If you like to sip a beer or six while throwing darts, you’re not alone. At the highest echelons of the sport, dart-throwing athletes are doing the same thing.
At the American Darters Association National Championship XXII (adadarters.com), July 24 through 28 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel, the world-class darters will almost certainly “enjoy a beverage or two while they compete,” says Karl Remick, ADA’s vice president. “Dart players love to have a great time, and it may help get the jitters out, too.” These arm-flexing champs may be tippling during competition, but make no mistake: They’re not messing around when it comes to the $55,000 in prize money at stake.
Remick has some advice for first-time spectators. “Remember, they’re not throwing at the bull’s-eye every single time,” he says. “There are different sections you have to aim for.” There are two major types of games, cricket and 301 or 501. In cricket, the winner is the first person to get three of each number on the board from 15 to 20, plus three bull’s-eyes, while scoring the most points. In the latter games, you subtract the score of each dart thrown from that number (301 or 501), and the first to zero wins.
The ADA championships have divisions for teams, doubles, individuals, and so on, and every division is further divided into steel-tip and soft-tip (plastic) darts. Look for our man, St. Louis’ own Gary “Hammer” Boyd, the No. 1–ranked soft-tip darter in the U.S.
