All of the major Darts Organisations publish their own set of rules and are all equally exciting to read. So here are the basics, which are common to them all so you don't have to trawl through the legalise.

Dart Rules

Written by Steve Porter, darts enthusiast and gadget lover. http://www.dartsboardscabinets.com

Strangely, the darts themselves can be up to 12 inches long! Not that I've never seen any that length for sale, and the maximum weight is 50 grams. Usually, soft tip darts are in the range of 14 to 20 grams, and steel tip darts range from 18 to 26 grams, although there are heavier darts on sale.One rule that can case heated debate is the bounce out rule:

The rule is that all bounce outs do not count towards your score and NO you cannot have another throw. Not only that, but if the dart falls out before the score has been taken it does not count either. I suggest you throw your darts harder if you keep suffering from this rule.

As for the throw line, that is set at 7 ft 9 ¼ inches: now where did that come from? But you can lean over as far as you like providing your feet are behind that throw line or toe line as it is sometimes called.

The dartboard height is 1.73 metres or 5 foot 8 inches to the centre of the bull.
When a dart hits the board, the score is determined by the wire not the color of the segment. This means the point of the dart has to be within the wire segment of the scoring number. If you hit the green of the triple but the dart point is outside the triple wire the score is only a single.

The darts must be thrown point first one at a time at the board and in the '01 games the score is taken away from the previous score until the score is zero. To finish the game the last dart must be a double. So if your score is 32 you must throw a double 16 to win, but if you have an odd number like 37 you would need a 1 and then a double 18 to win or any combination that will finish on a double.
There are other '01 type games that require you to start on a double as well, in fact there is a televised tournament that has a double to start rule as well as a double to finish rule. The World Grand Prix uses that rule.

When throwing for your final double, if you throw more than you need to finish the game, you are 'Bust', which means your score is void and your score is the same as when you started the throw. You are also 'Bust' if your score is only 1 less than your total, as there is no double ½ .

Also note the score must be decided upon BEFORE the darts are pulled out of the board.

Some of the more interesting rules

During match play, any Players using offensive language or deemed to be "mouthing" any offensive language or seen to be making offensive gestures shall be deemed to have brought the Sport of Darts into disrepute and shall become liable to Disciplinary Proceedings being taken against them by the DRA.
And From the ADO

At the tournament director's discretion, women may be recycled in mixed doubles and triples events only. (Obviously women are greener than men!)

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