Darts501

Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters - Winner Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen became the first Dubai Duty Free Masters winner beating Raymond van Barneveld 11 - 7 in the final. Both players were on form taking out large checkouts 170 and 164 but it was Michael who broke the Raymond's throw first and then preceded to take control of the match.

The Dubai Duty Free Masters also made history for being the first to be played in the open air. The players did say the light breeze affected their throw however that being said it was the same for all the players and the performance of all was first class.

LIVE World Softip Darts Stage two 26th May 2013 - 7.00am UK Time

Winmau TV will be broadcasting Stage 2 of DARTSLIVE’s THE WORLD softip championship live this weekend. This tournament is the richest and largest softip tournament on the planet with a first prize of 1 million Hong Kong Dollars (approximately £85,000). Broadcast is LIVE 7.00am UK time

Softip Darts are available to purchase in the Darts501-Shop for more information click here...

Winmau TV will also be broadcasting the Granite City Open

Updated Pages - Players Nicknames & Walk-on Music

An increased amount of visitors have contacted me about players walk-on music and nicknames. Some of you have kindly supplied me with more information therefore I have updated both the players  nicknames and walk-on pages on this site. I hope to add a few more in the near future but in the meantime if you know anymore or if any player has since changed either their Nickname or walk-on please let me know via my contact page.

New To Darts501.mobi

New to Darts501.mobi - Darts Leg Scorer. I have now added a a leg scorer with prompted checkouts to the mobile version of this site. The .mobi version is a condensed version of Darts501.com. It lists many of the features of this site such as Games, Setup Up, Checkouts, Recourse information, World Champions Listings. Players nick names and Walk-on and now a useful scorer that many will find useful while playing darts in clubs and pubs that don't have a provided electronic scorer. The scorer lists previous scores allows you to undo an impute and allows you to select a various games: 1,001, 701, 501 or 301. I hope you will  find this addition useful.

Darts501.mobi requires a smart phone with internet connection. Please remember you maybe charged data charges by your phone provider when browsing the internet mobile site.

If you have a smart phone give it a try. For more information about the new mobile site click on the above banner.

Darts501.mobi will work on any iPhone, iPod touch or Android OS touch screen phone. Other smart phones with internet access can also view this new site. For iPhone users that chose to add to home screen there is also a Darts501 iPhone icon making it easier still to link straight back to the site as and when required.

And  welcome to Darts501.com website. I hope you like the new layout and the updated pages featured on here.

The game of darts is played and enjoyed by millions of people in UK pubs and clubs and by millions more across the World. The game has come from the humble roots of the tap and public rooms of the traditional English pub to the international stage and is regularly televised to millions across the World.

In 1978 the first World Darts Championship was organised by the British Darts Organisation and sponsored by Embassy tobacco. The winner Leighton Rees from Wales received a trophy and a cheque for the some of £3,000.

Prize money has since increased considerably in the game of darts, and the winner of a major competition can expect to pick up a very attractive amount of money. Take for example the 2013 World Championship, players picked up anything from £6,000 for a preliminary round knockout, to a massive £200,000 for the competition winner. One of the biggest contributors to the rise in prize money in such competitions has been as a result of increased lucrative sponsorship deals. So if you own a highly desirable online casino, a well-known sports brand or any other related product, the darts circuit would be a great place to get you noticed to a huge target audience.

Since then the game has grown into one of the best loved and viewed sports on television. It has made many darters into house hold names here are just a few:

John Lowe three times world champion, John Part three time world champion, Martin Adams three times world champion, Eric Bristow five  times world champion, Raymond van Barneveld five times world champion & Phil Taylor sixteen times world champion.

In March 2005 the 'game' of darts was recently been recognized by 'Sport England' as a sporting activity which could pave the way to the sport featuring in future Olympic Games, however I still feel we are a long way from that day.

Darts is one of the fastest growing sports in Holland, China and Asia. Over a third of the Dutch population watched Raymond Van Barneveld become the first Dutch player to take the world darts title in 1998; he has since won the title a further four times 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 (Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship). Raymond beat the reigning champion Phil Taylor 7 sets to 6 and a sudden death leg in the final set. The famous Bull up for the right to throw first will long be remembered as Phil hit a outer Bull Ramond asked for the dart to be left in the board as he used it to push his dart into the centre Bull. Sinece then the Bulling up procedure in the PDC events has changed. All darts are removed before the opponents throw. Raymond now equals Eric Bristow's achievement but still trails Phil Taylor's staggering sixteen world title victories.

The prize fund for the 2010 Ladbrokes.com 'World Darts Champions' has also increased with a staggering £1,000,000, £200,000 going to the winner. A far cry from the first 'World Championships' of £3,000. The sports prize money continues to grow making a few of the current players millionaires. This prise fund as remained the same for the past three years. However is 2014 the Ladbrokes PDC World Champion Winner will be set to receive £250,000 making darts truly a sport to be reckoned with. 

The Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship moved to the Alexandra Palace in December 2007. The Alexandra Palace is affectionately know as the 'Ally Pally' and was the stage setting for the world renowned 'News of the World Darts tournaments' many years ago. This event even was probably one of the hardest to win with with a best of three legs format throughout the competition including the final.

In 2001 the BDO and WDF introduced a Ladies World Darts Championship which was won by England’s Trina Gulliver. Trina has won this event for seven consecutive years and made the final yet again in 2008 and 2009 but only to lose to a new up and coming star Anastasia Dobromyslava from Russia in 2008 and Francis Hoenselaar from Holland in 2009. In 2010 Trina again regained the title beating Rhian Edwards from Wales 2-0 she then repeated this feat in 2011 again beating Rhain Edwards by the same margin 2-0 Making her the most successful ladies darts player in the World, a record breaking nine World Titles.

Anastasia moved to the PDC late 2008 and played in a preliminary qualifying round for the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship 2009. She lost to Dutchman Remco van Eijden 5 legs to 3. She also tried to qualify for the 2010 championship but failed. Anastasia moved back to the BDO late 2010 / early 2011 and in 2012 she won  BDO / WDF Ladies Worlds Darts Championship for a second time. Anastasia defended her title again in 2013.

On this site you will find a brief history of this intriguing sport along with all the information you will need to set up the dart board and organise darting events. You can also learn how boards are made using sisal (a material used in rope making) and how dart weights, lengths, shafts and flights can alter the flight of the dart.

The site also features traditional games played on today’s standard dartboards and UK city boards; Yorkshire, Manchester etc. You can download rules and many games from here as well as those all important checkouts. Calculate your dart average using the tables and above all learn how to improve your game. You will also find practise routines to improve your accuracy and scoring consistency as well as information about maintaining your dartboard and darts. There are also many dart related links to professional dart organisations, manufacturers, suppliers, professional dart players and other UK local dart leagues. My thanks go to them for their help and support in building this site.

I hope you enjoy the site your feedback is always welcome and if you like the site please in form others.

David King