Shanghai darts rules, scoring, and the instant win

Shanghai darts is a round-by-round game: in round one everyone throws three darts at the 1, in round two at the 2, and so on. Only the round's number scores. Land a single, double and treble of that number in the same visit — a Shanghai — and you win on the spot.

How to play Shanghai darts

Throw for the bull to set the order — nearest the bull goes first, and that order holds all game. The core Shanghai darts rules fit in four lines:

• Round 1 — three darts at the 1. Round 2 — three darts at the 2. Keep climbing to the agreed final number.
• Only darts in that round's segment count. A treble 20 in round three is worth nothing, and so is the bull.
• After the final round, the highest total wins.
• A Shanghai ends the game immediately, whatever the scores are.

Most groups play 1 through 7; some extend all the way to 20. More on choosing between them below.

Shanghai darts scoring, round by round

Everything scores face value times the ring you hit. In round five a single is 5, a double 10, a treble 15. The most any round can yield is three trebles — nine times the round's number, so 63 in round seven and 180 in round twenty. The ring values on a dartboard work here as they do in any other game.

A perfect 1–7 game is 252, nine times 28. Nobody gets there. Most visits land one or two darts in the number, so a single treble in the high rounds usually decides it.

A worked example: three rounds, two players

Round	Player A	A score	A total	Player B	B score	B total
1 (the 1s)	S1, T1, miss	4	4	S1, S1, miss	2	2
2 (the 2s)	D2, miss, S2	6	10	T2, D2, miss	10	12
3 (the 3s)	T3, S3, miss	12	22	miss, D3, S3	9	21

Player A leads 22–21 into the 4s, and a single treble in round seven — worth 21 — could still turn it.

Multi-round pub formats are exactly where hand-written score sheets go wrong — a skipped round or mis-added treble, and the totals stop agreeing. If you'd rather not chalk, Darts Scoreboard is a darts scoreboard app for iPhone that tracks your games.

By hand, the usual chalking conventions hold: one column per player, one row per round, running total on the right, visible before the next throw.

The Shanghai: an instant win in one visit

A Shanghai is one single, one double and one treble of the round's number, all three inside your own visit. In round seven that's 7 + 14 + 21 = 42, but the points don't matter — the game ends the moment the third dart lands.

Two things trip people up: treble-treble-double isn't a Shanghai — you need one of each ring — and all three must land in the same visit, not spread across the round.

House rules to settle before the first dart

Order of the single, double and treble. Strict Shanghai requires them in sequence; casual play accepts any order. Agree early — the strict version turns the instant win into a rarity.

Seven or twenty. The 1–7 game is what most groups mean by a Shanghai darts game. Playing 1–20 runs much longer and weights the scoring toward the late rounds, since round 18 is worth eighteen times round 1. Some groups compromise at 1–9.

Ties. The base rules don't cover them, so pick one: sudden death on the next number up, a nearest-the-bull throw-off, or highest score in the final round.

How many can play. Any number, though two to six keeps the waiting down. It works solo too — play 1–7 against your own best total to drill every number, not just the 20 and treble 19.

Killer and Golf: the two games this group asks for next

Both are pub darts classics, and neither needs more than a few tally marks.

Killer darts

Each player throws one dart with their non-throwing hand; that segment becomes their number, and you re-throw on a miss or duplicate. Everyone starts with the same number of lives — three is usual, five for a longer game. Hit the double of your own number to become a killer. From then on, every double of another player's number you land takes one of their lives. Lose all yours and you're out; last player alive wins. Variants exist: some let a single make you a killer; others dock a killer a life for re-hitting their own double.

Darts golf

Nine holes, numbers 1 through 9 in order, three darts a hole, lowest total wins — the darts golf rules mirror real golf closely. A common scale scores the hole from your best dart: treble 1, double 2, inner single 3, outer single 4, miss 5, which makes par 3 a hole and 27 for the round. A simpler version drops the inner/outer split — treble 1, double 2, any single 3, miss 4. An 18-hole game runs 1 through 18. Pick the scale before the first tee — the two score very differently.

FAQ

What are the rules of Shanghai darts?

Each round is assigned a number, starting at 1. Everyone throws three darts at that number only, scoring face value times the ring hit; everything else is zero. After the final round — usually 7, sometimes 20 — the highest total wins, and a single, double and treble in one visit wins immediately.

Can you win Shanghai in the first round?

Yes. Single 1, double 1 and treble 1 in one visit is a valid Shanghai and ends the game immediately. It's rare, since nobody drills the treble on a low number.

Does the Shanghai have to be hit in order?

That's a house rule: the strict version requires single, then double, then treble in sequence, while casual play accepts any order. Agree on it before someone hits one.

How many rounds is a game of Shanghai?

Seven in the standard short game, twenty in the long form. Groups also play 1–9 or 1–12 when they want something in between.

Does the bullseye count in Shanghai darts?

No. Only the current round's number scores, so bulls and every other segment are worth zero. Some groups add a bull round after the last number as a tiebreaker.