PDC darts scoring: how to read the score and the stats

PDC darts uses 501 scoring: players subtract points from 501 and must reach exactly zero with a double. The remaining score tells you what a player needs to finish; legs and sets tell you who is winning the match. Statistics such as three-dart average describe performance, not the match score. The Professional Darts Corporation’s rules guide sets out that basic format.

What each dart scores

The numbered sections run from 1 to 20. A dart in either large single area scores the section’s number; the narrow inner ring scores treble, and the narrow outer ring scores double. The outer bull scores 25, while the inner bull scores 50. The inner bull also counts as double 25 when finishing a leg. These values are specified in sections 6.3 and 6.5 of the 2026 DRA rulebook.

So treble 20 scores 60, double 20 scores 40, and three treble 20s score 180—the maximum in one visit. A visit is a turn of up to three darts. A bounce-out scores nothing and cannot be thrown again. DRA rules 6.2.6–6.2.7

Usually, points count from the first dart without needing an opening double. The important PDC exception is the World Grand Prix, which requires a double to start scoring as well as a double to finish. PDC format rules

A worked 501 leg

Here is an illustrative leg, not a recorded professional performance. T means treble and D means double; an unprefixed number means a single.

Visit	Darts thrown	Visit score	Points remaining
Start	—	—	501
1	T20, T20, 20	140	361
2	T20, 20, 20	100	261
3	T20, 20, 20	100	161
4	T19, T20, 12	129	32
5	Miss outside D16, miss outside D16, D16	32	0

The player finishes in 15 darts. The final dart hits double 16 for 32 points, taking the remaining score to exactly zero.

Reaching zero is not enough on its own: the last dart must be a double. A player busts if they score too many points, leave 1, or reach zero without a double. The visit ends and all points from that visit are cancelled. DRA rule 6.3.3

For example, starting on 32, single 16 leaves 16. If the next dart hits single 20, the player busts and returns to 32, not 16. Our 501 rules guide covers the countdown and finishing rules in more detail.

Legs and sets: the actual match score

Each completed game of 501 is a leg. In a best-of-11-legs match, the first player to win six legs wins the match.

In set play, players win legs to win sets, then win enough sets to take the match. The World Championship normally uses best-of-five legs per set: three legs win a set. Check the event’s stated format rather than assuming every PDC tournament has the same distance. PDC legs-and-sets guide

For example, a player leading 2–1 in sets but trailing 1–2 in legs is ahead in sets won, but behind in the current set. The remaining points—such as 161 or 32—belong to the leg being played.

A high-scoring visit does not earn a separate match point. It only reduces the points still needed in that leg.

What the scoring statistics mean

Three-dart average

Three-dart average = points scored ÷ darts thrown × 3.

For the worked leg:

501 ÷ 15 × 3 = 100.20.

That includes the two missed doubles. It is an overall average, not just the average while aiming at trebles. A study of professional darts performance uses the same 15-dart-leg calculation to explain the metric.

Across a match, include points scored and darts thrown in both won and lost legs. Do not award yourself 501 points for a leg you lost. Pool the totals rather than taking an unweighted mean of leg averages; see how to combine darts averages accurately.

First-nine average

This is the three-dart average over the opening nine darts of each leg—the first three visits. First-nine definition

In the example, those visits score 340 points:

340 ÷ 9 × 3 = 113.33.

It focuses on opening scoring, usually before the finishing phase. It does not tell you whether the player converted that start into a leg win.

Checkout percentage

The standard dart-based checkout percentage measures successful finishing doubles against darts attempted at a finishing double. It is not the percentage of legs won. Checkout-percentage definitions

Our example has one successful double from three attempts: 1 ÷ 3 × 100 = 33.33%. That is only a three-attempt sample, not a reliable estimate of the player’s long-term finishing ability.

Why the higher average can lose

Averages do not decide matches; completed legs do. A player can score heavily in lost legs without ever attempting a double, while their opponent’s average includes lower-scoring finishing darts. The PDC’s analysis of conventional averages explains this distortion.

When assessing a PDC performance, read the match result, overall average and checkout figures together. For your own pub or league darts, use the same definitions, but compare like-for-like playing samples—not a treble-only practice session against a professional’s full match average.