Betting on darts: the basics

Darts is an often forgotten sport, but in reality it is the second most watched sport on Sky Sports TV in the UK. With all the money and politics growing into other sports, darts remains a solid working class sport. When looking to bet on the darts, it’s best to head to Match.Center and look through all of the available bookies.

Firstly, it’s worth picking the right bookies for your darts betting. Some will have advantages over the other. Whilst one may have a better promotional sign up offer, another may offer in-play betting and more betting types.

Some bookies even offer better odds than others, though they’re usually fairly similar. It’s also worth checking out the payment options and customer service before making your decision, too.

It’s important to get to grips with the rules of darts before you start betting. Before betting on a competition, make sure you know how many legs or sets it has, it’s format, and any other rules you may be unsure of.

Of course, you will like be aware of the basics, in which each set starts with 501 points which is reduced as the player throws three darts at a time. The winner is whoever scores 501 first, but the winner must finish the leg by hitting a double or bullseye.

Match betting is a simple type of bet in which you choose the winner of the match or the winner of the tournament.

However, in play betting means that the betting is open whilst the game is going on, with live odds being constantly updated. 

This is a great beeting tool because darts can change very quickly mid-game. This is where good darts knowledge comes in handy, as you can find great value in picking a losing player when you think they will make a comeback.

Other types of bets can be placed too, such as the number of 180s. This is of course the maximum number of points that a player can earn from three darts - with some players being better than others at getting 180s. These type of bets means that choosing the winner isn’t important.

King of the Oche is also a popular bet type in darts, which is when a bet is placed according to who you think the winner will be, the most 180s, and top checkout.

This is a hugely popular bet because there’s a lot you have to get right for you to win, but as a result, the odds can be huge which makes it more exciting.

Generally, betting on the favourite isn’t the preferred type of bet for experienced darts gamblers. Finding the underdog such as the person with fewer 180s historically, is where you will find better value.

This is where knowledge and experience can help with astute picks, something that takes time to learn. In almost any sport, the likelihood of an upset decreases the longer the format is. So, anyone can win a leg of darts, but it’s much harder to win the whole tournament.

This is where underdogs could be a good choice for shorter format bets, whilst favourites are more sensible for tournament winners.