How to play Cricket and 501: steel tip, soft tip and Japanese machine rules

Two games run darts bars: 501 and Cricket. The rules aren't hard, but the details differ across three systems: steel tip, Western soft tip, and Japanese machines. Here's all of it in one place. Read it and go start a board.

Before you start: two boards, who throws first

• Steel tip: steel points, sisal board, scored by hand; the PDC/WDF pro game. Oche 2.37 m.
• Soft tip: plastic points, electronic board, the machine scores. The standard in Taiwan, Japan and US bars. Oche 2.44 m. AI DARTS runs Phoenix soft-tip machines.

Start with a bull-up (cork): one dart each, closest to the bull throws first. The machine prompts you to do it.

501: how to score, how to win

Each player starts on 501. Three darts a visit; you add up what you hit and subtract from 501. First to exactly zero wins the leg.

• Treble x3, double x2, everything else x1. T20 = 60 is the target.
• Bull: outer 25, inner 50.
• Most a visit can score is 180 (three T20s, a ton 80).
• A match is usually "first to X legs" (best of 5 legs = first to 3). Big events wrap legs into sets.

New player tip: play COUNT-UP first (a fixed 8 rounds, highest total: no busting, no checkout maths). Move to 501 once that's comfortable.

501: finishing, busting, and the checkouts to know

Three rules for getting the last points to zero:

• Double out: the last dart must land in a double or the inner bull. The steel-tip standard, and the hardest. On 40 you throw D20, on 32 you throw D16.
• Straight out / open out: a single counts. The common machine default, beginner-friendly.
• Master out: a double, inner bull, or treble all count. The soft-tip middle option.

Bust: if a visit goes below zero, leaves exactly 1, or (under double-out) reaches zero without a double, the whole visit is void. Your score reverts to the start of the visit and it's the other player's turn. Leave 40, hit a stray 39, and you've busted.

Checkouts worth memorising:

Bogey numbers: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159. None of them can be checked out in three darts. Try not to be left on those.

Cricket: marks, opening, closing, winning

Only 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and the bull are live, seven targets in total.

• Each hit is marks: single = 1, double = 2, treble = 3. Nine is the max per visit.
• Get three marks on a number and you open it, and after that every further hit scores that number's points (T20 = 60).
• When the opponent also gets three marks on it, it's closed. Nobody can score there any more.
• To win: close 15–20 and the bull, and be level on points or ahead. If everything's closed but you're behind, you have to catch up on numbers you've opened.
• The bull in Cricket: outer = 1 mark, inner = 2 marks.
• Soft tip tracks MPR (marks per round): around 1.5–2 for a beginner, 3+ for a strong player.

/ = 1 mark, X = 2, O = 3 (closed) · 3 marks opens a number.

YOU have three marks on 20 (O), OPP only two (X), so 20 is "open for YOU". You keep scoring on 20 until OPP closes it too.

Strategy: most players open 20 first (highest value), pile up T20s while it's "open for you, not closed by them", then go back and close the rest.

Cricket variants

• Standard Cricket: the version above. Phoenix's RATING (S.CRICKET) is calculated from this one.
• Cut-throat, reversed: points you score on an open number go to opponents who haven't closed it, and lowest score wins. Chaotic and fun with a group.
• No-score: no points at all; first to close all seven targets wins. Use it for a quick decider.
• Cricket Count-Up: most marks over a fixed number of rounds. Pure practice.

Steel tip vs Western soft tip vs Japanese machine

Can't remember the rules? The machine explains each game when you pick it, and Count-Up or Cricket Count-Up can't go wrong. For the vocabulary, see the darts glossary. AI DARTS boards are 24-hour self-service: see details. Menu is here.