Other than the various n01 (301, 501,1001 etc) games, round-the-board is probably the next best known way to play darts on a standard board. Well, thats unless you are American and play cricket, which we will get to in a future article.
Round-the-board is one of those games that everyone who plays darts knows a version of (the basic premise of what it involves is somewhat self descriptive), but I honestly think that regular darts players often let this gem of a practice game go under the radar. Like most sports, darts is all about repetition, and if you arent throwing at anything other than 20 most of the time, then you can’t expect to be as accurate as you could be when aiming at other targets under pressure in a match.
Like most games, the rules can vary from pub to pub, city to city, country to country (you get the idea), so this article is focussed mainly on different variants that I like to play, either as individual practice, or in competition with another player or more.
If anyone wants to send in round-the-board variations based on games they’ve either played with other people, or rules that have been handed down from the darts dojo of Mr Miyagi himself, or even just your own practice routine – I’ll be more than happy to keep updating this article with more content and ideas.
Standard Round the Board (for 1+ players)
Rules (single player practice)
This version is the one I’ve come across most often and the basic idea is simple, hit the numbers on the board from 1-20. When you hit single 1, your next target is 2. Hit that and you move onto 3 etc.
You can move around the board faster by hitting the double of any number you are on. If you manage this then its the equivalent of hitting the value of that double and you move on to the next number after that.
So for example, starting on 1, I hit double 1 (which is 2) so I move onto 3. If I then single the 3, I move onto 4. If I hit the double 4 (which is 8) I move onto 9, and so on. The first double hit in a game is referred to as “The double” for that game, so in this example, 1 is “the double”. If no double is hit, 20 becomes “the double”.
Once you reach 20, the final part of the game involves hitting the double and treble of whichever number was set as “the double” (otherwise its 20), then the bullseye.
When aiming at numbers between 1 and 20, not all the doubles are worthwhile. Some give you a big jump (the best being D10 which means you skip all the numbers up to and including 20 and go straight to the Double, Treble, Bull part), but others such as double 5 would put you on 11, meaning you have to hit single scores (referred to as “walking”) from 11 to 20 since hitting a double from 11 onwards means you would “bust” the score (since D11=22).
Playing this way you can get around the board in 8 darts: D1, S3, D4, S9, D10, D1, T1, Bull
Variation 1: Include Trebles
The first variation includes treble scores, (So treble 3 = 9 and puts you on 10). Only issue I can see with this is that it only really counts for the first 6 numbers and even then T4 and T5 are pointless as they leave you on 13 and 15 respectively, meaning you have to hit singles on the remaining numbers up to 20. I suppose T6 might be handy if you’ve ‘walked’ to 6 though, but generally I dont think using trebles adds much, other than T3 putting you straight on 10. Using the base rules but including trebles, the best way I can think of would be 6 darts: D1 T3 D10, D1, T1, Bull.
Rules (2+ players)
Predicably, as it’s darts with more than one player, the players take turns throwing three darts each starting at 1 until someone wins by hitting the bull. How you decide who throws first is up to you but closest to the bull usually works!
I’ve also played a format where if a player hits three consecutive targets, then they get another go.
Training Games
For all these games, to measure progress you can record the total number of darts used to complete, or set a timer and try and beat your best time. If doing it by time, make sure you arent throwing faster than you normally would as that defeats the object, rushing darts will just make you miss. The more you hit, the faster your time will be anyway. Times are only against yourself anyway and shouldnt be compared to others -for example, If Michael Smith didnt miss a throw doing this he’d have a vastly quicker time that Justin Pipe even if he didnt miss anything either.
Practice 1: Round on Singles
Difficulty: 1 Star
Starting at 1, hit all numbers on the board up to and including 20 (doubles and trebles count as a single). Record the total number of darts used to complete. (possible in 20 darts).
Difficulty: 2 Stars
Starting at 1, hit all numbers on the board consecutively up to and including 20 (doubles and trebles don’t count), then D20, T20, Bull. (possible in 23 darts).
Difficulty: 3 Stars
Starting at 1, hit the big segment of all numbers on the board up to and including 20 (doubles and trebles dont count as anthing), then D20, T20, 25, Bull. (possible in 24 darts).
Difficulty: 4 Stars
Starting at 1, hit the small segment of all numbers on the board up to and including 20 (doubles and trebles dont count as anthing), then D20, T20, 25, Bull. (possible in 24 darts).
Difficulty: 5 Stars
Starting at 1, hit all numbers on the board up to and including 20 (doubles and trebles don’t count as anything, then D20, T20, 25, Bull. For the numbers 1-20 If you miss a number or hit the wrong target (including the double and treble) then you start from 1 again. (possible in 24 darts).
Practice 2: Round on Doubles
My own favourite and one that I’d say is essential to do as often as possible if you want to improve your finishing and confidence on doubles. Its pretty self explanatory – starting on D1, hit all the doubles up to and including D20. Then go D20 again, T20, Bull. (possible in 23, but I’d want video evidence!).
Practice 3: Round on Trebles
Another routine that is really valuable for helping with combination finishes, and general accuracy. For the average player, there are trebles on the board that only get thrown at when attempting a big finish. Think how much more confident you’ll be on those finishes if you are used to throwing at all of them because you go round on trebles regularly! Start on T1 and hit all the trebles up to and including T20. Then, as usual, finish it off with D20, T20, 25 and Bull. (possible in 24 darts).
Practice 4: The Big One
This one may take some time, but what better practice than hitting absolutely everything on the board at least once?
Starting on 1, hit the big segments of each number between 1 and 20. When you hit big 20, move straight back to 1 aiming at the smaller segment and go all the way around again. When you hit small 20, move straight on to double 1, and go round again. When you hit D20, move onto treble 1 and once again hit all the trebles up to and including treble 20. For the final part of this marathon, hit D16, T16, Bull. Then D8, T8, Bull, Then D4, T4, Bull, and finally D20, T20, 25 and bull.