Darts Betting Tips & Match Previews

A hugely popular sport in the UK, darts fever continues to spread across the earth with tournaments now held in Australia, Germany and Austria.

A traditional pub game in Britain and Ireland, darts has undergone significant growth in popularity.

Like many other sports such as football, cricket, hockey, rugby union and rugby league, the British Empire spread darts throughout the world. What was once considered a pub pastime has become big business with live events drawing thousands of rabid fans. 

The standard dartboard is divided into 20 numbered sections from 1 to 20 points. The numbers are separated by wires with a two small central circles to the outer circular wire. Each number is divided into three sections with single, double and triple areas. 

The central circles are divided into a green outer ring worth 25 points and a red or black inner circle worth 50 points. The term "bullseye" usually refers to the inner red/black section. 

A game of darts is contested between two players who take turns throwing three darts each. The most common scoring method is to start at 501 points and reduce the points to zero with the final dart hitting a double or the bullseye. 

The highest score with three darts is 180 which consists of three triple 20s. 

The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was founded 1973 and is a member of the World Darts Federation (WDF) which was founded in 1976. The World Professional Darts Championship was held annually between 1978 and 1993 before a controversial split in the game.

In 1992 the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) was formed which saw the BDO and the PDC organising their own World Championship in January from 1994. PDC tournaments have a larger following and usually have higher prize money, with 25 players earning more than £100,000 in 2013 and 2014 according to the PDC’s order of merit.

The PDC has become the dominant force in darts with the BDO in many ways becoming a feeder competition. Phil Taylor, 16-time World Champion and the undisputed best player in darts history, joined the PDC from the BDO in 1994.

Highly successful BDO player Raymond van Barneveld switched to the PDC in 2007, winning the PDC World Championship at his first attempt. Since then many of the best BDO players have made the switch to the PDC for more prize money and exposure.

Both organisations hold other professional tournaments, with the BDO organising the World Masters and many Open tournaments. The WDF, BDO and PDC each maintain their own rankings lists. 

The PDC's major tournaments include the World Championship, World Series of Darts, World Series Finals, European Tour, European Championships, Champions League of Darts, Premier League, UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and the Grand Slam of Darts. 

The WDF World Cup for national teams and a singles tournament has been played since 1977. The WDF also organise the Europe Cup. The PDC has their own World Cup competition, the PDC World Cup of Darts.