Optimal Strategies for the Game of Darts

Abstract

The game of darts is played in British public houses, and indeed in clubs and watering holes all over the world. Although according to Hakim1 there is wide variation in the size and format of the board, the relative position of the player to the board and the rules governing the game, one set of dimensions, format and rules has achieved almost universal acceptance, and deviations from this are found only in obscure parts of the country. The most common variation is called ‘301’, and this is the one considered in this paper.2 The format and dimensions of the board on which it is played are shown in Figure 3.1.