Playing Darts: Online vs. In-Person - Which is Better?

The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly played a role in putting the limelight on the niche of playing darts online. Of course, there were a lot many online darts fans around the world, but the spike in the popularity of the game has been significant over the last couple of years. The idea of playing darts online seems outlandish and almost foolish to many, but you could be surprised about how good an experience it is when you actually try it for yourself first hand.  

If you’re an experienced darts player that is really good at darts in the tangible world, it could be frustrating to figure out the online darts setup and how to get the ball rolling, but it’s definitely better than not playing darts at all.  

In this article, we’re going to consider some of the advantages and disadvantages of playing darts online vs. playing in person.  

The most obvious and also one of the most significant perks of playing darts online is how easily accessible it is. In today’s world, nearly everyone (in the first world at least) is connected to high-speed internet via a myriad of devices. With the internet being more accessible than ever before, games on the internet have also become just as easily accessible. In fact, you don’t even have to sit in front of your PC to play darts online, you can just pull out your smartphone and start throwing darts. You can just pick an opponent (who can be another player from anywhere on the globe) and starting competing with each other. Even though you’re not in front of a live audience, people can still watch your stream and even comment on it in real time.

When we think of darts, the instinctive image conjured up in our mind is a pub game with friends, accompanied by a couple of beers and a bowl of crisps. It’s certainly not the type of game one would associate with online gameplay. To play online, one needs to set up their smartphone mount or high-quality webcam (depending on whether you're playing on your mobile or desktop device).  

A good comparison would be playing casino games in a brick and mortar setting versus online. Granted, if you check out NoDepositHero, you’re bound to find hundreds - if not thousands of no deposit online casinos that aim to give players an authentic experience. Indeed, some of the operators found on such sites quite possibly offer an even better experience. Case in point, a player will never benefit from free money or no deposit bonuses just to incentivize them to start playing. 

If you were to go to your local pub and play a game of darts, you’d likely play against someone who is also from the area. In fact, you probably even know your opponents most of the time. There could be exceptions when you may play against a traveler, but for the most part – you’re playing other local players.   

When you play online, you’re playing darts players from all around the world. This not only means more challenging and skilled opponents that in your local pub, but it is also a great way to interact with people from other countries, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds while playing a game that unites us all.  

Sometimes, even pro players play online and if you’re lucky, you could just get a shot against a pro and maybe even learn a thing or two from him or her. Would you ever get a one-on-one game with a pro at your local pub?  

#4 PRO: It’s Cheaper and Quicker 

If you’re a competitive darts player, you’ll likely have to travel around your state or maybe even the country to play darts at leagues and competitions hosted in various cities and towns. This means you’re going to be spending both time and money. While the journey is an experience and adventure of its own, there is no denying it lightens your pocket a fair bit. When you play online, you can play on a shoestring budget. In fact, you could register for and play many online darts tournaments completely free. What’s more? You spend zero time on the road, you just load up the game, start your video streaming and get throwing some darts!  

#5CON: Not Ideal for Players that Just Don’t Like Technology 

Some darts players are old school and like to keep it that way. It might be that they aren’t particularly tech savvy or there are just technophobes that dislike how technology is slowly but surely penetrating every aspect of our personal, social and professional lives. For such players, the mere mention of playing darts online could be a huge turn off.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any technical feature that developers can roll out to tackle this mindset. Over the next few years, we are sure the process of playing darts online will get easier and more intuitive so that even the non-tech savvy can join and enjoy.  Ultimately, whether you like playing online or in-person darts, the fact is, the game itself and its rules are pretty much the same. It’s simply a matter of preference and whether you like playing the game in the comfort of your home or at a bar with friends.