You Are The Darts Ref

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Graeme Cole
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You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Graeme Cole »

If a dart falls out of the board before a player has completed their throw, or if it's knocked out of the board by another dart, it doesn't count. Specifically, a dart must have its point touching the board at the completion of the throw to count. A player completes their throw when they remove their darts from the board (technically, when they touch a dart that is in the board).

Imagine a darts match between two players, who we'll call Alice and Bob, because tradition. Both Alice and Bob require double 1. (Let's say it's a post-COLIN darts tournament.) Alice throws her first dart, and it hits the 1. Alice is bust and it's Bob's turn, right? Not necessarily. If that dart were to fall out, it wouldn't count and Alice would have another two darts at double 1.

So imagine this situation. Both players are on double 1. Alice's first dart hits the 1, and it looks like it's loose, but it doesn't fall out. Bob gets ready to take his turn. But then Alice throws her second dart in an attempt to knock out the first one, and is successful. Both darts land on the floor. Alice then throws her third dart, which lands in double 1.

Alice retrieves her third dart from the board and claims she's won - her first dart didn't count because it was knocked out by the second, and so wasn't in the board at the completion of the throw. Bob says this is ridiculous, and everyone knows that once you've bust you can't keep throwing darts. Who is right?

(Before anyone suggests it, I did ask Kirk this at COLIN a couple of years ago. I have completely forgotten what he said.)

Reference: Rules of Darts, Different Rules Of Darts
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Euan Slatter
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Euan Slatter »

Haven't looked at either links, but Alice when she knocked dart 1 out?..
COUNTDOWN or THE TUBE? Which is better? There's only one way to find out....

Call it a draw :)

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Gavin Chipper
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Gavin Chipper »

I would have thought that going bust ends your go, so you don't have the right to carry on throwing darts. Just a guess though obviously.

As an aside, I've noticed on Facebook as well, but what's this sudden obsession with darts that everyone's got?
Gavin Chipper
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Another scenario:

Ryan is really tall and instead of throwing the darts, just sort of falls into the board with his feet still behind the line and gets all his darts in the treble 20. Is this allowed?
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Mark Deeks
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Mark Deeks »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 8:57 am Another scenario:

Ryan is really tall and instead of throwing the darts, just sort of falls into the board with his feet still behind the line and gets all his darts in the treble 20. Is this allowed?
Another scenario:

A Mr Chapwell is really short but has like a 7 foot long telescopic dart and just pokes it into the board, all the while behind the oche. Is this allowed?
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Graeme Cole
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Graeme Cole »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 8:57 am Another scenario:

Ryan is really tall and instead of throwing the darts, just sort of falls into the board with his feet still behind the line and gets all his darts in the treble 20. Is this allowed?
No. Physically touching a dart while it's in the board would end your turn. He could probably lean forward and throw them in from a distance of a couple of centimetres though.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Graeme Cole »

Mark Deeks wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 9:09 am
Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 8:57 am Another scenario:

Ryan is really tall and instead of throwing the darts, just sort of falls into the board with his feet still behind the line and gets all his darts in the treble 20. Is this allowed?
Another scenario:

A Mr Chapwell is really short but has like a 7 foot long telescopic dart and just pokes it into the board, all the while behind the oche. Is this allowed?
No. It seems they've thought of that, because darts aren't allowed to be longer than 30.5cm.
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Mark Deeks
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Mark Deeks »

30.5 cms is an absolutely enormous dart, to be fair. Ryan probably could poke those in.
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sean d
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by sean d »

The rules (in the link) are not 100% clear, but referee discretion is reserved, and the referee is going to call "no score" before a second dart is thrown. (Anyway it would incredibly difficult to throw a second dart such that it'll knock the first dart out without sticking and scoring itself.)
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Mark Deeks
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Mark Deeks »

You could throw a brick or something and claim its your second dart. So long as the brick is less than 30.5cms in length.
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Martin Hurst
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Martin Hurst »

In an un-refereed match, common sense would suggest it is effectively a "dead ball" after the first dart goes in and is clear it isn't going to fall out without any further external force applied to it.

In a refereed match, the throw would be bust as soon as the ref calls "no score", which he/she should do as soon as the first dart goes in. I guess if the player quickly throws the other dart(s) before "no score" is called and dislodges the first one then technically that would be fine, but the chances of this happening are probably smaller than Elvis Presley walking in mid-match and asking where the toilets are.
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by sean d »

Mark Deeks wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 9:38 am You could throw a brick or something and claim its your second dart. So long as the brick is less than 30.5cms in length.
Fair play to the player who's competing at the business end of a leg despite one of his three darts being a brick just in case this scenario arises. I can't help thinking he might be putting himself at a disadvantage in the medium to long term.
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Mark James »

Take the flight out of the dart.
Gavin Chipper
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Doesn't the referee call the score before the darts are taken out? Like as soon as the last one lands? So do they issue corrections if a dart then falls out?
Last edited by Gavin Chipper on Tue Jan 17, 2017 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by Graeme Cole »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 3:19 pm So do they issue corrections if a dart them falls out?
Yes.
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James Robinson
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Re: You Are The Darts Ref

Post by James Robinson »

Graeme Cole wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 7:30 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2017 3:19 pm So do they issue corrections if a dart them falls out?
Yes.
Example: https://youtu.be/ToPh1londcw
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