Darts

Darts in a dartboard
Highest governing body	WDF
Nickname(s)	throwers
First played	approx 1870s[1]
Registered players	655 WDF ranked players 679 PDPA ranked players
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	Team events exist, see World Cup
Mixed gender	Separate men's & women's championship although no restrictions on women competing against men.
Categorization	Target sports, Individual sport
Equipment	Set of 3 darts, dartboard
Olympic	Not ever recognised as an Olympic sport

Darts is a form of throwing game in which darts are thrown at a circular target (dartboard) fixed to a wall.^[2] Though various boards and rules have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules. As well as being a professional competitive sport, darts is a traditional pub game, commonly played in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, the Netherlands, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, the United States, Canada and elsewhere.

Equipment[link]

Dartboard[link]

Before the First World War, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm. They had to be soaked overnight to heal the holes made by the darts, and it was a messy business for the publican, although darts was a popular game. This changed when a company called Nodor, whose primary business was making modelling clay (which has no odour, hence the name Nodor), made a dartboard. Their model of dartboard was not a great success until someone came up with the idea of using the century plant to make a dartboard. Small bundles of sisal fibres of the same length were bundled together. The bundles were then compressed into a disk and bound with a metal ring. It was an instant success, as the darts did little or no damage to the board—they just parted the fibres when they entered the board; this type of board was more durable and required little maintenance.

Quality dartboards are made of sisal fibres; cheap boards are sometimes made of cork or coiled paper. However, several types of sisal fibre are used in dartboards today, originating from East Africa, Brazil or China. The widespread belief that some dartboards are constructed using pig bristles, camel hair, or horse hair, is incorrect. Apparently no such boards have ever been produced commercially.^{[citation needed]}

A regulation board is 17 ³⁄₄ inches (451 mm)^[3] in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section is separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal. The best dartboards have the thinnest wire, so that the darts have less chance of hitting a wire and bouncing out. The numbers indicating the various scoring sections of the board are also normally made of wire, especially on tournament-quality boards. The wire ring on which the numbers are welded can be turned to facilitate even wear of the board. Boards of lesser quality often have the numbers printed directly on the board.

Recently, some companies have produced electronic dartboards. These dartboards have electronic scoring computers that are preprogrammed with a wide variety of game types. The board is made of plastic facings with small holes. The holes slant out, allowing the plastic-tipped darts to stick inside. When a dart strikes the board, the section makes contact with a metal plate, telling the computer where the player has thrown.

History[link]

"Hope and Anchor dart club", 20 Waterloo Street (now Macbeth Street), Hammersmith, London, UK. ca 1925. NB publican Charles Fletcher (seated front row center) with elm board

Playing darts

The dartboard may have its origins in the cross-section of a tree. An old name for a dartboard is "butt"; the word comes from the French word but, meaning "target".^[4] In particular, the Yorkshire and Manchester Log End boards differ from the standard board in that they have no treble only double and bullseye, the Manchester board being of a smaller diameter, with a playing area of only 25 cm across with double and bull areas measuring just 4mm. The London Fives board is another variation. This has only 12 equal segments numbered 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10 with the doubles and triples being a quarter of an inch wide.

There is a speculation that the game originated among soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of the cask or at the bottom of trunks of trees. As the wood dried, cracks would develop, creating "sections". Soon, regional standards emerged and many woodworkers supplemented bar tabs by fabricating dart boards for the local pubs.

The standard numbering plan with a 20 on top was created in 1896 by Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin.^[5] However, a great many other configurations have been used throughout the years and in different geographical locations. Gamlin's layout was devised to penalise inaccuracy. Although this applies to most of the board, the left-hand side (near the 14 section) is preferred by beginners, for its concentration of larger numbers. Mathematically, removing the rotational symmetry by placing the "20" at the top, there are 19!, or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. Many different layouts would penalise a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical papers published that consider the "optimal" dartboard.^[6]

Height and distance[link]

In the standard game, the dartboard is hung so that the bullseye is 5 feet 8 inches (172.72 cm) from the floor—eye-level for a 6-foot (180 cm) person. The oche ( /ˈɒki/)—the line behind which the throwing player must stand—is generally 7 feet 9+¹⁄₄ inches (236.86 cm) from the face of the dartboard measured horizontally. Another recognised way of dartboard / oche dimensions is as thus... set up the dartboard on a solid wall so that the distance from the floor to the centre of the bullseye (in the centre of the dartboard) is 68 inches (172.72 cm), then measuring again from the centre of the bullseye in a diagonal manner, measure 115.41 inches (293.14 cm) from the bullseye to the rear of the oche and this will ensure true and accurate allround dimensions, provided the floor is horizontal and the walls are plumb. An alternate means of measuring the distance from the bullseye to the far side of the oche or throwing line. It is 93.249 inches (236.85 cm) from the rear of the oche to a plumb line hanging (right angle) from the bulls eye. This figure is calculated using Pythagorean theorem, a² + b² = c². This is the recognized world standard as set by the World Darts Federation and is used in most areas. The London 5 board or narrow 5s board set up is slightly different from the standard board. The height is set at 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) to the centre of the bull and the oche is at 9 feet (2.74 m) from the face of the board.^[7]

Darts[link]

Initially the missiles were simply cut down arrows or crossbow bolts.^[8] The first purpose made darts were manufactured in one piece from wood; wrapped with a strip of lead for weight and fitted with flights made from split turkey feathers. These darts were mainly imported from France and became known as French darts.^[9] Metal barrels were patented in 1906 but wood continued to be used into the 1950s.^[8][10] The first metal barrels were made from brass which was relatively cheap and easy to work.^[9] The wooden shafts, which were now threaded to fit the tapped barrel, were either fletched as before or designed to take a paper flight. This type of dart continued to be used into the 1970s.^[9] When the advantages of using plastic were realised, the shaft and flight became separate entities, although one piece moulded plastic shaft and flights were also available.^[11]

Modern darts have four parts: The points, the barrels, the shafts and the fletching^[12] The steel points come in 2 common lengths, 32mm and 41mm and are sometimes knurled or coated to improve grip. Others are designed to retract slightly on impact to lessen the chance of bouncing out.^[13]

The barrels come in a variety of weights and are usually constructed from brass, silver- nickel or a tungsten alloy.^[14] Brass is cheap but light and therefore brass barrels tend to be very bulky. Tungsten on the other hand, is twice as dense as brass thus a barrel of an equivalent weight could be half the diameter.^[15] Tungsten is very brittle however and so an alloy of between 80 and 95 per cent tungsten is used. The remainder is usually nickel, iron or copper.^[15] Silver-nickel darts offer a compromise between density and cost.

Barrels come in 3 basic shapes: Cylindrical, torpedo or ton.^[16] Cylindrical barrels are the same diameter along their entire length and so tend to be long and thin. Their slenderness makes them better for grouping but because they are long, the centre of gravity is further back. Ton shaped barrels are thin at either end but bulge in the middle. This makes them fatter than a cylindrical barrel of equivalent weight but the centre of gravity is further forward and so theoretically easier to throw. Torpedo shaped barrels are widest at the point end and taper towards the rear. This keeps the weight as far forward as possible but like the ton, gives it a larger diameter than the cylinder.

The shafts are manufactured in various lengths and some are designed to be cut to length. Shafts are generally made from plastics, nylon polymers or metals such as aluminium and titanium; and can be rigid or flexible.^[17] Longer shafts provide greater stability and allow a reduction in flight size which in turn can lead to closer grouping; but they also shift the weight towards the rear causing the dart to tilt backwards during flight,requiring a harder,faster throw. A longer shaft will however make the dart less responsive and increase the chance of "wobbling".

The primary purpose of the flight is to produce drag and thus prevent the rear of the dart overtaking the point.^[12] It also has an effect on stability by reducing wobble. Modern flights are generally made from plastic, nylon or foil and are available in a range of shapes and sizes. The three most common shapes in order of size are the standard, the kite and the smaller pear shape. The less surface area, the less stability but larger flights hamper close grouping. Some manufactures have sought to solve this by making a flight long and thin but this in turn creates other problems such as changing the dart's centre of gravity. Generally speaking a heavier dart will require a larger flight.^[12]

The choice of barrel, shaft and flight will depend a great deal on the individual player’s throwing style. For competitive purposes a dart cannot weigh more than 50g including the shaft and flight and cannot exceed a total length of 300mm.^[8]

Scoring[link]

The standard dartboard is divided into 20 numbered sections, scoring from 1 to 20 points, by wires running from the small central circle to the outer circular wire. Circular wires within the outer wire subdivide each section into single, double and triple areas. The dartboard featured on the "Indoor League" television show of the 1970s did not feature a triple section, and according to host Fred Trueman during the first episode, this is the traditional Yorkshire board.

Various games can be played (and still are played informally) using the standard dartboard. However, in the official game, any dart landing inside the outer wire scores as follows:

• Hitting one of the large portions of each of the numbered sections, traditionally alternately coloured black and white, scores the points value of that section.
• Hitting the thin inner portions of these sections, roughly halfway between the outer wire and the central circle coloured red and green, scores triple the points value of that section.
• Hitting the thin outer portions of these sections, again coloured red or green, scores double the points value of that section. The double-20 is often referred to as double-top, reflecting the 20's position on the dartboard.
• The central circle is divided into a green outer ring worth 25 points (known as "outer", "outer bull", or "iris") and a red inner circle (usually known as "bull", "inner bull" or "double bull"), worth 50 points. The term "bullseye" can mean either the whole central part of the board or just the inner red section. The term "bull's ring" usually means just the green outer ring. The inner bull counts as a double when doubling in or out.
• Hitting outside the outer wire scores nothing.
• Any dart that does not remain in the board until it is collected by the player (for example, a dart that hits a wire and bounces out of the board or drops out with the impact of a later throw) also scores nothing; exception should be noted if play is on any electronic board: darts falling out are counted.
• A dart only scores if its point is embedded in or is touching the playing surface. A dart that hits the board side on or at an angle but does not fall off because it is held in place by two other darts, for example, will score either equal to where its point touches or not at all.

The highest score possible with three darts is 180, commonly known as a "ton 80" (100 points is called a ton), obtained when all three darts land in the triple 20. In the televised game, the referee frequently announces a score of 180 in exuberant style. A "quad" ring appeared briefly in the 1990s, leading to a potential 240 maximum (three quad-20s), a 210 maximum checkout (Q20-Q20-Bull) and seven dart finishes from a 501 start (five quad-20s, triple-17, bullseye), but was swiftly dropped from professional tournament play.

Skill level and aiming[link]

Assuming standard scoring, the optimal area to aim for on the dart board in order to maximize the player's score varies significantly based on the players skill. The skilled player should aim for the centre of the T20 and as the player's skill reduces their aim moves slightly up and to the left of the T20. At σ = 16.4 the best place to aim jumps to the T19. As the player's skill decreases further, the best place to aim curls into the centre of the board, stopping a bit lower than and to the left of the bullseye at σ = 100.^[18]

Playing darts[link]

There are many games that can be played on a dartboard, but darts generally refers to a game whereby the player throws three darts per visit to the board with the goal of reducing a fixed score, commonly 501 or 301, to zero ("checking out"), with the final dart landing in either the bullseye or a double segment. A game of darts is generally contested between two players, who take turns. Each turn consists of throwing three darts. When two teams play, the starting score is increased to '701'; the rules remain the same.

A throw that reduces a player's score below zero, to exactly one, or to zero but not ending with a double is known as "going bust", with the player's score being reset to the value prior to starting the turn, and the remainder of the turn being forfeited. A darts match is played over a fixed number of games, known as legs. A match may be divided into sets, with each set being contested as over a fixed number of legs.

Although playing straight down from 501 is standard in darts, sometimes a double must be hit to begin scoring, known as "doubling in", with all darts thrown before hitting a double not being counted. The PDC's World Grand Prix uses this format.

The minimum number of thrown darts required to complete a leg of 501 is nine. The most common nine dart finish consists of two 180 maximums followed by a 141 checkout (T20-T19-D12), but there are many other possible ways of achieving the feat. Three 167s (T20-T19-Bull) is considered a pure or perfect nine dart finish by some players, most notably the flamboyant Bobby George.

Other darts games and variants[link]

There are a number of regional variations on the standard rules and scoring systems. "Round the Clock" is a variation that involves hitting the numbers in sequence, known as "around the world" in New Zealand.^[19] "Jumpers" is a somewhat swifter and more exciting variation of Round the Clock believed to have originated amongst the British ex-pat community in Asia.^[20]

American darts[link]

American Darts is a regional USA variant of the game (most U.S. dart players play the traditional games described above). This style of dart board is most often found in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New York state.

Archery darts[link]

This is played in the exact same way as a regular game of darts, but using recurve or compound bows to shoot full length arrows from a distance to hit a 60 cm or 90 cm paper target face that looks like a dartboard. These are commercially produced, but usually only in black & white.

Audio darts[link]

A variant of traditional darts played using a blindfold. Often played by people with visual disabilities and their friends. Typically a talking electronic dartboard is used to speak the numbers hit, keep score and announce who is throwing next.

Darts cricket[link]

Dartball[link]

Dartball is a darts game based on the sport of baseball. It is played on a diamond shaped board and has similar scoring to baseball.

Dart Golf[link]

Dart golf is a darts game based on the sport of golf and is regulated by the World Dolf Federation (WDFF).^[21] It is played on both special golf dartboards and traditional dartboards. Scoring is similar to golf.

Fives[link]

An 'East-End' or 'Fives' dartboard

This is a regional variant still played in some parts of the East End of London. The board has fewer, larger segments, all numbered either 5, 10, 15 or 20. Players play down from 505 rather than 501, and stand the farthest (9 ft, 2.7 m) away from the board of any mainstream variation.^[22]

Halve it[link]

Halve it is a darts game popular in the United Kingdom and parts of North America where competitors try to hit previously agreed targets on a standard dart board.^[23] Failure to do so within a single throw (3 darts) results in the player losing half their accumulated score. Any number of players can take part and the game can vary in length depending on the number of targets selected.^[24] The game can be tailored to the skill level of the players by selecting easy or difficult targets.

Killer[link]

Killer is a 'knock-out' game for two or more players (at its best at 4-6 players). Initially each player throws a dart at the board with their non-dominant hand to obtain their 'number'. No two players can have the same number. Once everyone has a number, each player takes it in turn to get their number five times with their three darts (doubles count twice, and triples three times). Once a person has reached 5, they become a 'killer'. This means they can aim for other peoples numbers, taking a point off for each time they hit (doubles x2, triples x3). If a person gets to zero they are out. A killer can aim for anyone's numbers, even another killer's. You cannot get more than 5 points. The winner is 'the last man standing'.^[25]

Lawn Darts[link]

Lawn darts (also called Jarts or yard darts) is a lawn game based on darts. The game play and objective are similar to both horseshoes and darts. The darts are similar to the ancient Roman plumbata.

Shanghai[link]

Shanghai is a darts game of accuracy.^[26] Hitting doubles and triples is paramount to victory. This game is played with at least two players. The standard version is played in 7 rounds.^[26] In round one players throw their darts aiming for the 1 section, round 2, the 2 section and so on until round 7. Standard scoring is used, and doubles and triples are counted. Only hits on the wedge for that round are counted. The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of seven rounds (1-7); or you can score a Shanghai and win instantly. To score a Shanghai you have to hit a triple, a double and single (in any order) of the number that is in play.^[26]

Shanghai can also be played for 20 rounds to use all numbers.

A Fairer Start for Shanghai: To prevent players from becoming too practised at shooting for the 1, the number sequence can begin at the number of the dart that lost the throw for the bullseye to determine the starting thrower. For example; Thrower A shoots for the bullseye and hits the 17. Thrower B shoots for the bullseye and hits it. Thrower B then begins the game, starting on the number 17, then 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 3, etc. through 16 (if no player hits Shanghai).

Darts organizations[link]

Amateur League Organizations[link]

The American Darts Organization promulgates rules and standards for amateur league darts and sanctions tournaments in the United States. The American Darts Organization began operation January 1, 1976 with 30 charter member clubs and a membership of 7,500 players. Today, the ADO has a membership that averages 250 clubs on a yearly basis representing roughly 50,000 members.^[27]

Professional organizations[link]

Of the two professional organisations, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), founded 1973, is the older. Its tournaments are often shown on the BBC in the UK and on SBS6 in the Netherlands. The BDO is a member of the World Darts Federation (WDF) (founded 1976), along with organizations in some 60 other countries worldwide. The BDO originally organised a number of the more prestigious British tournaments with a few notable exceptions such as the News of the World Championship and the national events run under the auspices of the National Darts Association of Great Britain. However, many sponsors were lost and British TV coverage became much reduced by the early nineties.

In 1992 a breakaway organisation was formed, initially known as the World Darts Council (WDC) but shortly after known as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The PDC tournaments have a considerable following, although the PDC World Championship attracts lower TV viewing figures than that of the BDO.

The PDC tournaments often have higher prize money and feature the leading player in the history of the game, 15-time World Champion Phil Taylor. The highly successful BDO player Raymond van Barneveld switched to the PDC and won the PDC World Championship at his first attempt in 2007.

Professional darts[link]

The BDO and PDC both organise a World Professional Championship. They are held annually over the Christmas/New Year period, with the PDC championship finishing slightly earlier than the BDO tournament. The BDO World Championship has been running since 1978; the PDC World Championship started in 1994.

Both organisations hold other professional tournaments. The BDO organise the World Masters and many Open tournaments. They also organise county darts for their 66 county members in the UK including individual and team events.

The PDC's major tournaments are the World Championship, Premier League, UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix. All of these are broadcast live on Sky Sports television in the UK. They also hold PDC Pro Tour events and smaller category events around the UK. As of 2007 the PDC have introduced two new televised major tournaments—the US Open (to be broadcast on Challenge TV) and the Grand Slam of Darts (to be screened on ITV).

Two Dutch independently organised major tournaments, the International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy introduced a mix of BDO and PDC players in 2006 and 2007. Both organisations allocated rankings to the tournaments, but these two events are now discontinued.

The WDF World Cup for national teams and a singles tournament has been played biennially since 1977. The WDF also organise the Europe Cup.The PDC has their own world cup the PDC World Cup

Professional darts players[link]

World champions[link]

Year	Winner WPD (BDO)	Winner BDO	Winner PDC
1978	Leighton Rees (1)
1979	John Lowe (1)
1980	Eric Bristow (1)
1981	Eric Bristow (2)
1982	Jocky Wilson (1)
1983	Keith Deller (1)
1984	Eric Bristow (3)
1985	Eric Bristow (4)
1986	Eric Bristow (5)
1987	John Lowe (2)
1988	Bob Anderson (1)
1989	Jocky Wilson (2)
1990	Phil Taylor (1)
1991	Dennis Priestley (1)
1992	Phil Taylor (2)
1993	John Lowe (3)
1994		John Part (1)	Dennis Priestley (2)
1995		Richie Burnett (1)	Phil Taylor (3)
1996		Steve Beaton (1)	Phil Taylor (4)
1997		Les Wallace (1)	Phil Taylor (5)
1998		Raymond van Barneveld (1)	Phil Taylor (6)
1999		Raymond van Barneveld (2)	Phil Taylor (7)
2000		Ted Hankey (1)	Phil Taylor (8)
2001		John Walton (1)	Phil Taylor (9)
2002		Tony David (1)	Phil Taylor (10)
2003		Raymond van Barneveld (3)	John Part (2)
2004		Andy Fordham (1)	Phil Taylor (11)
2005		Raymond van Barneveld (4)	Phil Taylor (12)
2006		Jelle Klaasen (1)	Phil Taylor (13)
2007		Martin Adams (1)	Raymond van Barneveld (5)
2008		Mark Webster (1)	John Part (3)
2009		Ted Hankey (2)	Phil Taylor (14)
2010		Martin Adams (2)	Phil Taylor (15)
2011		Martin Adams (3)	Adrian Lewis (1)
2012		Christian Kist (1)	Adrian Lewis (2)

2010 World Champions

BDO: Martin Adams Wolfie

PDC: Phil Taylor The Power

Women's BDO: Trina Gulliver The Golden Girl

Women's PDC: Stacy Bromberg

Multiple World Champions

15 Phil Taylor The Power (13 PDC, 2 BDO)

8 Trina Gulliver The Golden Girl

5 Eric Bristow Crafty Cockney

5 Raymond van Barneveld Barney / The Man (4 BDO, 1 PDC)

3 John Part Darth Maple (1 BDO, 2 PDC)

3 John Lowe Old Stoneface

3 Martin Adams Wolfie

2 Adrian Lewis Jackpot

2 Ted Hankey The Count

2 Jocky Wilson

2 Dennis Priestley The Menace (1 BDO, 1 PDC)

Former one-time BDO World Champions

Bob Anderson The Limestone Cowboy

Steve Beaton Magnum-PI/ The Bronze Adonis

Richie Burnett The Prince of Wales

Tony David The Deadly Boomerang

Keith Deller The Fella / The Milky Bar Kid

Andy Fordham The Viking

Jelle Klaasen The Matador

Leighton Rees

Les Wallace McDanger

John Walton John Boy

Mark Webster Webby

World rankings[link]

Both the WDF, BDO and PDC each maintain their own rankings lists. These lists are commonly used to determine seedings for various tournaments. The WDF rankings are based on the preceding 12 months performances, the BDO resets all ranking points to zero after the seedings for their world championship have been determined, and the PDC Order of Merit is based on prize money earned over a two year period.

Televised darts[link]

Darts first appeared on British television in 1962 when Westward Television broadcast the Westward TV Invitational to the south-west of England. In 1970, ITV broadcast the News of the World Championship and from 1972 the Indoor League, which featured a darts tournament.

Over the next decade darts coverage expanded with many major tournaments appearing on both ITV and BBC through the 1970s and early 1980s, but the cancellation of ITV's World of Sport show in 1985 meant they had to cut back on darts coverage but despite this they still showed the World Masters until 1988. The BBC also cut back on their coverage to the extent that one major event was still broadcast on either channel by 1988—the World Championship.

With the creation of the WDC/PDC in 1992/93, darts gradually returned to television with Sky Television covering the new organization's World Championship and World Matchplay events from 1994. Sky's coverage continued to increase throughout the 1990s, with more new events added. The PDC's World Championship, Premier League, UK Open, Grand Slam of Darts, World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix are all televised live on Sky.

The BBC finally began to expand their darts coverage in 2001 when they added the World Masters to their portfolio. However, it wasn't until 2005 that viewers were able to see every dart thrown live at the World Championship. This was the year that BBC introduced interactive coverage on its BBCi service.

Darts has continued to grow again on television and there now several major tournaments broadcast in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. Dutch station, Sport One, DSF in Germany and several other TV stations across the globe also broadcast the PDC events.

In Europe, Eurosport broadcast the Lakeside World Championships, having signed a three-year contract in 2006, and that year also broadcast the Finland Open, the BDO British Internationals, the BDO England Open and the BDO British Open. There has been no Eurosport coverage of Open events since 2007.

In the Netherlands, SBS6 has broadcast the Lakeside (since 1998) and the Dutch Open. They also shown the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy, however they are now defunct. RTL 5 broadcast the Dutch Grand Masters in 2005. Some of these tournaments can also be watched on the internet for free using a live stream, depending on contractual restrictions (external links: SBS Streams^{[28][29][30][31][32]} and Watchdarts.com stream^[33])

The PDC has also tried to break into the television market in the United States by introducing the World Series of Darts in 2006. It had a $1 million prize to showcase professional darts in the United States. Unfortunately the programme was not a ratings success and was taken from its peak time broadcast slot on ESPN after just a few weeks. The tournament was replaced with a US Open event in 2007 which was screened in the UK on digital television channel Challenge TV, with Nuts TV showing the 2008 tournament.

ITV returned to darts coverage in November 2007, showing the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts — its first major darts tournament coverage in almost twenty years. Sentanta Sports also televised some BDO events.

In 2012, the BBC shared coverage of the BDO World Championships with pay-TV sports channel ESPN. Sky Sports continue to screen major PDC events, including the World Championships, Premier League Darts and Grand Slam of Darts. ITV4 broadcast two PDC events, the Players Championship Finals and European Championships.

Betting[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In places where alcohol is consumed, English law has long permitted betting only on games of skill, as opposed to games of chance, and then only for small stakes. An apocryphal tale relates that in 1908, Jim Garside, the landlord of the Adelphi Inn, Leeds, England was called before the local magistrates to answer the charge that he had allowed betting on a game of chance, darts, on his premises. Garside asked for the assistance of local champion William Bigfoot Anakin who attended as a witness and demonstrated that he could hit any number on the board nominated by the court. Garside was discharged as the magistrates found darts, indeed, to be a game of skill. More recently, in keeping with darts' strong association with pubs and drinking, matches between friends or pub teams are often played for pints.

In the professional game, betting is prominent with many of the big bookmaking companies sponsoring events (particularly within the PDC). Sky Bet (Premier League), Bodog (World Grand Prix), Stan James (World Matchplay), Blue Square (UK Open) and Ladbrokes (World Championship) are all title sponsors of major PDC events.

On Fox Sports broadcasts in the United States, the logos for Ladbrokes are pixelated out and digitally obscured, along with any audible references to Ladbrokes, because of American laws and policies against online gambling.

See also[link]

• Darts world rankings—current ranking lists for BDO and PDC
• Darts tournaments—previous winners, history and information
• Darts players profiles
• Nine dart finish—the "perfect" game in darts
• Glossary of darts
• Pub games
• Bullseye—a British game show based on darts

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Chaplin, Patrick (2010), Darts in England, 1900-39: A Social History, Manchester: Manchester University Press, distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-7190-7803-3 . Scholarly history showing how darts figured in publicans' efforts to improve their establishments, and how the sport moved from a working-class pursuit to gain middle- and upper-class players.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Darts

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Darts

• American Darts Organization
• British Darts Organisation
• Professional Darts Corporation
• World Darts Federation
• Catalan Darts Federation

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2009)

Raymond van Barneveld
Personal information
Full name	Raymond van Barneveld
Nickname	Barney
Born	(1967-04-20) 20 April 1967 (age 45) The Hague, Netherlands
Home town	The Hague Netherlands Height- 189cm
Darts information
Playing darts since	1984
Darts	25g Unicorn
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1990 - 2006
PDC	2006 - present
Current world ranking	8
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005
World Masters	Winner 2001, 2005
World Darts Trophy	Winner 2003, 2004
Int. Darts League	Winner 2003, 2004, 2006
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner 2007
World Matchplay	Runner Up 2010
World Grand Prix	Runner Up 2008, 2009
Grand Slam	Semi Finalist 2009
Premier League	Semi Finalist 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
Desert Classic	Winner 2007
European Ch'ship	Semi Finalist 2011
UK Open	Winner 2006, 2007
US Open/WSoD	Runner Up 2007
Players Ch'ship Finals	Quarter Finalist 2009
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Belgium Open Brandstaff Masters British Open Canadian Open Denmark Open Dutch Open Finnish Open Holland National Championships Masters of Darts Northern Ireland Open Norway Open Open Holland Masters Pacific Masters Spring Cup Swedish Open Swiss Open Untouchables WDF Europe Cup Pairs WDF World Cup Pairs World Cup of Darts World Darts Challenge World Pairs Players Championships Players Ch'ship (DER) Players Ch'ship (GER) Players Ch'ship (GIB) Players Ch'ship (HAY) Players Ch'ship (LAV) Players Ch'ship (WAL) UK Open Regionals UK Open Regional (IRE) UK Open Regional (MID) UK Open Regional (NEE) UK Open Regional (SCO) Uk Open Qualifier	1996, 1999 1999 1999 1998 1997 2001, 2004, 2006 1995, 2004 2004 2007 2004 1997 2008 2005 1991, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001 1998, 2002, 2003 2000 2010 2000, 2004 2005 2010 2007 1997 2011 2007 2007 2006 2007 2007 2006, 2007 2006 2007 2006 2012, 2012
Other achievements
1997, 1998 Haagse Sportprijs 1998 BDO Personality Award 1998, 1999 Haaglanden Sportprijs 1999 Major citizen of The Hague 1999 Named in the Order of Orange-Nassau 2002 Nine dart finish European Darts Ch'ships Mechelen 2003 Nine dart finish Swiss Open 2003 I.D.P.A. Leighton Rees Men's Player of the Year Award 2004 Haagse Publieksprijs 2006 Nine dart finish Premier League of Darts 2006 Best Newcomer, PDC Awards 2006 Fans' Player of the Year, PDC Awards 2007 Nine dart finish German Darts Championship 2008 Became PDC World number 1 2008 Best Floor Player, PDC Awards 2009 First ever nine dart finish in the PDC World Championship 2009 Nine dart finish, UK Open Regional (WM) 2010 Nine dart finish, PDC World Championship 2010 Nine dart finish, PDC Premier League Darts 2010 Nine dart finish, PDC World Matchplay 2012 Sets his highest ever televised average of 112.28 whilst playing in the Premier League[1]
Updated on 6 April 2012.

Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967 in The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation. Nicknamed Barney, he is a five time World Darts Champion (4 time BDO World Champion and 1 time PDC World Champion), a two time UK Open Champion and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic. He has also won the World Masters twice, the World Darts Trophy three times and the International Darts League twice. From January to June 2008, he was the world number one ranked player, but currently, as of December 2011, he is 8th in the PDC Order of Merit.

His victory in the 2007 PDC final, added to his four previous BDO Championships brought him level with Eric Bristow as a five-time world champion, he is one of only three players in darts history to achieve this. He is the most successful Dutch darts player ever, and has a significant effect in putting the game of darts on the map in the Netherlands.

BDO career[link]

Van Barneveld's first World Championship appearance came in 1991 playing in the Embassy World Championship at the Lakeside Country Club, but his first round match ended in a 0-3 defeat to Australian Keith Sullivan.

He started to make some progress on the British Darts Organisation circuit, reaching the quarter-finals of the Belgian Open in September 1990 and the German Open in March 1991. His first semi-final came at the Swiss Open in June 1991.

He failed to qualify for the World Championship in 1992, but made it back to Lakeside in 1993, which would be the last time that a unified World Championship would be staged. Van Barneveld lost in a close match 2-3 to John Lowe, who would go on to win the championship. Shortly after the 1993 World Final, the top players in the game at the time formed the World Darts Council (WDC, now the PDC) and left the BDO.

Van Barneveld continued to make progress in the BDO Open events in 1994 after the split, reaching the quarter-finals at the Dutch Open and Berlin Open, the semi-final at the Belgium Open and his first final, at the Finnish Open where he lost to Andy Fordham.

He continued his good run of form into the 1995 World Championship by putting out Les Wallace, Dave Askew, Colin Monk and Martin Adams to reach his first World Final. But it ended in defeat 3-6 to Welshman Richie Burnett.

After second round defeats in 1996 and 1997, the former postman took his first world title in 1998 by beating Burnett in a repeat of the 1995 final. This match however is often listed amongst the greatest of all-time having reached 5-5 in sets Van Barneveld finally took the title by winning the final set 4-2 in legs on double 8.

He successfully defended the trophy one year later by the same winning margin, this time against Ronnie Baxter of England. This made him only the second player in the tournament's history to have launched a successful defence of his title; the other being Eric Bristow. Martin Adams would later also achieve this feat.

His run of success ended in the first round in 2000, crashing out to Chris Mason, who averaged 100 and ended Van Barneveld's hopes of a hat-trick of titles.

Van Barneveld lost in the quarter-finals in 2001 (4-5 to Ted Hankey) and 2002 (3-5 to Mervyn King) before returning to the final in 2003. He clinched his third world title by beating Ritchie Davies of Wales 6-3.

His 2004 campaign ended in the semi-finals, when Andy Fordham beat him 5-4 in another memorable match.

A fourth title followed in 2005. He never dropped a set in the first three rounds as he beat Gary Anderson, Mike Veitch and Vincent van der Voort. A 5-3 semi-final win over Darryl Fitton and 6-2 triumph over Martin Adams of England in the final brought him that fourth title.

Van Barneveld reached his sixth final in 2006, and was aiming to equal Bristow's record of five BDO world titles. On this occasion however, his hopes were ended by 21 year-old fellow countryman Jelle Klaasen who prevailed 7-5.

He has also won the prestigious Winmau World Masters title twice: once in 2001 when he recorded a win in the final over Jarkko Komula of Finland and again in 2005 when he beat Goran Klemme in the final. Other major darts tournaments that he has won at least twice include The World Darts Trophy and The International Darts League.

Van Barneveld is naturally left handed, but he throws darts with his right hand.

PDC career[link]

After playing in the BDO for fifteen years, winning four World Championships, Van Barneveld announced his move from the BDO to the PDC on 15 February 2006. He cited his reasons as wanting a greater challenge, and regularly playing against players like Phil Taylor.^[2] He had an incredible first year in the PDC, having started from scratch in the rankings. Within twelve months he had reached World number two and became World Champion.

His PDC debut came in the 2006 Premier League competition. He won his first match convincingly 8-1 against Baxter. On March 23, he hit his first televised nine dart finish and faced Taylor later in the same night, fighting back for a 7-7 draw. The re-match came on Van Barneveld's 39th birthday, but this time Taylor won the deciding leg for an 8-6 victory. Van Barneveld suffered a surprise 11-3 semi-final defeat in the Premier League to fellow Dutchman Roland Scholten.

Van Barneveld then started a very successful run with a 13-5 final victory over Colin Lloyd in the final of the International Darts League for his 11th BDO Grand Slam tournament. He won his first major PDC title in June by beating Barrie Bates in the final of the UK Open at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton. Earlier in the day, he beat Taylor in the quarter-finals, accomplishing one of his dreams which he announced after switching to the PDC. Van Barneveld beat Taylor again just weeks later in the semi-finals of the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic. He lost 6-3 to Canadian John Part in the final the following day.

Soon after this Van Barneveld made alterations to his game, he changed darts and began using the "stacking" technique used by Taylor. The darts used were a gram lighter than his old ones and cost the equivalent of £1 from a local store in Holland.

After losing in the first round of the 2006 Bavaria World Trophy to fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen, Van Barneveld acknowledged that he needed to work on his finishing throws. Although he played well in the Sky Bet World Grand Prix, he lost to Phil Taylor in the second round.

Taylor and Van Barneveld met again in the 2007 PDC World Championship final, in a match which Taylor later described as the best final he had been involved in. From three sets down, Van Barneveld came back to beat Taylor 7-6 in the sudden death leg in one of the greatest darts matches of all time to match Bristow's record of five world titles.^[3] In February 2007, Van Barneveld won the 2007 Masters of Darts tournament by beating Peter Manley 7-0 in sets in the final with a 107 three dart average. His success has also continued away from the cameras.

In the 2007 Premier League Darts, he never fared as well as he did in 2006, losing to Taylor twice, Dennis Priestley and Lloyd in the group section. He did however manage to finish second but lost an exciting but error filled encounter 10-11 to Terry Jenkins in the semi-final.

Van Barneveld made amends for his disappointing Premier League campaign however by inflicting one of Taylor's heaviest defeats (11-4) in the quarter-final of the 2007 UK Open and went on to successfully defend his title beating Lloyd 11-4 in the semi-final and van der Voort in the final 16-8. In doing this, Van Barneveld became the first person to successfully defend the UK Open crown. A month later, he continued his surge of major titles by beating Jenkins 13 legs to 6 in the final of the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic. Van Barneveld's dream of winning the five major PDC tournament titles in 2007- the World Championship, UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix ended when he was defeated by Adrian Lewis 16 legs to 14 in the quarter finals of the World Matchplay in Blackpool.

His haul of titles in the PDC has continued to grow since his switch. In addition to his four major titles (the World Championship, two UK Open Championships and the Vegas Desert Classic) - he has added eleven non-televised PDC Pro Tour titles (five UK Open Regionals and six Players Championships).

2008 proved to be Van Barneveld's most barren year thus far in the PDC in terms of success, with him not winning a major tournament. His defence of the World Championship crown was seriously thwarted by a bout of flu. He managed to win his first two matches quite comfortably, although nearly had to retire during his 2nd round match due to breathing problems. He was defeated by Kevin Painter in the 3rd round by 4 sets to 2. Following his disappointment, he reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Premier League Darts, but was defeated for the third consecutive year at this stage of the tournament, defeated by James Wade. He was also knocked out of the early stages of the US Open, the Las Vegas Desert Classic by Alan Tabern and in the semi-finals of the UK Open by Gary Mawson, after having defeated rival Taylor by 10 legs to 9 a round earlier. He was also defeated in the quarter finals of the World Matchplay by Wayne Mardle. However, he did regain some form in the World Grand Prix reaching the final of the tournament, before being defeated by Taylor by 6 sets to 2. He also suffered a quarter-final embarrassment at the hands of Lewis in the quarter-finals of the inaugural European Darts Championship in November losing by 9 legs to 2.

Van Barneveld threw another televised nine dart finish in the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship in his quarter-final match against fellow Dutchman Klaasen on 2 January 2009. Van Barneveld hit two maximum 180s before nailing treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to complete his nine-darter in the second leg of the sixth set.^[4] The feat earned Van Barneveld £20,000 – the bonus had not been won since Taylor's nine-darter at the UK Open against Jamie Harvey – as he became the first player to throw a perfect leg in the PDC World Championship. Van Barneveld went on to win the match 5-1, with a three-dart 161 finish, and then won his semi-final against Wade. However, he suffered a heavy 7-1 defeat to Taylor in the final. As a result of his failure to defend the £100,000 he won at the 2007 World Championship (his runner-up position earned him £60,000) he dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the PDC Order of Merit.

Van Barneveld threw his fourth nine dart finish in the Blue Square UK Open West Midlands Regional on 29 March 2009 in the third round against Kirk Shepherd. Barney only earned £400 for this as Mervyn King snapped up the £4,000 bonus on 28 March 2009 at the Coventry Players Championship with a nine dart finish.

In the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Barney returned to form, losing narrowly to Phil Taylor 13-11 in the final. After the game, Barney took the microphone from Sky Sports presenter Dave Clark, and gave a speech about Phil Taylor.

After his quarter final World Matchplay defeat to Terry Jenkins, Van Barneveld took another sabbatical from darts. He declined entries for the Championship of Darts and the South African Masters. There was speculation Van Barneveld was considering retiring from the sport, however he stated after his first round win in the 2009 World Grand Prix over Alan Tabern that he was suffering from diabetes and his absence was in order to get fit and healthy and going to the gym. He also attributed the diabetes towards his form in major tournaments.

On 28 December 2009, he hit another nine-darter in the second round of the PDC World Championship against Brendan Dolan, becoming the first player to hit two nine-dart finishes in the PDC World Championship.^[5] He went on to reach the semi finals before losing 6-5 to Simon Whitlock. He also lost the third-place play-off 10-8 in legs to Mark Webster.

On 29 April 2010, Van Barneveld hit another nine-darter against Terry Jenkins at the 2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts in Aberdeen.^[6] This came during a poor Premier League campaign in which he only finished in sixth place. During the Premier League, Barney said that he was suffering from personal problems back home, and claimed that he and his family were being blackmailed. He failed to qualify for the 2010 UK Open, having only entered one of the eight qualifying events (only players who enter three or more events are eligible to qualify).

His next nine-darter came in the first round of the 2010 World Matchplay in Blackpool, against Denis Ovens on 17 July 2010. He went on to reach his first ever World Matchplay final, where he lost 18-12 to Phil Taylor.

2011[link]

At the 2011 World Championship he lost in the quarter-finals to an in form Gary Anderson.

The 2011 Premier league of darts saw a slight return of form after he hit 4 100+ finishes and defeated Simon Whitlock 8-3 with a 100.15 average. He went on to win his next match against Adrian Lewis 8-6, before losing to Phil Taylor in their much anticipated match, 3-8. In week 6 he defeated Mark Webster 8-4 with a high average of 100.98 and also hit a 161 checkout.He went on to defeat Gary Anderson 8-5 in week 7 with an average of 101.44

On the day of his first round match in the 2011 World Matchplay darts Barney received a shock when he lost his darts. He contacted his sponsors with a S.O.S which meant they had to contact the closest supplier to deliver a new set for him. He received the set with no problems and used them to defeat Steve Brown 10-3 averaging 95.56.

The 2011 Uk Open saw Barneveld progress to the fifth round of the competition where he was defeated by an on form Wes Newton who was eventual runner up 9-1^[7]

2012[link]

van Barneveld was the victim of one of the biggest upsets in PDC World Championship history in 2012. He lost 0-3 in the first round to world number 85, James Richardson, winning just 4 legs during the match.^[8] He teamed up with Vincent van der Voort for the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts to try to defend the title van Barneveld won with Co Stompé in 2010. Together they enjoyed comfortable victories over Austria and Northern Ireland to set up a semi-final clash with the Australian pair of Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock. Van Barneveld beat Nicholson 4–0 in their singles match, but this was the only point the Dutch won as they relinquished their crown in a 1–5 defeat.^[9]

van Barneveld was a Sky Sports pick for the Premier League.^[10] During the tournament he produced his highest ever televised average of 112.28 whilst defeating Kevin Painter 8–6.^[1]. He went into the final round of matches knowing a win over James Wade would secure him a place in the play-offs, but could only manage to draw the match 7–7 to finish 5th in the table, out of the play-off places on leg difference.^[11]

van Barneveld won the UK Open Qualifier 5 by beating Andy Smith 6–3 in the final, after earlier overcoming the likes of Simon Whitlock and Terry Jenkins. He also hit a nine-dart finish in his third round match against Michael Barnard.^[12] He completed a weekend double by winning Event 6 a day later after defeating Ian White 6–2 in the final.^[13]

Barney Army[link]

Van Barneveld now gets chants of 'Barney Army', which is a play on the supporters of the England cricket team's nickname 'Barmy Army' as a result of the Dutchman's extreme popularity since he joined the PDC in early 2006. Van Barneveld has a close relationship with his fans, shown regularly at the end of Premier League events when his fans will all chant "Barney, give us a wave" and he always responds with a wave and a smile. He has regularly praised the fans of the Premier League. While he does get a good reception at most venues, his loudest and most positive is usually on the Scottish legs of the Premier League where the three most popular English players - Phil Taylor Adrian Lewis and James Wade - aren't so popular.

Outside of darts[link]

In 2012, van Barneveld, together with the seven other players who competed in the 2012 Premier League Darts recorded a charity single with Chas Hodges and his band called 'Got My Tickets For The Darts' which was written by Chas. It was released exclusively on iTunes on 18 May, the night after the play-offs at the O2 in London, where it was premiered. Proceeds from the single will be donated to the Haven House Children's Hospice.^[14]

World Championship Results[link]

Majors[link]

World Championship[link]

Winner (5)[link]

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1998	BDO World Darts Championship	Richie Burnett	6-5
1999	BDO World Darts Championship	Ronnie Baxter	6-5
2003	BDO World Darts Championship	Ritchie Davies	6-3
2005	BDO World Darts Championship	Martin Adams	6-2
2007	PDC World Darts Championship	Phil Taylor	7-6

World Masters[link]

Winner (2)[link]

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2001	Winmau World Masters	Jarkko Komula	4-2
2005	Winmau World Masters	Göran Klemme	7-3

PDC performance timeline[link]