.

Score with 1 dart in hand	Throw at	Leave
195	25	170
192	25	167
189	19 (T19)	170 (132)
188	18 (T18)	170 (134)
186	19 (T19)	167 (129)
185	18 (T18)	167 (131)
183	19 (T19)	164 (126)
182	18 (T18)	164 (128)
179	19 (T19)	160 (122)

But those seven are not the only bogey numbers. There are actually 77 numbers that can be considered a bogey, depending on how many darts you have in hand.

You probably know not to throw at the treble 20 when you start a round with a score of 119 – a single 20 will leave you on 99, which can’t be taken out with two darts. That makes 99 a two dart bogey number. If we follow our rule that a bogey is any score that can’t be taken out in the same number of darts as a higher score, we see that because 110 can be taken out in two darts, 109, 108, 106, 105, 103, 102, and 99 are all two dart bogey numbers.

Extending this to one dart, since 50 is the highest one dart out, everything below 50 that can’t be taken out in one dart is a bogey: 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 39, 37, 35, 33, 31, 29, 27, 25, 23, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3.

I’m sure you were already aware of these bogey numbers, even if you didn’t necessarily call them that. But wait, there are more!

If 170 is the highest score that can be taken out in three darts, what’s the highest score that can be taken out in four darts? That would be 230 (170 plus another treble 20). So anything less than 230 that can’t be finished in four darts is also a bogey. These are the four dart bogey numbers: 229, 228, 226, 225, 223, 222, 219. How do you use this information? Just like the example above with a score of 186 and one dart in hand, if you have two darts in hand and a score exactly 20 point higher than any of these bogey number, don’t throw at treble 20, because the single 20 will leave you on a bogey number. Simple, right?

Score with 2 darts in hand	Throw at	Leave
249	19 (T19)	230 (192)
248	18 (T18)	230 (194)
246	19 (T19)	227 (189)
245	18 (T18)	227 (191)
243	19 (T19)	224 (186)
242	18 (T18)	224 (188)
239	19 (T19)	220 (182)

As you can see, each additional dart available increases the bogey numbers by 60. Since 290 can be finished in five darts and 289 can not, that makes 289 a five dart bogey number. Because you can take out 350 in six darts but not 345, 345 is a six dart bogey number.

Here are all 77 bogey numbers:

1 dart bogey numbers: 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 39, 37, 35, 33, 31,
29, 27, 25, 23, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3

2 dart bogey numbers: 109, 108, 106, 105, 103, 102, 99

3 dart bogey numbers: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159

4 dart bogey numbers (1 dart in hand): 229, 228, 226, 225, 223, 222, 219

5 dart bogey numbers (2 darts in hand): 289, 288, 286, 285, 283, 282, 279

6 dart bogey numbers (3 darts in hand): 349, 348, 346, 345, 343, 342, 339

7 dart bogey numbers (1 dart in hand): 409, 408, 406, 405, 403, 402, 399

8 dart bogey numbers (2 darts in hand): 469, 468, 466, 465, 463, 462, 459

So, am I really saying you shouldn’t throw at treble 20 with one dart in hand and 369 remaining? I am. Throw at treble 19. If you hit treble 20 you return to 309. If you hit treble 19 you return to 312. (I think 312 is a better number anyway, but either way it will take you at least six more darts to finish.) If, however, you hit a single 20 you will return to a score of 349, which can’t be taken out in two visits. Hitting a single 19 with that last dart has you returning to 350 which can be taken out with rounds of 180 and 170. Are you going to hit it? Probably not. But the chance of you taking out 349 with six darts is exactly zero. Leave yourself the possibility of something great happening.

As for the higher bogey numbers, I include them mostly for completeness. I had to work to find a situation where you could land on one. Ready? Your first visit you throw a single 20 and two single ones, leaving 479. (Don’t pretend you’ve never done this.) The first dart of your next turn is a single 20 leaving you on 459, which is an 8 dart bogey. What does that mean? It means you’ve just blown your chance at a 12 darter – you can’t take out 459 with 8 darts. That first dart should have been thrown at 19’s where a single 19 would have left 460, which can be taken out with seven treble 20’s and a double 20.

I know it seems absurd to be worrying about a 12 darter after opening with a 22, but whenever you land on a bogey number, you’re giving your opponent three more darts to beat you. You may think that with 459 and two darts in hand you can just work your way down and ‘fix it later’. You can’t. Once you’re on a bogey number, you can throw big treble after big treble and you’ll still be on a bogey number. Throw five treble 20’s from here and you’ll have 159 with three darts in hand. Bogey number. The 12 darter was gone the moment you hit the single 20.

These higher bogey numbers are pretty much irrelevant if you’re not a world class player. Your scoring average will dictate that you’ll be giving your opponent quite a few more than three extra darts over the course of a leg (and he’ll be probably giving them right back to you), but as you get closer to a checkout (or become a better darter!), landing on a bogey number will cost you a leg that you could have won. So don’t do it. Avoid even the highest bogey numbers and give yourself the chance to win in the fewest darts possible.

The Middle Dart

March 30, 2019

Analysis

The first dart is the sledgehammer, pounding the big treble to create the possibility of a big checkout. The final dart gets all the glory, smugly sitting the the bed of the chosen double for the win. Ah, but the middle dart. It’s the middle dart that is the key to victory. It’s the middle dart that transforms possibility into opportunity.

For any big checkout, your first dart is obviously important but it’s your second dart that will determine if you get a shot at a double. Learning, and practicing, the two dart outs will not only make you a better dart player, it will give you the confidence to take out larger checkouts.

With two darts in hand, you can take out 110, 107, 104, 101, 100 and anything less than 99. For 70 or less, the rules are simple. For 71 and up, you’ll need to commit the best routes to memory.

If your score is 60 or less, throw the single that leaves you on a preferred double for your last dart, e.g., if you have 54, throw a single 14 to leave 40.

For 61-70, you should either throw the single that will leave you 50 for the final dart, or the treble of that number to leave an outer ring double. For example, if you have 65 remaining, a treble 15 will leave you with 20, but a single 15 still leaves you a shot at double bull to win. [Practice Routine]

For 71-100 (excluding 99), you will need to hit a treble to leave a double for your final dart. For 101, 104, 107 and 110 your only option is to finish on a double bull and you’ll need to hit a big treble to get that chance. (There are a few situations where double-double is a reasonable option, but that will depend on your skill level and whether your opponent is on an out.)

The graphic below shows you the recommended paths to a double with two darts remaining.

Although there may be other ways to checkout some of these scores, the paths above are the most common and straightforward and constitute key way-points when planning how to checkout larger scores. For instance, once you learn the two dart out for 89 is treble 19, double 16 (57-32), the checkouts for 149 and 109 become obvious – with 149 a treble 20 gets you to 89 and with 109 you can safely throw for a treble 20 knowing a single 20 leaves you with 89.

Twitter Poll: With 3 darts and 104 left, where do you throw your 1st dart?

March 21, 2018

Analysis Poll

With 3 darts and 104 left, where do you throw you 1st dart?

— Darts Checkout Assistant (@DartsCheckout) March 19, 2018

The results of this poll are very surprising. The top two results, T18 & T20, are actually the two worst options. With 104 left, it’s not about what you’re trying to hit but what happens if you miss. With both T18 and T20, a stray dart into the Single 1 (or Single 5) will leave you with two darts in hand and no chance for a checkout. A path of T18-S18-D16 has the added danger of the second dart joining the first in the Treble 18 for a painful bust.

A better option would be to start with Treble 19, Single 15 to leave Double 16. A miss into Single 7 leaves you with another attempt at Treble 19 to leave Tops. A miss to the right, into a Single 3, is a bit more difficult, requiring a Treble 17 for a Double Bull finish.

The best option is to start with a Treble 16, Single 16 to leave Double 20. An inadvertent Treble 16 with the second dart is no problem at all – just a Double 4 to win. Missing the first dart on either side of the 16 will still leave you with a two dart finish that doesn’t require a Double Bull. Four sixteens, Double Top, safety on both sides…that sounds like the smart way to go, right?

Occasionally, when I point out the dangers of a stray dart, the person I’m talking to will state that they’re not going to miss, which is the right attitude I guess. Unfortunately, even Michael van Gerwin misses the 20 completely with over 5% of his throws at Treble 20. Some top pros miss the 20 over 10% of the time. The average dart player probably misses 20-30% of the time. If there’s a way you can miss and still have a chance to win, isn’t that the smart play?

Questions? Comments? Tweet to @DartsCheckout

Twitter Poll: How do you checkout 150?

March 19, 2018

Analysis Poll

How do you checkout 150?

— Darts Checkout Assistant (@DartsCheckout) March 14, 2018

This site prefers the T19-T19-D18 route, but the poll respondents overwhelming prefer to start with T20. This is fine, but I question staying on T20 with the second dart. Over two-thirds of these players stay on T20 to leave themselves a D15 checkout, which is not considered a favorable out shot.

This chart, from @ochepedia, shows how often PDC players finished on each double in stage matches since December 2016:

Gary Anderson’s leg won on D17 last night was only the 15th such leg out of the past 14,336 played on stage.
Here is the prevalence of each winning double, by number and percentage of the total, since December 2016. pic.twitter.com/6LACvXl75g

— Christopher Kempf (@ochepedia) March 9, 2018

Over 14,000 Doubles hit to win a leg and less than 70 of them were on Double 15. Compare that with nearly 900 on Double 18 and it’s pretty clear that the best dart players in the world would rather finish a leg on Double 18 than Double 15. So keep that in mind when you’re building a path to a checkout. By choosing to throw T20 with your first two darts, you’re also choosing to finish on Double 15 over other, arguably better, options.

The better option, in this case, is to finish on Double 18. Since T20-T18 and T19-T19 are both worth the same number of points (114), it’s just a question of whether you’re more comfortable switching from T20 to T18 or throwing both of the first two darts at T19.

Questions? Comments? Tweet to @DartsCheckout

The Bullseye Is Your Friend

March 12, 2018

Analysis

When working your way down to a checkout, don’t forget the middle of the board. The bullseye offers both the highest Single and the highest Double score on the board.

We know there are quite a few 2 dart checkouts that end with Double Bull, like 110, 107, 104, 101 and, quite often, the 61-70 range, but there are also some interesting three dart checkouts that start with the Bullseye.

Let’s take a look at a few of them (with three darts in hand):

Score	SB	DB	Treble	Best
61	SB-D18	DB-S3-D4	T15-D8	BULL
65	SB-D20	DB-S7-D4	T11-D16	BULL
66	SB-S9-D16	DB-D8	T10-D18	TREBLE
81	SB-S16-D20	DB-S3-D14	T19-D12	TREBLE
82	SB-S17-D20	DB-D16	T14-D20	BULL
83	SB-S18-D20	DB-S1-D16	T17-D16	TREBLE
84	SB-S19-D20	DB-D17	T20-D12	TREBLE
85	SB-S20-D20	DB-S3-D16	T15-D20	TREBLE
91	SB-T16-D9	DB-S9-D16	T17-D20	TREBLE
92	SB-T17-D8	DB-S10-D16	T20-D16	TREBLE
93	SB-T18-D7	DB-S11-D16	T19-D18	TREBLE
94	SB-T19-D6	DB-S12-D16	T18-D20	TREBLE
95	SB-T20-D5	DB-S13-D16	T19-D19	TREBLE
122	SB-T19-D20	DB-T16-D12	T18-T18-D7	BULL
125	SB-T20-D20	DB-T17-D12	T18-T13-D16	BULL
132	SB-T19-DB	DB-T14-D20	T20-T16-D12	BULL
135	SB-T20-DB	DB-T15-D20	T20-T17-D12	BULL

So why throw at the Bullseye instead of a Treble? Well, for starters, the total area of the Bullseye is about 3x the size of a Treble bed. Granted, the area of the Double Bull is only half the size of a Treble, but this still leaves you with a Single Bull that is more than 2.5x the size of a Treble. For every six darts that find part of the Bullseye, five of them will probably end up in the Single Bull.

This works well for 61 & 65 where a Single Bull will leave two darts at a Double.

From 66, a Double Bull will leave two darts at D8 or a Single Bull will leave you at 41, which is a manageable Single 9, Double 16. The danger is in missing the bull completely and possibly not getting below 61. (If you can get down to 60 or less with two darts remaining, you can finish with a Single and a Double.)

For the checkouts in the 80’s, the advantage of throwing at the bull is that a Single Bull will leave you with 60 or less. 82 is the best of these in that the Double Bull gets you 2 darts at Double 16, but a Single Bull still leaves a manageable 57. The disadvantage is that most of these turn a Treble-Double two dart checkout into a three dart checkout.

Throwing a Single Bull with a score of 91-95 leaves you with 66-70, which can be taken out with a Treble-Double or Single-Double Bull. For example, 91 can be taken out SB-T16-D9 or SB-S16-DB. There is a small risk here of having the Double Bull blocked by the first dart in the Single Bull. Hitting the Double Bull with the first dart leaves 41-45, which can be taken out with a Single-Double combination. Unfortunately, all of these turn potential two dart checkouts (Treble, Double) into three dart checkouts. It’s probably best to go the Treble-Double route.

122 and 125 work well with either a Single Bull or Double Bull first dart. Any bull and one Treble gets you to a Double. This seems better than having to hit two Trebles to reach a double.

132 and 135 also work with either a Single Bull or Double Bull first dart, but have a little added risk in possibly needing to finish with a Double Bull with a Single Bull already in the board.

It’s not a checkout, but keep the bullseye in mind when working your way down to 170. Throwing your third dart at bull instead of the 20’s with 195 or 192 is a smart move – a Single Bull will leave you on a checkout where a Single 20 will not.

To become more comfortable using the bull, try the Two Dart Options practice routine on our Practice page.

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