Darts Proving a Popular Product Among Bookmakers

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Thursday, February 9th, 2017 | Written by Stephen Smith

Move over football! A game once relegated only to British pubs has found its way onto mainstream television, and UK bookmakers are seeing a huge influx on the number of bets placed on the game’s numerous tournaments. That game is darts, and while it’s fair to say that its unlikely to gain the huge popularity associated with other sports, such as that of Premier League football in the United Kingdom, there’s still no denying that the sport is making a big impact on the world of betting.

Rules of Darts Competitions

Professional darts is all about lowering scores, with players starting a game on 501 and receiving point deductions based upon where their three dart throws land on the board. Double and treble zones are indicated on the darts board by red and green rings and give multiples of each of the dart’s score. Every player steps up hoping to make three treble 20s in order to lower their score by 180, and each game must eventually finish with the player hitting a double zone number; for instance a player on just 10 points can hit a double 5 to win. All things considered, the quickest possible victory can come from throwing 9 darts in total, one example of which is 7 treble 20s, followed by a treble 19 and double 12.

Great Crowd Involvement

Tuning into a professional darts game is about more than just watching the players face off at the board, and just like a good cricket match, the crowd that gathers to see the action unfold is part of the fun. Statistics show that during each and every night of the Darts World Championships, 25,000 pints are consumed by people in the UK. Rowdy, boisterous crowds cheer for their favorite players and are always hoping to see a little drama, like a star player choking, or two players at their finest piling the pressure on each other.

Winter a Popular Season

Professional darts is played almost the year round, unlike most professional sports, but viewership is generally highest during the winter months. It’s then that the weather forces much of the UK indoors, and there is little competition from other professional sports to detract from the action. As the game’s viewership grows, international competitions are being added to the circuit, and the game has recently been played in Asia and Australia, for instance, and there even is a US Darts Finals scheduled for July in Las Vegas.

However, it’s the Darts World Championship that causes the biggest stir among darts fans, with the event starting in the middle of December and running for three weeks, before concluding in early January. That is also when bookmakers see the most bets placed on the sport. Each year, the Darts World Championship is held at Alexandra Palace in North London, and during the calendar year is followed by the Darts Masters, which is nearly as popular. Then, in February, the Darts Premier League begins with eight players facing off weekly before a playoff in May.

Low Risk Betting

For gamblers, it’s easy to see why darts has such big appeal as the betting is lower risk than with other sports, and major upsets are rare. Normally, bettors only need to choose between seven or eight serious contenders to put their money on, with online sportsbooks having made it easier than ever for darts fans to place bets on their favorite players. These odds are usually offered together with specialized and handicapped betting that keep making wagers fresh and exciting.

Interesting Darts Facts

Legend has it that during the time of Henry VIII, his archers would sometime have fun practicing their skills by hurling arrows at targets. Due to the country’s inclement climate, the game subsequently made its way into local pubs, where the circular end of a beer or wine barrel was used as the darts board. Still later, a tree trunk slice was used, and as the players’ competitive games grew, they started fashioning and using their own shortened arrows. It wasn’t until 1896, however, that the board and numbering system we know today was invented by Brian Gamlin, an English carpenter from Lancashire. By 1908, English magistrates then overturned previous rulings by considering darts to now be a game of skill, instead of one of chance, thus at the time allowing for small wagers to be bet on games.