The origin of darts goes back to the medieval times when people did not have television or any other modern entertainment means. Then games like darts were a welcome respite from boredom. This game has adorned innumerable common rooms, billiard rooms or activity rooms. Even today it is a regular feature of bars and family game rooms. It is a fun game to play.

Like every game darts has its own set of basic rules and variations. After you get the hang of the basics you can work on the variations with the opponent and mutually agree on the terms. Darts can cause serious and lasting damage so just be careful of others. Whatever variation you play have safety as a major concern.

Generally, two teams or two people play darts. Each player is allowed nine throws before the beginning of the game, for warming up. In order to decide which team or person goes first, everyone gets a turn to play once. The team or person who ends up closest to the bull's eye gets the first turn.

Usually two sets of darts in two different colors are used. Each turn is a set of three throws. The two antagonists get their turns alternatively. After the first set is thrown the darts are left where they were, then the opponent throws the second set. This explains why first chance is significant because it leaves fewer options for the person who gets second chance.

Darts that fall off of the board less than five seconds after the person's final throw do not count. A throw that sticks to another dart or falls off the board receives no score. It is important to note that the darts only have to stay on through one person's turn. So the first person does get to count up the score before the second person or team member throws.

The scoring depends on how closer your hit has been to the bulls eye. There are wedges on the dartboard that are cross-sectioned by rings. In the outer ring score is according to number hit, in the second ring number gets doubled and in the third ring tripled. The bull's eye has two rings. The outer one scores 25 and the inner gets you 50 points.

Once these basic rules to the game of darts are learned, it is possible to play other games with variants on the rules. The most popular games are known as "Cricket" and "301." The point of 301 is to be the first team or person to reduce their score from 301 down to zero. Points are taken off according to position on the target. The trick, though, is get down to exactly zero. Cricket is more intricate and complicated game that requires more skill and makes use of the numbers 15 and 20.

Darts is an old game with a rich heritage. In spite of the various modern means of amusement, it is still a fun way to spend an evening with family or friends because it offers opportunity for conversation as well as sport. You can enjoy this pastime if you know the basic rules of the game.