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A Bar Player's Guide to Winning Darts

by Captain Fred Everson

128 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0134; ISBN 1-55369-321-3; US$16.00, C$18.00, EUR13.00, £9.00

How to win when playing darts.

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About the book      About the author      Sample excerpt      Catalogue info

About the Book A Bar Player's Guide to Winning Darts is a personal manual of form, technique and strategy for all dart players who love this friendly pub game. The two chapters dealing with the great American game, Cricket, are alone worth the price of the book. Capt. Fred writes in clear concise style and tells you how to go about keeping your opponent off balance so you can beat him to the bull. If you share the Captain's irreverent love of smoke-filled dart rooms and cold beer, this book is for you.

About the Author Capt. Fred Everson is a full time freelance writer and fishing guide on Tampa Bay in the little town of Ruskin, Florida. A native of New Jersey and long time resident of Vermont, Capt. Fred learned the game of darts while on a working vacation in the Virgin Islands more than a decade ago. He has been throwing darts ever since. When he's not fishing or writing, you can probably find him throwing darts in his favorite pub *the Fox and Hounds in Brandon, Florida. The Captain sold his first writing to Sports Afield Magazine in 1979, and has been pounding the keyboard ever since. He has written for many newspapers and magazines and on the Internet about fishing, hunting, and dart playing. This is Capt. Fred's second book; the first "Catch Snook!" won universal praise from fishermen. Click here to check out Everson's Charter Service Everson's Charters

Sample Excerpt

Introduction

More than 40 years ago my older brother came home with a rolled paper dartboard and a couple of sets of steel tipped plastic darts. He was mom's favorite, so she let him hang the board in the kitchen. I was instantly hooked on the game. And soon after I started my first after-school job I purchased a real board. In Union Beach, New Jersey that meant an American made wooden board, and wooden darts flighted with feathers. This is what you found in local taverns. I am happy to report that the Widdy Company in Philadelphia, PA, is still manufacturing the board, the wooden darts, and the distinctive green cabinets. On a recent visit to New Jersey, there was still a Widdy board hanging in the corner bar, and there were still people playing "Baseball", keeping score with numbered wheels permanently fixed into the framed case that surrounds the board. It was good to see the dart game I grew up with still going strong.

In the mid 70's, I tended bar in the Boathouse Tavern, a rough and tumble waterfront bar that had four such dart boards, two shuffleboard tables, and a full size pool table. On any given Saturday night, all the games were busy when the customers weren't beating each other up. Beer drinking and bar games were the solace of men who drove nails and laid pipe for a living in this working class town,and there were more than a few good dart players.

The dart thrower to beat was a guy named Carlos. He was a formidable bar athlete - equally adept with a pool cue, a quait or a dart. The only game where I could stay with him was darts, and playing that guy taught me a lot about bar competition.

That a 50-year-old guy who drinks a lot can be very competitive in anything would be remarkable in most other games. Not so in darts. If you play in many dart bars, you will find lots of us. Nor does it take a bald head or a beer gut to throw a good dart (immodestly I must report that I have neither). Last time I was in my home bar - the Fox and Hounds Irish Pub in Brandon, Florida - there was a little old lady who looked like Mrs. Doubtfire,and she was throwing doubles and trebles like they were a bad habit.

In this game you never know. Some players throw good-looking darts that hit nothing. Others throw wobbly darts that strike the board at incredible angles that would seem to defy consistency, yet they always seem to find the target and win the game.

Darts is much more than a simple straight- forward game of accuracy. In bar play, the best dart throwers do not always win,and that is perhaps the game's strongest point. For example, math kills count for a lot in any game of '01. A less skilled player can defeat a better player when he doesn't have to consult an out chart or wonder what to throw at next. And in Cricket, poor strategy will often undo superior play. That's why darts is such a great game.

In any game of darts, sex, age, height, weight and build mean very little. Hand-eye coordination and the ability to think quick and handle pressure count for more than agility. That, and knowing how to play the game.

Okay--it's a given that the game of darts does not require any particular athletic ability. That may mean that you won't have to break a sweat to play in an air-conditioned bar, but it doesn't make the game easy. The face of the dartboard may be only seven feet nine and one- quarter inches away from the line but the good targets are all very small--and the layout of the board is designed to frustrate.

Unlike other sports, where the expense of equipment and cost of practice might weight the competition toward the player who can best afford it, a guy who plays well with a two-dollar set of bar darts can take you apart. Practice here costs nothing. Hand-eye coordination, knowledge of the game, and the ability to hold more than a pint, will most often prevail over the guy who can afford a $150 set of high tech darts. Talk about an everyman's game.

So how does one gain the competitive edge in a game that is so accessible and inexpensive to play? Practice, practice, and more practice - but it has to be more than throwing darts at a board.

A famous darter once said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get." And that about sums it up. This ain't tennis - you don't hire a coach or take lessons.Read the third chapter in this book and develop a practice routine. And if your game improves with the help of this book, I will have done my job. You may share your reading experience with others who will buy my book, I will make money and have more time to drink beer and play darts.

A couple of things every dart player ought to know. The wires on the board may be sure and unforgiving, but alas, scorekeeping is not as perfect. Most good dart pubs still employ chalkboards and real chalk. The advantage of chalk is that corrections are easily made. Just be sure to write your score on the chalkboard before pulling your darts.

Follow that rule and let your opponenent see what you're doing. There is no need to be in a hurry with the scoreboard. Lean close darts into the area they score and allow your opponent a moment to see the score you take. This is good dart etiquette.

You will also notice some players who cheat their toes over the line. It's bad form and will not make a difference in play. This is a courteous game, and we should strive to keep it that way. Let's relegate the antics and tantrums to professional athletes and pool players.

This is not a book for dart technicians and world-class wannabes. As the title clearly implies, it is about playing darts in bars, taverns, and pubs. It may not be politically correct to promote a game that associates itself with beer drinking and tobacco, but the fact is that many of us still enjoy both. An evening of dart play in a good pub is a cheerful experience, that's even more fun when you are winning.

According to the famous English lexicographer Samuel Johnson in 1776, "There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn."

I heartily concur. And if the place has a dartboard or two, I find it all the merrier. Play well!

Catalogue Information