John Kramer (darts player)

Darts player infobox
playername = John Kramer


fullname = John (JK) Kramer
nickname = JK
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1956|12|15
cityofbirth = Camp LeJeune, North Carolina
countryofbirth = U.S.
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
hometown = Laguna Niguel, California
homecountry = U.S.
since = 1975
darts = custom made 21g from www.tylermadedarts.co.uk
currentrank = 102 (BDO)
185 (WDF)
BDO = 1981 to 1989, 1999 to present
BDO World = Last 32 1982
World Masters =
World Darts Trophy =
Int. Darts League =
PDC World =
Matchplay =
Grand Prix =
UK Open =
Vegas =
Premier League =
tournament = North American Open
achievement = 1991
updated = June 15, 2008

John Kramer (born December 15, 1956) is an American professional darts player.

Before Darts

John Kramer started playing darts in 1974 in the weight room at his high school while recovering from a knee injury sustained during a high school football game. John quickly discovered he had a knack for the game and played his first professional tournament in Ventura, California the weekend after graduation in 1975.

Darts Success

John enjoyed much success during his playing days from 1975 through 1987, including his first North American Open singles title, where he defeated world #3 ranked player, Jocky Wilson in the semi-final and the #1 player in the world at that time, Eric Bristow in the final. In 1982 he competed in the 1982 World Darts Championship but was defeated by the English darts player Tony Brown in the first round. His national ranking in 1985 earned him a spot on the US World Cup team to compete in Brisbane, Australia. The US won the team gold medal at World Cup V, which saw them defeat the English team 9-0, before going on to defeat the Australian team to win the gold medal. The US team also brought home the Silver medal for their 2nd place finish overall. 1985 brought John to the US#1 ranking and his first Bulls-Eye News magazine cover.

Retirement & Resurgence

1987 was when he first retired from the game due to personal reasons (aka Stephanie) and John enjoyed his spare time playing tournament and league softball.

1999 saw a resurgence of John’s darting career after a 12-year absence, where he enjoyed many successes, including a second North American Open singles title (defeating US player [http://www.dartoidsworld.com/articlesR.asp?ArtID=212 Roger Carter] ), being part of the rare accomplishment of winning both Open Doubles events at the Las Vegas Open (with Chris White) in 2001, and a second Bulls-Eye News magazine cover.

2002 brought on a second retirement from darts and his venture into tournament paintball.

2006 has brought on another resurgence into darts. Enjoying more success at events such as the Wild West Shootout and the San Francisco Open with Open Cricket singles titles for both.

2007 added some semi-final and finals, but the quest for the perfect dart showed in the finishes. Alas, that has finally been achieved thanks to Tylermade darts.

John now looks forward to more success in 2008 with a new set of 21G custom darts from Tylermade darts (www.tylermadedarts.co.uk) that he likes to call "the Supergrips"....and many exciting new darting events on the horizon. Stay tuned….

Update: John will be competing in Austin, Texas on October 10, 2008 for a spot on the USA World Cup team that will compete in 2009 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Come on down to Austin to cheer on this former World Cup gold and silver medalist in his quest for another World Cup team berth!

Would you like to see the video of the 1985 World Cup where the American's trounced the English team 9-0 and went on to win the gold medal for the team event? Visit http://www.sleepykramer.com/ Click on the "Other Websites" page and then click on the link for Dart DVD's for sale and you can purchase the 1985 World Cup DVD! See the American legends of John Kramer, Rick Ney, Tony Payne and the late Danny Valleto take on the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko and Dave Lee. A piece of darting history that you do not want to miss!----

Tournament Results

External links

* [http://www.teessidesoftware.no-ip.com/DartsDatabase/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=1825 John Kramer's Stats at Darts Database]