American Darts

American Darts, despite the name, is a regional USA variant of the game (most U.S. dart players play the traditional 'English' style darts). This style of dart board is most often found in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New York state. American Darts originated in eastern Pennsylvania in the early 1900s; this style of darts was first played in both the Philadelphia area and the coal regions of northeastern PA.

Equipment

Dartboard

There are a number of differences between an "American" board and a traditional "English" board. American Darts uses a board made of basswood, using the end grain. High-quality boards have rotatable centers that can be turned so the board will wear more evenly.

Embedded in the board are thin steel wires that separate the board into scoring sections, as opposed to the wider steel dividers placed onto the surface of traditional boards. On those English boards, the wider steel makes it much more likely that the dart will hit the steel divider and bounce off onto the floor. Since the dividers on a American board are "much" thinner (usually around 1/100 of inch), and they are completely pressed into the surface, it is extremely unlikely that the dart will bounce off from hitting the steel.

The scoring areas on an American Darts are also laid out differently from an English board. The center bullseye (or cork) on an American board is one section; there is no "inner" and "outer" bullseye. Additionally, unlike the traditional board, the triple ring is not halfway between the outer edge and the bullseye; rather triple is itself on the outer egde, and the double ring is directly adjacent to it, just inside the triple ring. The remainder of the board is the single scoring area. The bullseye is colored red, the single area is uncolored, the double ring is red, and the outermost triple ring is uncolored. The entire scoring area is bounded by a large out-of-bounds blue ring.

The number sequence (20, 1, 18, 4, etc.) is the same as on a traditional dart board.

Height and Distance

The center of the cork is 5' 3" from the floor. [ [http://www.americanstyledarts.com/ American Style Darts ] ] The distance between the dartboard and the throwing line is 7' 3"; however, the precise manner of this measurement varies. Dartboard manufacturers Widdy and Dart Shark suggest the line distance be set at 7' 3" from the "back" of the dartboard. This would result in a distance of 106.4" from the center of the cork to the throw line. On the other hand, the ABDA (American Baseball Darts Association) sets the distance at 7' 3" from the "front" of the board. This is 107.4" from the centre of the cork to the throw line. Seven feet is almost always 12 x 7 = 84 inches; and, corillarily, 84 inches plus 3 inches is 87 inches. Another site says 5' 8 inches from the floor and 7' 9 3/4 inches throw line from the board.

Darts

The darts are made of wooden barrels, fletched with turkey feather flights glued in place. A metal tip assembly is bored into the end of the wooden section. The exposed (visible) end of the tip assembly is either tempered steel or brass. The other end of the tip assembly (the section inserted inside the wood barrel) had a lead weight attached. Placing this heavier end of the metal assembly inside the wood tends to move the center of gravity away from the tip and towards the center of the dart, creating a stable flight.

Standard sized American Darts are 5 3/4 inches long, and are known as size #1 darts. These darts weight anywhere from 12 to 14 grams, depending on the wood and metals used.

In most games, a shared set of darts is used, rather than every competitor having their own darts. In this case, each player leaves the thrown darts in the board for the next player, rather than retrieving them. This is done for several practical reasons. The most obvious reason is so that the next player can view and verify the score of the preceding player. The second reason is that it is simply safer to remove sharpened darts yourself, grasping them away from the tips, than it is to be passed a handful of three darts from another player. A third reason is that dart maintenance supplies (like a potato, for moistening the dart tips, or a sharpening stone) are usually kept at the board, and thus requiring every player to go the board "before" they throw, rather than after, allows him or her to more quickly prepare the darts to their liking.

Games

Baseball

The standard game is Baseball (also known as "1 to 9"). Players take turns shooting three darts at each inning. They begin with inning number one and continue in order until they have shot nine innings. Darts landing in the thin uncolored outermost ring are worth 3 points. The red ring is worth 2 points, and the inside area is worth 1 point. Darts landing in the bullseye are worth zero. Also, any dart landing outside the triple ring do not score (the large blue ring beyond the treble ring is merely the out-of-boards marker, and is not a scoring area).

If the game is tied at the end of nine innings, extra innings are shot to determine the winner, starting with inning ten.

The thin wires separating the scoring sections on the board occasionally overlap slightly, due to the manufacturing process. Any dart splitting the wires (landing in the tiny area where two wires overlap) is credited in the shooter's favor. For example, if the dart splits the wires separating the two and three point zones, the player is awarded three points. If the dart splits the wires separating the three point zone and the blue ring, the player is credited with three points.

The American Baseball Darts Association presides over the largest American Dart tournaments. This includes the annual Pennsylvania State Dart Tournament, the largest American Darts event. [ [http://www.vipid.com/abda/ American Baseball Dart Association (A.B.D.A.) ] ]

trikeout

Strikeout is a common game played in the region, but can be played just as easily on a traditional board as on an American Style board. The game is for individual players or teams.

To start, each team throws one dart at the cork (or bullseye). Whichever team is closest to the center shoots first, the next closest team will shoot second, etc.

The first player shoots three darts, scoring the in standard "traditional" manner. Thus, a triple 20 is worth sixty points, a double 9 is worth eighteen points, a single 11 is worth eleven points, and so on. The center cork is worth 100 points. Players attempt to accumulate as many points as possible with their three darts. If playing as a team, the teammates shoot in sequence, with their individual scores added together to get their team score.

The key rule of Strikeout is that the first dart to land in the 20-number scoring area sets that shooter's "number" for the remainder of the inning. Once that number is set, that number is the only number that can be scored for the remainder of the inning (with the exception of the center cork, which is always in play, regardless of the set "number"); the other nineteen numbers on the board are worth zero points for the remainder of the shooter's inning. So if a player throws his or her first dart at 20, in order to score the maximum possible points, but he or she misses and it lands in the 1 area, that player has established 1 as their number for darts #2 and #3. Thus, even if the last two darts were to land in 20, they would be scored as zero. Once a player establishes a poor number, the best strategy for the remainder of the inning is to just shoot at the 100-point cork, since even three darts in triple 1 would score only nine points. If the first dart does not land in one of the 20 scoring numbers (either misses the board completely, or hits the 100-point cork), the "number" is not yet established for that inning, and the shooter is still free to score in any of the 20 numbers on the second dart (likewise for dart #3, if both darts #1 and #2 do not land in any of the 20 numbers).

Since the first dart sets the number, players will sometimes shun shooting at the 20, since a small miss will result in either a 1 or a 5 being set as the number. Often two adjacent numbers with solid values, such as 11/14 and 10/15 are chosen by lower-skilled players, since a small miss there does not result is such a large penalty (if you miss the 14 you'll still land in the 11, etc.).

The maximum score in an inning is 300 points (3 corks). The maximum score for a team (two players) is 600 points. Corks and scoring numbers can be combined; for instance, if a player shoots a double 20, a cork, and a single 20, that player would score 160 points (40 + 100 + 20). If a player shoots a single 20, a double 5, and a single 20, that player would score 40 points (20 + 0 + 20), since the dart in the 5 would not count (20 having been established as the "number" for that inning).

The name Strikeout comes from the method of eliminating players/teams. Once a player/team has finished shooting, their score is the target for the next team. The next team must "beat" the score established by the previous team (ties count as failing to beat the score). So if the first team scores 180 points, the next team must score at least 181 points. If they do not, they are given a strike, as in baseball. Once a team accumulates three strikes, they are eliminated from the game. The last team remaining is the winner.

Example 3-team game:
* Team 1 scores 180 points
* Team 2 scores 140 points (Strike One)
* Team 3 scores 82 points (Strike One)
* Team 1 scores 100 points
* Team 2 scores 120 points
* Team 3 scores 120 points (Strike Two, since a tie does not "beat" the prior team's score)
* Team 1 scores 160 points
* Team 2 scores 240 points
* Team 3 scores 185 points (Strike Three, eliminated)
* Team 1 scores 140 points (Strike One)
* Team 2 scores 160 points
* Team 1 scores 161 points
* Team 2 scores 160 points (Strike Two)
* Team 1 scores 140 points (Strike Two)
* Team 2 scores 220 points
* Team 1 scores 180 points (Strike Three, eliminated)Team 2 is the winner

References

External links

* [http://www.americanstyledarts.com American Style Darts] - scoresheets, tournament brackets, games and rules
* [http://www.vipid.com/abda/ American Baseball Dart Association]
* [http://www.dartshark.com/history-of-darts.asp Dart Shark] - link to a brief history of American Darts
* [http://www.hickoksports.com/history/darts02.shtml Hickok Sports] - another history of American Darts