The History of 501: How Darts' Most Popular Game Evolved

Walk into any pub in England, any league hall in the Netherlands, or any tournament venue from Las Vegas to Tokyo, and the game being played is almost certainly 501. It is the universal language of darts—the format used in every major professional tournament, every televised event, and the vast majority of casual matches worldwide. But 501 did not emerge fully formed. Its history stretches back centuries, winding through medieval battlefields, Victorian pubs, smoke-filled working-class clubs, and finally into the bright lights of Alexandra Palace on New Year's Day.

Before the Board: The Medieval Origins of Throwing Darts

The precise origins of darts are, like most folk games, impossible to pin down with certainty. The most widely accepted theory traces the game to medieval English soldiers who threw short arrows or crossbow bolts at the upturned bottom of a wine barrel or the cross-section of a felled tree. The concentric rings of a tree trunk provided natural scoring zones, and the radial cracks in the wood created something resembling the segments of a modern dartboard.

By the Tudor period, darts had become a recognized pastime. Anne Boleyn is said to have given Henry VIII an ornate set of darts, and the Pilgrim Fathers reportedly played a form of the game aboard the Mayflower in 1620. But these were unstructured games—there was no standardized board, no agreed-upon rules, and certainly no concept of counting down from 501.

For centuries, darts remained a hyper-local affair. Every region, and often every pub, had its own board design, its own numbering, and its own rules. The Manchester board had no trebles and only a small doubles ring. The Yorkshire board used a different arrangement entirely. It was not until the late nineteenth century that the game began to coalesce into something recognizable.

Brian Gamlin and the Numbering System

The standard dartboard numbering—20 at the top, flanked by 1 and 5—is commonly attributed to Brian Gamlin, a carpenter from Bury, Lancashire, who is said to have devised the layout in 1896. No documentary evidence of Gamlin's contribution has ever been found, and some historians question whether he existed at all. What is not in dispute is the elegance of the numbering system itself.

The arrangement is designed to punish inaccuracy. The 20 segment, the highest single score on the board, sits between 1 and 5. Aim for 20 and miss to the left, you score 1. Miss to the right, you score 5. The 19 is wedged between 3 and 7. This pattern repeats around the board: high numbers are always adjacent to low numbers, ensuring that erratic throwing is penalized while precise throwing is rewarded.

This numbering system was a critical precondition for competitive darts. Without it, the game would reward lucky misses as often as accurate throws. With it, the board became a test of skill that could sustain a structured scoring format—and eventually, a format like 501.

Why 501? The Logic Behind an Odd Number

At first glance, 501 seems like an arbitrary starting score. Why not a round number like 500? The answer lies in the double-out rule, which requires players to finish on a double (the narrow outer ring of any segment, or the bullseye). The highest possible checkout in darts is 170 (treble 20, treble 20, bullseye), and the highest double on the board is 40 (double 20).

Starting from an even number like 500, a player could theoretically finish by throwing a series of even-scoring darts and ending on double 10. Starting from 501—an odd number—the first scoring dart must convert the remaining score to an even number before a double finish is possible. This adds a layer of strategic complexity to the very first throw of the game and ensures that players must manage their score throughout, not just at the end.

Other starting scores have been used historically and are still played today. 301 is common in casual play and offers a faster game. 701 and even 1001 are used in team events. But 501 has endured as the professional standard because it strikes the ideal balance: long enough to test consistency and strategy, short enough to maintain tension and pace.

In a professional 501 leg, the theoretical minimum is 9 darts—a feat so rare and electrifying that it has its own mythology. In a 301 leg, the minimum is only 6 darts, which reduces the drama. In 701, the minimum rises to 12, and the game can drag. 501 occupies the sweet spot.

From Pub Game to Organized Sport

Darts grew enormously in popularity in Britain during the early twentieth century, particularly after World War I, when returning soldiers brought the pub game into the mainstream. By the 1930s, organized darts leagues had sprung up across England, and the game was so popular that the News of the World newspaper began sponsoring a national darts championship in 1928—an event that would run for over 60 years and attract thousands of entrants.

The News of the World Championship was played in a 501 format: best-of-three legs, straight in, double out. This format became the template for competitive darts and helped standardize the game across the country. Before this, there was little consistency—some regions played 301, others 1001, and the boards themselves varied. The championship imposed a common framework.

In 1973, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) was founded by Olly Croft, bringing together the sprawling network of county darts associations under a single governing body. The BDO organized the first World Professional Darts Championship in 1978 at the Heart of the Midlands nightclub in Nottingham. The format was 501, the prize money was modest, and the winner was Leighton Rees of Wales. But the tournament attracted television cameras, and darts would never be the same.

The Television Revolution

The BBC began broadcasting the BDO World Championship in the late 1970s, and the effect was transformative. Darts was perfectly suited to television: the action was concentrated in a small area, the scoring was easy to follow, the matches were packed with drama, and the players were colorful characters with nicknames, walk-on music, and passionate fans.

The 1980s were the first golden age of televised darts. Eric Bristow, known as "The Crafty Cockney," became one of the most recognized sportsmen in Britain, winning five World Championships between 1980 and 1986. John Lowe achieved sporting immortality on 13 October 1984 when he hit the first televised nine-dart finish—the perfect game—during the MFI World Matchplay. His checkout path was 60, 180, treble 20, treble 19, double 12: a sequence that earned him a 102,000-pound bonus and a permanent place in darts history.

Jocky Wilson, the toothless Scotsman who clutched his darts like a man holding a pencil, became a folk hero. Phil Taylor, a former sheet-metal worker from Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, began his rise in the late 1980s under the mentorship of Bristow and would go on to become the most dominant player in the history of the sport.

The PDC Split and the Modern Era

By the early 1990s, a group of top players had become frustrated with what they saw as the BDO's resistance to commercial development. In 1992, sixteen leading players broke away to form what would become the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The split was acrimonious and led to years of legal battles, but it ultimately proved to be the catalyst for the sport's explosive growth.

The PDC, under the promotional genius of Barry Hearn and his company Matchroom Sport, transformed darts from a niche pub game into a major global entertainment product. The PDC World Championship moved to Alexandra Palace in north London in 2007, and the event became one of the most-watched sporting broadcasts of the Christmas and New Year period in the UK, regularly drawing television audiences of several million.

Prize money tells the story of darts' growth more starkly than anything else. The first BDO World Championship in 1978 offered a total prize fund of 3,000 pounds. By 2024, the PDC World Championship prize fund had reached 2.5 million pounds, with the winner taking 500,000 pounds. The Premier League, the World Matchplay, and the Grand Prix added millions more, making darts one of the most lucrative individual sports in the world for its top players.

Nine-Dart Finishes: The Perfect Game

In 501, the minimum number of darts required to complete a leg is nine. To achieve this, a player must score 180 (three treble 20s) with their first three darts, another 180 with their next three, and then check out 141 (typically treble 20, treble 19, double 12) with their final three darts. Alternative checkout paths exist for the final three darts, but the first six must be maximum scores.

John Lowe's 1984 nine-darter was considered so extraordinary that it earned a special bonus. For years, the feat remained vanishingly rare. But as the standard of play rose, nine-dart finishes became more frequent. Phil Taylor hit his first televised nine-darter in 2002. Adrian Lewis hit two nine-dart finishes in the same match at the 2011 Premier League. Michael van Gerwen, the Dutch phenomenon, has hit dozens throughout his career.

Today, a nine-dart finish at a major tournament is still celebrated wildly by the crowd and commentators, but it is no longer a once-in-a-generation event. The PDC records more than a dozen televised nine-darters per year. This frequency is itself a testament to how much the standard of 501 play has improved. In the 1980s, a three-dart average of 90 was world-class. Today, the top players routinely average above 100, and tournament averages above 110 are not uncommon.

Global Expansion

For most of its history, darts was predominantly a British and Dutch affair. The Netherlands has a deep darts culture, and Dutch players like Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen have been among the sport's biggest stars. But the twenty-first century has seen darts expand far beyond its traditional heartlands.

The PDC now stages events in Germany, where the sport has experienced a massive boom, with thousands of fans attending events in Dortmund and other cities. Japan has a thriving soft-tip darts scene and has produced steel-tip professionals. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa have strong darts traditions. The PDC Asian Tour and the World Series of Darts have taken the game to countries where it had little previous presence, from the Philippines to the United Arab Emirates.

In all of these countries, the game being played is 501. The format has proved to be as universal as the sport itself—a game that requires no translation, no cultural adaptation, and no specialized equipment beyond a board, three darts, and a way to keep score.

The Game Today

Modern 501 is faster, more accurate, and more strategically sophisticated than at any point in its history. Players like Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, and Michael van Gerwen combine blistering scoring with clinical finishing, routinely hitting checkouts that would have seemed impossible a generation ago. The 170 checkout—treble 20, treble 20, bullseye—once a career highlight, is now expected of any serious professional.

Technology has changed the game, too. Electronic scoring systems have replaced the chalker on the blackboard. Statistical analysis has given players detailed feedback on their performance, from checkout percentages on specific doubles to scoring averages by leg and by set. And digital apps have brought the professional scoring experience to casual players, making it easier than ever to play proper 501 at home.

But the essence of 501 remains unchanged. It is still a player standing at the oche, 7 feet 9.25 inches from the board, throwing three darts and trying to count down to zero. The same basic arithmetic that governed the game in Victorian pubs still governs it today. The same strategic question—which checkout path gives me the best chance?—still defines the endgame. And the same thrill of hitting a double to win a leg still makes 501 the most compelling format in darts.

From barrel bottoms in medieval fields to the roar of 10,000 fans at Alexandra Palace, 501 has traveled a remarkable journey. It is a game that has survived centuries, adapted to every era, and found a home in every culture it has touched. And it shows no sign of slowing down.