How to keep score in darts

To keep score in 501, write each player's starting score, then after every visit of three darts write the points scored and subtract them from what is left. The number you get is what that player still needs, and the leg ends when someone reaches exactly zero with a double. In Cricket you do not subtract at all: you mark hits on 15 to 20 and the bull, and write points separately.

How to keep score in 501, step by step

1. Draw four columns: points scored and points left for player A, then points left and points scored for player B. The American Darts Organization describes this layout: scores in the outer columns, "the totals remaining in the two middle columns" (ADO Tournament Rules, rule 37).
2. Write 501 at the top of both "left" columns.
3. After each visit, add up the three darts, write the total in that player's "scored" column and the new remaining score next to it.
4. Check the subtraction before the next visit. Under WDF rules, "errors in arithmetic shall stand as written on the scoreboard unless corrected prior to the next throw of the player whose score is in error" (WDF Playing Rules 3.06).
5. On a bust, write 0 and repeat the old remaining score. A bust means scoring more than is left, leaving 1, or reaching zero without a double; the visit does not count (WDF 2.05).
6. The leg ends when a player reaches zero with a double or the bull. Tick the winner and start a new leg.

Example score sheet

A sample leg of 501, player A throwing first. We checked every subtraction:

Player A wins the leg in 18 darts, a 3-dart average of 83.5 (see how to calculate your darts average).

How a bust looks on the sheet

Say player B has 32 left and throws 20, then 12. That reaches zero on a single, so it is a bust:

Chalking rules at league and tournament level

The person who keeps score is called the chalker, marker or scorer. The rule books agree on a few duties:

• Show the remaining score. "The actual score required by a player must be shown on the scoreboard, clearly visible" (WDF 3.07).
• Never call the finish. The marker says "32", not "double 16" (WDF 3.08). The ADO chalker may tell the thrower what they scored or have left, but "MAY NOT inform the thrower what he has left in terms of number combinations" (ADO rule 38).
• Correct mistakes in time. Scores and subtractions are checked after each throw, before the player throws again (DDV Sport- und Wettkampfordnung §6(5); WDF 3.06).
• Protests end when the darts leave the board. Once the score is recorded and the darts are retrieved, protests are not accepted (WDF 3.05).

Some leagues allow a phone or tablet instead of a chalkboard. The German federation DDV, for example, allows electronic scoring aids only if "die letzten 6 Scores beider Spieler müssen nachvollziehbar angezeigt werden" (the last six scores of both players must be shown), wrong entries can be corrected, and the remaining score is clearly shown; the chalkboard must still be available (§5(9)). Check your own league's rules before you use an app in a match.

Maths tips for chalking

• Subtract in two steps. 341 minus 81: take away 80 (261), then 1 (260).
• Round and correct. 245 minus 57: take away 60 (185), add back 3 (188).
• Learn the totals around the 20. The 20 sits between the 5 and the 1 on the board, so totals such as 26 (20, 5, 1), 41 (20, 20, 1), 45 (20, 20, 5) and 60 come up again and again when you aim at the 20. Practice subtracting them from typical remaining scores.
• Say the remaining score out loud after every visit. Both players hear it, and mistakes get caught before the next throw.

How to keep score in 301

301 is scored exactly like 501, only from 301. If you agree to play double in, write nothing until a player hits a double: darts before the first double score nothing, and the double itself counts. Double out, master out and double in explained.

How to keep score in Cricket

In Cricket each player needs three marks on 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15 and the bull. A single is one mark, a double two, a triple three; the outer bull counts as a single and the inner bull as a double (ADO rules 49 to 51). A common way to mark:

Once you have closed a number, further hits on it score points while any opponent still has it open (ADO rule 51). Write the points in a column under each player. In Cut-throat Cricket those points go to your opponents instead: see cut-throat cricket rules.

A blank Cricket sheet for two players:

Keeping score with a phone

If you would rather throw than subtract, Darts Counter keeps score for X01 (301 to 901) and Cricket, including Cut-Throat, and you can count all games for free. We checked the app's code for what the X01 screen does:

• You tap each dart: Double or Triple first if needed, then the number. The 25 button is the outer bull; Double and 25 together are the bull (50). "Missed" enters a miss.
• The screen shows the remaining score and 3-dart average of the players, the darts thrown and the darts of the current visit for the player at the oche, and a checkout suggestion from 170 down.
• Busts are detected automatically, and the score goes back to where the visit started.
• Undo takes back the last entry if you tapped the wrong number.

The app does not use a camera; you enter the darts yourself. It also does not yet show the last six scores of both players, so it does not meet the DDV condition quoted above.

Sources

Written by FLAME Apps, maker of Darts Counter since 2015. Checked 2026-09-25.

• WDF Playing and Tournament Rules, 20th revised edition, rules 2.05 and 3.05 to 3.08
• ADO Tournament Rules Booklet, rules 35 to 39 (scoring) and 49 to 51 (Cricket)
• DDV Sport- und Wettkampfordnung, §5(9) and §6 (German)
• Next: 501 rules, checkout chart