Some people are just starting to realise why matches of darts start on 501 rather than 500.
As the Paddy Power World Darts Championship rumbles on, some fans are puzzled about the game's rules. Some big names are still in the hunt for the Eric Bristow trophy, which belongs to Michael Smith after his success over Michael van Gerwen 12 months ago.
Darts fans and neutrals alike can most likely share the same confusion as to why the starting score reads 501, rather than 500, but there is a reason for this, MirrorOnline reports.
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Round numbers certainly aren't a common occurrence in darts, hence the 501 starting score. But the reason behind this unique rule is that it provides more competitiveness to the game.
With the expertise of some darts players, a nine darter is easily achievable after throwing a few accurate arrows and a game can therefore be won very quickly. So by starting on 501 instead of 500, it limits the chances of the action being over very quickly.
If it was the other way around, then players could just very simply aim for the 20 on the board in order to win without having to hit an odd number. So, by changing the starting score to 501, it forces each player to travel around the board in order to reduce their score in other ways, meaning that hitting an odd number makes it more difficult to win.
However, debates have been struck up online in order to answer this very same question, which has provided some interesting insight from a number of fans.
Especially one response, which claims not all darts games start with the score at 501.
One fan explained on Quora: "If you started on an even number, then all you need to do would be to hit 20s (double, treble or single) until you reached zero.
"Starting with an odd number and finishing with a double means you have to get to an even number – so you have hit an odd number before your last dart. It makes things more difficult.
"FWIW [for what it’s worth], before the professional circuit started, the normal game was 301, double start, double finish – no score until you hit a double!!."
The ruling is perfectly understandable and seems simple enough, but there still remain plenty of people out there who are unaware of the reason for starting on 501 and not 500.
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