Downstairs in the basement rec room, you will find a regulation dart board (look for the cork wall at the bottom of the stairs). Darts are stored in the tub beside the fireplace. Look for the John Deere decal on the floor which serves as the oche - stand here, aim and throw!

The following instructions are taken from RulesOfSport.com "Darts Rules"

Object of the Game

501 is the standard version of the game in competition and the object is to “check out” by getting your score down to 50 or less before ending the game by reaching zero by either throwing a double or a bullseye with your final dart.

Scoring

A player scores points by throwing the darts at the board. Each player throws three darts on their turn with the maximum score being 180, achieved by hitting three treble 20s. The bull is worth 50 points, the outer bull 25 points and the various numbers score their own value, unless they are doubled (the outer rim) or trebled.

Winning the Game

To win a player must reach zero by hitting a double or a bull, having first got their score down from the 501 starting point. If they do that they win the leg and the first to three legs wins the set. Most matches are normally played “best of” a defined (odd) number of sets, with the sport’s biggest prize, the PDC World Championship, involving a final that is best of 13 (therefore the winner is the first to seven sets).

Rules of Darts

The rules of darts are very simple and have basically been discussed in previous sections. Some key points to note are as follows:

• Which player takes the first turn in a game is decided by throwing a single dart each with the nearest to the bull taking the first throw.
• A throw consists of throwing three darts unless the game is won in fewer.
• Only darts in the board at the end of the throw are counted and ones that bounce or fall out cannot be thrown again.
• If a player scores more than their remaining points total their throw ends and is scored zero (for example if they have 16 remaining and accidentally hit a 20 with their first dart).
• The centre of the bull should be exactly 5ft 8in (1.73 metres) high.
• Darts are thrown from a clearly marked toe-line, often called the oche, at least 7ft 9 ¼ in from the board, measured horizontally.