Darts out chart: the preferred finish for every score

A darts out chart lists the best three-dart route to finish every score you can actually close out, from 170 down to 2. Every route ends on a double, because standard 501 is a double-out game. Use it to pick a finish instead of doing arithmetic mid-throw.

What counts as a checkout

A checkout is the visit that takes your remaining score to exactly zero with the last dart in a double. The inner bull counts, since it scores 50 as double 25 — which is why the biggest finishes end there rather than on D20.

Three things kill a visit. Scoring more than you have left is a bust. Leaving exactly 1 is a bust, because 1 has no double. And landing on zero with a single or a treble is a bust. Each time, your score reverts to where it stood at the start of the turn, so the route you choose matters as much as the total you throw. The rules of 501 and 301 cover the rest of the format.

Straight-out and double-in variants turn up in pub and league play, so confirm the format before the first leg. Everything below assumes standard double-out.

Darts out chart: the preferred route for every score from 170 to 2

Read across, then down. T = treble, D = double, 25 = outer bull, Bull = inner bull (50). These are the conventional routes, not the only legal ones — a player who owns D18 will happily leave 36 where the darts checkout table says 32.

Score	Finish	Score	Finish	Score	Finish
170	T20 T20 Bull	167	T20 T19 Bull	164	T20 T18 Bull
161	T20 T17 Bull	160	T20 T20 D20	158	T20 T20 D19
157	T20 T19 D20	156	T20 T20 D18	155	T20 T19 D19
154	T20 T18 D20	153	T20 T19 D18	152	T20 T20 D16
151	T20 T17 D20	150	T20 T18 D18	149	T20 T19 D16
148	T20 T16 D20	147	T20 T17 D18	146	T20 T18 D16
145	T20 T15 D20	144	T20 T20 D12	143	T20 T17 D16
142	T20 T14 D20	141	T20 T19 D12	140	T20 T20 D10
139	T20 T13 D20	138	T20 T18 D12	137	T20 T19 D10
136	T20 T20 D8	135	T20 T17 D12	134	T20 T14 D16
133	T20 T19 D8	132	T20 T16 D12	131	T20 T13 D16
130	T20 T18 D8	129	T19 T16 D12	128	T18 T14 D16
127	T20 T17 D8	126	T19 T19 D6	125	25 T20 D20
124	T20 T16 D8	123	T19 T16 D9	122	T18 T20 D4
121	T20 T11 D14	120	T20 20 D20	119	T19 T10 D16
118	T20 18 D20	117	T20 17 D20	116	T20 16 D20
115	T20 15 D20	114	T20 14 D20	113	T20 13 D20
112	T20 12 D20	111	T20 19 D16	110	T20 10 D20
109	T20 9 D20	108	T20 16 D16	107	T19 18 D16
106	T20 10 D18	105	T20 13 D16	104	T18 18 D16
103	T19 10 D18	102	T20 10 D16	101	T17 10 D20
100	T20 D20	99	T19 10 D16	98	T20 D19
97	T19 D20	96	T20 D18	95	T19 D19
94	T18 D20	93	T19 D18	92	T20 D16
91	T17 D20	90	T20 D15	89	T19 D16
88	T20 D14	87	T17 D18	86	T18 D16
85	T15 D20	84	T20 D12	83	T17 D16
82	T14 D20	81	T19 D12	80	T20 D10
79	T19 D11	78	T18 D12	77	T19 D10
76	T20 D8	75	T17 D12	74	T14 D16
73	T19 D8	72	T16 D12	71	T13 D16
70	T18 D8	69	T19 D6	68	T20 D4
67	T17 D8	66	T10 D18	65	T19 D4
64	T16 D8	63	T13 D12	62	T10 D16
61	T15 D8	60	20 D20	59	19 D20
58	18 D20	57	17 D20	56	16 D20
55	15 D20	54	14 D20	53	13 D20
52	20 D16	51	19 D16	50	18 D16
49	17 D16	48	16 D16	47	15 D16
46	6 D20	45	13 D16	44	12 D16
43	3 D20	42	10 D16	41	9 D16
40	D20	39	7 D16	38	D19
37	5 D16	36	D18	35	3 D16
34	D17	33	1 D16	32	D16
31	15 D8	30	D15	29	13 D8
28	D14	27	11 D8	26	D13
25	9 D8	24	D12	23	7 D8
22	D11	21	5 D8	20	D10
19	3 D8	18	D9	17	9 D4
16	D8	15	7 D4	14	D7
13	5 D4	12	D6	11	3 D4
10	D5	9	1 D4	8	D4
7	3 D2	6	D3	5	1 D2
4	D2	3	1 D1	2	D1

Why 170 is the highest checkout in darts

170 is T20, T20, bull: 60 + 60 + 50. Nothing bigger ends on a double, so it caps the chart. Players call it the big fish, one of the darts terms you'll hear at the oche.

Above 158, your first two darts top out at 120, so the finishing dart has to be D20 or the bull — and the arithmetic only lands on 160, 161, 164, 167 and 170. That leaves seven scores with no three-dart route at all: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159. Those are the bogey numbers, and the practical answer is to avoid landing on them, not to memorize a route that doesn't exist. From 158 down to 2, every score has at least one finish.

When you're on a bogey number or above 170, the visit is about the leave, not the finish. Score with the darts you have and try to sit on 32, 40 or another even number for the next visit — and watch the arithmetic, because a score that would leave exactly 1 busts the whole turn.

How the routes are chosen

Two rules generate most of the chart.

Leave an even number. An even remainder can be closed with one dart at a double. An odd remainder can't, so it costs you a setup dart. When your score is odd, spend a dart on an odd single to make it even — 9 from 41 leaves 32, 7 from 39 leaves 32, 3 from 35 leaves 32.

Bend toward 32. Miss D16 into the single 16 and you're left with 16, which is D8. Miss that and you're on D4, then D2, then D1. The 32 finish halves cleanly four times, so a bad dart still leaves a legal shot. D20 is quicker when you hit it, but the 20 bed sits between 1 and 5, and a stray dart there leaves you odd with one dart in hand. That trade-off is why a 501 out chart sends 111 to T20, 19, D16 rather than to T20, 11, D20.

Knowing what each segment on the board is worth makes these routes look obvious rather than arbitrary.

Two-dart and one-dart finishes

Most of the chart collapses into fewer darts when the first one lands where you wanted it. The biggest two-dart finish is 110 — T20, then bull. The biggest that skips the bull is 100, T20 then D20. One dart closes any even number up to 40, plus 50 at the inner bull: 21 scores in total, and those are the ones you want to be sitting on when your last dart is in the air.

Ten checkouts worth memorizing first

You don't need all 162 rows in your head, and you need fewer still when the remaining score is already in front of you. Darts Scoreboard, a darts scoreboard app for iPhone that tracks your games, keeps the running total visible, which turns the chart into a lookup rather than a memory test.

Learn these ten anyway, because they turn up in almost every leg:

• 40 — D20
• 36 — D18
• 32 — D16
• 24 — D12
• 16 — D8
• 41 — 9, D16
• 60 — 20, D20
• 81 — T19, D12
• 96 — T20, D18
• 100 — T20, D20

The first five are the doubles you'll throw at most often. The rest are the leaves that keep turning up after a 60 or a 100 visit.

FAQ

What is a checkout in darts?

It's the finishing visit — the darts that take your score to exactly zero, with the last one landing in a double or the inner bull. Anything else is a bust, and your score reverts to what it was when the turn began.

What's the highest possible checkout?

170, thrown as treble 20, treble 20, bullseye. It's the largest score that can be closed on a double in three darts, so nothing above it appears on any chart.

Which scores can't be checked out?

159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168 and 169 — the bogey numbers — plus anything above 170. If your visit would leave you on one of them, throw for a different setup number instead.

Why do so many darts checkout chart routes end on D16?

Because 32 forgives a miss. A dart in the single 16 leaves 16, then 8, then 4, then 2, and every step is still an even number you can shoot at with the darts you have left.

Do I have to finish on a double?

In standard 501 and most league play, yes. Some pub formats play straight-out, and a few play double-in as well as double-out, which changes both ends of the leg. Agree on the format before you throw.