Darts Checkout Chart

You have 96 left and three darts in your hand. Where do you throw? Treble 20 then double 18. Miss the treble and hit the single, and you are on 76: treble 20, double 8. Miss that treble too and 56 is a single 16 and double top.

A checkout chart tells you the standard finish for every score from 170 down to 2, so that you never stand at the oche doing arithmetic.

The chart below is the one I hand to students. It follows the routes most professionals use, which favour the treble 20 and the doubles that leave you another double if you miss inside (32, 16, 8, 40, 20). Where there is a genuinely popular alternative, it is listed too.

On this page:

1. How to Read the Chart
2. The Checkout Chart, 170 to 2
3. Bogey Numbers
4. Setting Up a Finish
5. Learning the Chart

How to Read the Chart

• T is a treble, D is a double, Bull is the inner bull (50) and 25 is the outer bull. A plain number is a single.
• The darts are listed in the order to throw them. The last one is always a double or the bull, because of the double-out rule in 501.
• Two-dart finishes are shown with two darts. That does not mean you have to finish in two; it means the third dart is spare, and a miss inside on the first dart often still leaves a finish.
• The "if you hit a single" habit: on any treble-first route, work out what a single would leave you. T20 then D18 from 96 becomes 20 then 76 if you hit the single, and 76 is still a two-dart finish. That is why these routes are chosen.

The Checkout Chart, 170 to 2

Bogey Numbers

Seven scores under 171 cannot be finished with three darts: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159. The biggest finish is 170 because two treble 20s score 120 and the bull, the largest double, adds 50. Just below that the combinations run out: 169 would need 119 from two darts before the bull, and no two darts score 119. The same gap catches the other six.

The practical lesson: when you are scoring down from a big number, look one visit ahead. Leaving 161 (T20, T17, Bull) is a finish; leaving 162 is not. A single 1 or 3 on the way down is sometimes the smartest dart you will throw.

Setting Up a Finish

Good finishing starts before the finish. From 100 or so, the aim is not just to reduce the score but to land on a number that gives you the most chances.

• Leave a double that halves cleanly. 32 (D16) is the favourite for a reason: miss inside and you are on 16 (D8), miss again and it is 8 (D4), then 4 (D2). Every miss still leaves a one-dart finish. 40, 20 and 24 work the same way.
• Avoid odd numbers. An odd score needs an extra dart before you can go for a double. From 61, most players go T15 then D8 rather than aiming at a single first; from 41, single 9 and D16 takes one dart to fix the odd number.
• Know your own double. Everyone has a double they hit more often than the chart says they should. If yours is D18, set up 36 instead of 32 and ignore the purists.

Learning the Chart

Nobody memorises 170 lines in an evening. Learn it in layers:

1. All the doubles, 2 to 40, and the bull. Instant recognition, no thinking.
2. The single-plus-double finishes from 41 to 60. There are only twenty, and most of them are "single something, D20 or D16".
3. The treble-plus-double finishes from 61 to 100. This is where matches are won.
4. The three-dart finishes above 100. Learn the ones ending in D20, D16 and D18 first; they cover most of the chart.

Then play 301 with a double start for a month. You will be on a finish every couple of visits, and the numbers stick faster when something depends on them. The practice routines page has drills that do the same job with a score to beat.

Print the chart, stick it next to the board, and stop looking at it as soon as you can. If the darts are not landing where the chart tells you to throw, the problem is upstream: see the guide on how to throw darts.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your game, book a coaching session or email [email protected].