How to run a darts tournament

Step by step

1. 1Pick the game and match lengthChoose the game (usually 501 double-out) and how many legs win a match: best of 3 or 5 keeps a night moving. Sets suit a longer final.
2. 2Choose a format for your player count and timeKnockouts are quickest. Round robin and groups give everyone more darts. Swiss suits large fields.
3. 3Seed the playersOrder the field strongest first, by rating, by a random draw or by hand. Top seeds go on opposite sides of the draw so they meet late, and byes go to the top seeds when the field isn't a power of two.
4. 4Assign boards and scorersCall each match to a free board and agree who scores. Playing players often score each other's matches.
5. 5Record every result and keep the bracket visibleEnter each leg as it's played so the bracket updates, and show it where players can see it.

Choose a format

A rule of thumb: in single elimination a field of N players needs N − 1 matches (one more with a third-place match); double elimination needs about twice that; round robin needs N × (N − 1) ÷ 2, which grows fast. The Darts App shows the match count for your format and field as you set it up.

In Swiss, nobody plays the same opponent twice while the field can still be paired without a rematch. With an odd number of players, one sits out each round with a bye, which counts as a win once the rest of that round has been played.

Set the match length

A leg of 501 between pub players often takes somewhere around five to ten minutes. Best of 3 legs keeps a 16-player knockout to an evening on two or three boards; save best of 5 or 7 for the semifinals and final.

For a bigger occasion, play the final in sets, as on TV: each set is usually first to 3 legs, and first to 2 or 3 sets makes a good final for a night out. The throw alternates every leg, and whoever didn't start the last set starts the next. The Darts App lets you set a longer final in any format that ends in one (both eliminations and groups into a knockout); it always takes more legs to win than the other matches.

In single elimination, and in the knockout after groups, the losing semifinalists can play a third-place match. It needs at least four players in the knockout.

Seeding and byes

Seeding is the order of the field, top seed first. The Darts App offers three ways to make it:

• By rating: strongest first, by each player's recent 3-dart average in X01, marks per round in Cricket, or win rate in other games. It counts the last year of legs against other people, with recent legs counting most. A rating from only a few legs is marked as rough and leans toward the field's average, and anyone with no rating goes in at the middle.
• Random draw: a random order, which you can draw again until you start.
• Set order: your own order. Moving anyone by hand switches to it.

When most of the field has a solid rating, the app suggests seeding by rating; otherwise a random draw. What the seeds decide depends on the format:

• Knockouts: top seeds are kept apart until the late rounds, so 1 and 2 can only meet in the final.
• Round robin: everyone plays everyone, and the top seeds meet in the last rounds.
• Groups: seeds are spread across the groups, and the top seeds in each group meet last.
• Swiss: round 1 pairs the top half against the bottom half (1 v 5, 2 v 6 in a field of 8), and later rounds do the same within each group of players on the same score.

When the number of players isn't a power of two (8, 16, 32), some first-round slots are empty: those players get a bye into round two, and byes go to the top seeds. A player who arrives late takes the lowest open place.

Sign-ups and check-in

For an open night, share a sign-up link instead of picking players, and check people in at the door as they arrive. When you start, only those checked in are drawn: anyone who signed up but isn't checked in is removed, so check in any late arrivals first. Until then you can still change the format, the match length and the game.

Boards and scorers

• Call matches to boards as boards come free, and don't call a player who's still playing.
• Let each board's scorer enter the darts, so results reach the bracket the moment a leg ends.
• Put the bracket on a TV or a shared link so players know when they're up.

Doubles and pairs

In a pairs event, partners alternate visits, and which partner throws first for the pair swaps each leg. Each pair is one entry in the draw. In The Darts App, players sign up with a partner, and in X01 and Cricket each player's darts still count in their own stats.

Tiebreakers in round robin, Swiss and groups

Rank by points (a win is worth 3). When players finish level on points, The Darts App separates them in this order:

• Head-to-head: a table of only the matches between the tied players.
• Buchholz (Swiss only): the total wins of everyone each player has faced, so a tougher draw ranks higher.
• Leg difference: legs won minus legs lost (set difference in a sets event).
• Legs won.
• Seed: the higher seed, if nothing else separates them.

A player who dropped out ranks below everyone still in on the same points. Agree the order before the first dart so nobody argues at the end.

Questions