Score

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Score in darts has a dual meaning that you'll encounter constantly. First, it refers to the points earned in a single visit — "he scored 140" means the player hit 140 with their three darts. Second, it refers to the remaining points needed to reach zero and finish the leg — "his score is 170" means he has 170 left. Understanding both meanings is essential for following a match. When the caller announces "One hundred and forty! Leaves three-oh-one," they're telling you the visit score (140) and the remaining score (301). The remaining score is always what matters for strategy — it determines whether you're in checkout range and what route to take. Score ranges have their own vocabulary in darts. A "ton" is any score of 100 or more. A "ton-forty" is 140. "Ton-eighty" is 180. Below 100, scores don't have special names but are called out precisely. The caller's job is to quickly and accurately announce both the visit score and the remaining score. For improving players, tracking your scoring average per visit is the most fundamental statistic. This number tells you how efficiently you're scoring and directly correlates with how quickly you'll reach checkout range. A player averaging 60 per visit needs about 8 visits to get into checkout range in 501. At 80 per visit, it's about 6. At 100, it's 5. Those extra visits add up over a match. The scoring phase — the visits before you reach a checkout number — is where most darts are thrown. Getting efficient at scoring is the first priority for any developing player.