You may consider darts a pub game and not an actual sport. However, this is not a fact. Darts have gone under a massive change in the last decade or so. It is a sport with rising popularity. Today, thousands of people come to arenas across the world to watch darting events. Regardless of the events, whether World Championships at Ally Pally or the  Premier League across Europe, most Professional Darts Corporation(PDC) events get sold out, like the latest PDC event where Michael van Gerwen won the World Matchplay by beating Gerwyn Price.
For these reasons, darts betting has become popular over the past years, and it is fun to learn how to bet on darts. Keep reading to learn all the tips and tricks you need for betting on darts.
Darts Rules and Scoring
You may know the game rules from childhood when you played at home or school with your buddies. But the game is quite different at the professional level.
At the professional level, 501 is the standard version of the game where two players compete against each other to get points. The winner is the one who can score 50 or less before the end of the game by throwing a double or bullseye with their final dart. Each player has three shots during their turn. The highest score is 180, which can be achieved by hitting three treble 20s. Unlike common assumptions, the center of the darts board does not have the highest score. The darts board contains numbers 1 to 20 and three areas for scoring.
If a player hits a single area, they will score the same as the number they hit. For example, if a player hits the single area of 14, they will score 14 points.
The outer ring area of the darts board is known as double, and the score will be twice the number on the board. For instance, if you hit 12 on the outer ring, you score 24 points.
A thin area inside the point area is known as the triple score area. If a player hits this area, they score triple the hit number. For example, if you hit 9, your score is 27 points.
The circle at the center of the darts board is known as the bull and is worth 50 points. This is why I mentioned that the highest score area is not bull.
How To Place Successful Bets On Darts?
Now that we reviewed the game’s basic rules and scoring, let us add to the fun of the game by learning how to place successful bets.
Like other sports, several betting markets are available for darts bettors. For example, match result, most 180s, highest checkout, and handicap are some of the darts betting markets you can take a chance on. Better yet, during the year there are more than 18 darts tournaments happening worldwide, which means you will never run out of darts betting options.
Betting successfully on Darts is quite similar to most other sports regarding players’ form. In other words, when a player is in a good form, we expect them to play better and get better results in darts tournaments. In addition, players may keep doing well in specific tournaments due to the special location or format. So, it is a good idea to check the location and form of the event plus if the player is in a good form or not. Also, keeping track of players’ averages helps you place better wagers because a better player average means the player is in better form.
Top-end darts players in the world aim for a three-dart average above 95. In professional darts events, the player with the highest dart average usually wins the game. I said usually because the case here is similar to possession stats in football. In other words, in some darts events, a player may have better finishing and hit more doubles than the other player, which in this case, the average is no concern anymore.
Darts Betting Terminology
Darts betting terms are few and have a lot in common with other sports bettings like Horse Racing and Football. However, the following are specific to Darts sport and betting:
| Darts Must Known Terminology | |
| Bullseye | It is the center of the dartboard, which divides into the outer green bull and the inner red bull. The outer bull is worth 25 points and the inner bull is worth 50 points |
| Checkout | This means you have hit the exact score required to win the game. In betting markets, checkout markets are quite popular among bet builders because these markets are considered high odds markets. |
| Oche | It is the line players stand behind it and throw their darts from. |
| Nine-darter | Or known as the “nine-dart finish” is when a player checkouts a leg in 9 darts. |
| A leg | It is the single game in the sport of darts. Most darts events are played over a number of legs. |
| Set | A darts match is divided into sets. Typically, each set will be contested on a first to three or first to five legs. |
Darts Betting Odds
One of the easiest ways to bet on darts is to pick a winner in the match betting market. Although occasionally, especially when the best players in the world like Michael Van Gerwen and Gary Anderson are at the oche, you need ways to increase your pay-out and boost the Darts odds. How? One way is by backing your chosen darts player to win on the handicap where the favorite has a leg deficit to cover for the bet to be successful. If a player is –1.5 on the handicap, then he needs to beat his opponent by two legs or more for the bet to be a winner.
180 is considered the maximum point in darts and the highest number a darts player can score in one visit. So, there are different options to bet on this score: the total 180s in the given match, the amount of 180s a player would get, and which player would score the most 180s in the given match.
Darts matches are contested over legs and sets. In other words, one of the most popular darts betting options is betting on the total number of sets or legs in a match. Also, you can bet on how many legs or sets a player will win.
To finish darts, a player has to hit a checkout with the last dart hitting either a double or the bullseye. So, you can bet on what the highest checkout will be, who will hit the highest checkout, or even which player will hit the most checkouts over a certain number. See? There are many options available to bet on darts, and you will never get bored betting on this sport.
Darts Tournaments
Darts has one of the biggest betting markets, and you can bet on darts all year round with competitions coming thick and fast. The featured event in the Darts calendar is the PDC World Championship. It starts just before Christmas each year and runs for over two weeks, and the world champion is decided on the first Monday of the new year. PDC and WDF are the two main organizations in Darts. The PDC or Professional Darts Corporation is the most popular organization with the Premier League being their league for professional players.
Below you can see the yearly darts tournaments:
| Darts Tournaments | Schedule |
| BDO World Championship | On January |
| The Masters | January to February |
| Premier League | February to May |
| Players Championship Series | February to November) |
| UK Open Finals | March |
| German Darts Masters | May |
| World Cup of Darts | May to June |
| North American Championship | July |
| US Darts Masters | July |
| Shanghai Darts Masters | July |
| World Matchplay | July |
| Australian & New Zealand Series | August |
| Champions League of Darts | September |
| World Grand Prix | September to October |
| European Championship | October |
| World Series of Darts Finals | November |
| Grand Slam of Darts | November |
| PDC World Championship | December to January |
Darts Betting Markets
As I have said, many betting markets are available for darts bettors to place their wager. Following is the breakdown of markets you can bet on:
Match Betting
Betting on who will win the game in darts is similar to any other sport. In match betting, you will bet on either player winning the game. In fact, in this betting market, you should predict who wins the game and bet on that player. However, in some events like Premier League Darts, the draw can be a possible result. So, the draw is another betting option within the match betting market.
Leg/Set Handicap Market
As mentioned earlier, in a given darts match, there are several legs or sets that a player should get to win the game. Like other sports, in darts, some players are better than others. For this reason, bookmakers use handicapping in the better player’s favor. For example, if the odds for player A is -2.5 leg handicap and player B has a odds of +2.5, and you want to back player A, they must win the game by at least 3 legs for your handicap bet to win.
Handicapping also plays a big part in the live darts betting market because the handicap market offers higher value odds.
Most 180s Market
Typically, this market is offered on a straight match, which means you can bet on the player you think will get the most 180s in the game. As I have said, 180 is the maximum score each player can get in a single visit. A player can get this score by hitting three treble 20s at the oche.
in addition, in some tournaments, you can bet on the most 180s throughout the tournament. This is a good opportunity to have longer odds to make a better betting decision.
Correct Score Market
In this specific betting market, you will predict the final sets result in a given match. In some cases, you can also bet on legs. However, it is better to avoid betting on legs as it is way difficult to win.
Highest Checkout Market
As the name suggests, in this darts betting market, you will predict and wager on the player with the best checkout in the match. The highest checkout a player can get in a single match is 170. Luckily, with the introduction of bet builders, darts bettors can see more bets with specific checkout scores to wager on.
170 Finish
This is a market where you will predict if there will be 170 finish in a given match or not. A player can get 170 which is the highest 3-dart finish possible only by treble 20 or treble 20 bullseye.
9 dart Finish
The minimum score required to win a leg is 9 darts. So, in this market, bettors should predict if any player would get a 9 dart in a leg or not.
Darts In-Play or Live Betting
Like other sports, darts lovers can place their wagers live during the game. There are multiple betting options offered in this market. Live betting is pretty fun because it requires fast reactions and quick decision-making. If you like extra adrenalin, this market is perfect for you!
Match Result
This is similar to the pre-match market. However, in this market, the odds change quickly in response to the game changes plus the likelihood of who will win the game. So, you should stay sharp and react quickly.
To win the leg
In this market, you will wager on either player to win the leg. Typically, the player who throws first is more likely to win the leg because they have an advantage. This is the fastest in-play darts betting because the odds will change after each dart is thrown. For this reason, this market can be tricky and difficult, especially for newbies.
Color of the checkout in the next leg
From the center up until the middle of the leg around the 200/300 points mark there are double 20 in red and double 16 in green. However, this would vary from bookmaker to bookmaker. Bettors can wager on which color will be the winning double.
Total Checkout
Similar to the previous market, you can wager on the total checkout score. In this market, the bookmaker will provide a line. For example, there may be a line of 40 or more, 41 or less, where you can decide to back each side.
Best Darts Betting Sites
There are plenty of bookmakers offering darts betting markets. However, not all of them are worth your money and energy. For this reason, I put together a list of the best bookmakers offering the best darts betting markets you can find online. All the sites recommended on this page are legit and licensed. They all provide fast and secure banking methods, supportive 24/7 customer service, and world-class betting software.
| Online Sportsbook | Welcome Bonus | Darts In-Play Betting Market | US Players Accepted |
| Betonline | $3,000 | Yes | Yes |
| Fanduel | Up to $1,000 | Yes | Yes |
| BetMGM | Risk-Free Bet up to $1,000 | Yes | Yes except few states |
| Tiger Gaming | Up to $1,000 | Yes | No |
Darts Betting Tips From Betfair and Experts
If you want to place successful darts bets, you should first learn the game basics, practice betting principles, and handicapping skills. Meanwhile, you can benefit from proven tips and tricks to increase your winning chances. The best tip to stick to is avoiding common mistakes.
Below are the most common tips to keep in mind while betting on darts:
đź‘€ Do not blindly bet on big names and favorites. Search the stats and study the players.
❌ Do not ignore recent forms.
🧾 Be aware of head-to-head records.
❌ Do not bet at the wrong odds.
❌ Do not choose the wrong bookmaker to bet.
❌ Never Ever chase your losses.
To Sum It Up
As I already explained, Darts is a fun sport, and so many betting options add to its excitement. There are so many different markets to bet on, year-round tournaments, and multiple bookmakers offer exciting and profitable betting options. However, make sure to place your wagers with trusted and reliable bookmakers like the ones I listed in this post.
I bet you won’t get bored in this market. Give it a try and see for yourself.
Happy Darting! 🎯