How Dart Leagues Work

Dart leagues are found all over the world and at all levels. Whether it be your local pub league or the professional premier league there are many darts leagues available. They can mainly be broken into two separate categories as to how they are played.

Dart leagues will almost always be played as 501 darts.

Round Robin – (PDC PREMIER LEAGUE)

In this version of the league format everyone in the league will play each other once. They will be assigned points as to how they do. Usually, they’ll get one point for a draw and two points for a win. Once everyone has played each other once (or more depending on the number of players) then the final scores are tallied up and the player with the most points wins.

In the event that two players have the same number of points then leg difference is used to calculate the score. For example, if you beat a player 6-0 then that is +6 leg difference if you lose 6-3 then that is -3 leg difference.

Knockout League – (PDC PRO TOUR)

This will generally be a series of tournaments staged over several weeks that are played as separate knockout events. Depending on performance in the events, players will be assigned a number of points.

This will play in a traditional knockout so 32-16-8-4-2-1 (These numbers change depending on the number of players) and each week people battle it out to win. This does mean that depending on the luck of the draw you may never play some people, or you may play the exact same person every week. In the end, the principle is the same. The person who has the most points as decided by the tournament director will be crowned the league winner.

Round Robin Rules

In round robin, you must play each player at least once. Generally failing to show up one week will result in that match being forfeited and you losing those points.

The format of this will remain the same in EVERY game you play at least up until the final in some cases.

Some leagues will decide their winner in different ways. Some will just outright award the win to the person who tops the table. However, others will hold a semi-final and final knockout event between the top four players. I personally enjoy the semi-final and final knockout events more.

Knockout Rules

Each event will be separate from each other. This means that if you missed one week it would not give a boost to your opponent, but you would miss out on points yourself.

The format may change from game to game. This would be played as a tournament style event. Each round would be different, and the format may increase.

In order to decide the winner of the league generally the top eight or four players will battle it out in a final knockout battle. The player who emerges as the victor of the final knockout battle will be the overall winner of the league.

Final Thoughts on Dart Leagues

Both of the varieties of leagues mentioned in this post are extremely popular all over the world. If you’re new to the game of darts I recommend learning 501 darts. Once you feel confident and comfortable enough with the game it’s worth checking out dart leagues in your area. It can not only be fun, but you can meet up with other local players and make some great friendships. Lastly, you may be able to learn and improve at the game by playing with others. I highly recommend it!