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In the 501 game of darts players take turns at throwing 3 darts to reduce their score to zero.

A “checkout” refers to the process of finishing a game by reducing a player’s score to exactly zero, by hitting a double or the bullseye (50 points) with the final dart.

For example, if a player has 40 remaining, they can hit the double 20 (D20) to win.

Here is an example of a 3 dart checkout:

120 : T20 20 D20    (treble 20, single 20, double 20)

1. The maximum checkout is 170. How can you make this?
2. For which numbers between 140 to 170 can you find a three dart checkout?

140		150		160
141		151		161
142		152		162
143		153		163
144		154		164
145		155		165
146		156		166
147		157		167
148		158		168
149		159		169

Most darts players like to aim to finish on D20, D18, D16 or maybe Bullseye.

1. A player has 94 left with three darts. They aim for T18
2. What is their checkout if they hit T18?
3. What is their next dart if they hit a single 18 instead?

2. Imagine you have three darts. Would you rather a score of 32 or 30 left? Think about what happens if you just miss D16 and get single 16 left versus just missing D15 and getting single 15.

3. What checkouts can you find for three darts on 107? What would be the best option do you think?

Extra reading

Logic behind checkouts:

Checkouts Explained

Checkout game:

Darts Math Quiz application