Join us at SportsCasting as we investigate why darts legs start at 501. Every leg of darts begins at 501 points, simply to ensure players cannot finish an entire leg without moving target at least once.
Why Do Darts Legs Start At 501?
Whether it be the World Darts Championship, the Premier League Darts, the World Matchplay Darts or even the UK Open, millions of fans tune in each year to watch the biggest and best darts tournaments worldwide.
Darts has taken off in recent years, partly due to the emergence of teenage sensation Luke Littler. Although Littler has been an integral part in the grow of darts, so to have legends of the game such as Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and even now Luke Humphries too.
Although the rules of darts are generally very simple, there are one or two things about the game that some fans may still need clarity on. None more so than the rules surrounding the scoring system in darts, specifically the starting score.
Every leg of darts in every tournament around the world, as well as the vast majority of amateur darts leagues and events, begins on 501 points. Why is this? Surely it makes more sense to start on a round number like 500? Is there a specific reason for the 501 start?
Although darts fans and neutrals alike will share the same confusion as to why the starting score reads 501, there is a reason for it. The reason behind the 501 scoring system is that it provides more competitiveness to the game to a certain degree.
With the object of the game to reach zero points by hitting a double with your final dart, beginning each leg on 501 points means the best possible finish is the famous ‘nine darter’.
Starting at 500 would render the rest of the board useless for the top professional players, making the game more boring as other areas of the board would rarely be used.
Why Not Begin Darts Legs On 500, Rather Than 501?
With the reason behind the 501 scoring system in darts simply to make it more competitive, this in turn also makes it more difficult. Not just for everyday players, but even for the professionals too.
If it was the other way around and players started every leg on 500, then players could very simply just aim solely at the 20 segment in order to win, without having to throw anywhere else on the board.
With the score beginning at 501, this means players simply must use other segments of the board, whether that be singles, doubles, trebles, the 25 (outer bull) or the bullseye.
This forces players to travel around the board in order to reduce their score, rather than constantly throwing at the treble, double and single 20 and nothing else. This makes it more challenging for all players, both amateur and professional.
All in all, there is far more variation between legs of darts with the 501 start, opposed to say 500 for example. This also means players must have good maths skills too, forcing the top players to think about the checkouts they are leaving and finishing on favoured doubles.
It means that there are situations that could see pretty much every segment used in a game, as stray darts can leave unfavourable checkouts. 501 also makes nine darters far harder, and keeps them as rare and as exciting as they are today.
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