LowPlays Darts Betting Guide

Not many pub games have grown as much as darts, and its popularity hasn’t been overlooked by bettors and sportsbooks that want to profit from it.

To become a top darts bettor, a love and understanding of the sport is crucial, but you must also pick the right sportsbook to place your wagers. In this darts betting guide, I provide all you need to know about the game of darts, along with the top sportsbooks our experts at LowPlays recommend and a few betting tips to help.

Betting in the Darts Regular Season

The darts regular season consists of several tournaments and events you can bet on during the year. These include events hosted by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), British Darts Organisation (BDO), and other organizations worldwide. Some of the top tournaments you can bet on include:

• PDC World Darts Championship: The PDC World Darts Championship is the biggest dart event, with a large prize pool to attract the best players worldwide. It features 92 participants, with some qualifying through the Order of Merit and others through qualifying tournaments.
• UK Open Finals: This is another PDC event, also known as the FA Cup of Darts. It doesn’t follow a seed format, and participants in each round are determined by lot.
• The     Premier League Darts: This non-ranking tournament is a thrilling spectacle that unfolds every Thursday night from February to May. The action kicks off with a knockout bracket between eight contenders, setting the stage for an intense battle of darts prowess.
• Players Championship Tour: This event takes place from February to November, with the finals taking place in Butlin’s, Minehead. The competition hosts the top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit, with 30 Championship events between February and October before the final in November.

These are just a few of the top events to take note of, and there are many more other events that you can bet on, such as:

• European Championship in October
• Grand Slam of Darts in November
• US Darts Masters in July
• North American Championship in July
• World Cup of Darts from May to June
• World Series of Darts Finals in November

Dart Betting Tips

Check the Order of Merit Regularly

The Order of Merit is a ranking system used by the PDC that ranks players based on the prize money earned over the last two years. Although it doesn’t provide a perfect picture of how a player will perform in an upcoming tournament, it helps you identify those participating in the next event and who to watch.

Get Ahead with Dart Tipsters

Dart tipsters, the high-performing bettors in the darts betting markets, can be a valuable resource for improving your betting skills. While it’s not advisable to blindly follow their bets, studying their dart picks can serve as a benchmark for your own selections, helping you refine your strategy and make more informed bets.

Pick the right sportsbook

Choosing the right sportsbook is a critical step in enhancing your darts betting experience. In the upcoming section, we’ll delve into the factors that make a US darts betting site stand out. From proper licensing to attractive bonuses and round-the-clock support, these elements directly influence the quality of your betting experience.

Only Place Live Bets on Sites with a Cash Out Option

Live bets are a great way to profit in an ongoing match, but things sometimes go differently than planned. When your live bet isn’t going as you predicted, having the cash out option can help minimize your losses.

Recommended Darts Betting Sites

Not all sports betting sites are built equal, and while most sites will offer darts betting markets, there are other areas you should focus on when assessing the quality of its services, such as:

• Payments
• Licensing
• Bonuses
• Support
• Minimum deposit: At LowPlays, we recommend you visit only the best low-deposit sports betting sites, like DraftKings, which accept $5 minimum deposits. However, most trustworthy US betting sites, like BetMGM and Caesars, set their minimum deposits at $10.

When assessing US sportsbooks based on these areas, these are the top sites that we’ve found, and we recommend you visit one or all these platforms:

DraftKings Sportsbook

DraftKings remains a highly-rated US sportsbook and our top pick for its $5 minimum deposit. You can access DraftKings in more than 20 US states, where you can claim a 20% deposit match up to $1,000 when you register using our link. Here, you can get competitive odds, access to many darts betting markets, and early release of futures odds for upcoming tournaments like the US Darts Masters, PDC World Championship, and more.

BetMGM Sportsbook

If a $10 minimum deposit is acceptable to you, then BetMGM is another sportsbook with an excellent reputation for its bonuses. To get you started, using the promo code GAMBLEUSA gets you up to $1,500 in bonus bets for losses you incur, and you also have access to top bonuses like a referral bonus, a loyalty program, odds boosts, and more.

FanDuel Sportsbook

Another memorable name in the US gambling scene is FanDuel, famous for its Fantasy sports services. On its sports betting site, you can access many of the best darts markets, including futures, moneyline, correct score, Set Spread, 9 Dart Finish, and more. The operator offers a $1,000 No Sweat First Bet to anyone who registers using our link, and you also have access to odds boosts, referral bonuses, same-game parlays, and more.

Betway Sportsbook

Most US bettors know and trust Betway thanks to its operations in other locations like the UK and partnerships with some sports teams. The sportsbook has a $10 minimum deposit and a welcome bonus that lets you get up to $250 in bonus bets when you place your first bet. The Betway sports betting service is available in nine states (AZ, CO, IA, IN, LO, NJ, OH, PA, VA), where it offers several darts markets along with features such as live bets, cash out, Rewards program, and multiple ongoing player promotions.

Editors Note: Our experts have thoroughly checked all the sites we recommend to ensure they meet all your betting needs. However, if you want more detailed information on their features, support services, registration process, and so on, you can read our LowPlays sportsbooks reviews.

Types of Bets

The bet types available in the darts market are similar to what you find on any other sport, so you shouldn’t have any issue getting started. Some of the most popular betting markets you’ll encounter include:

Moneyline

In a moneyline bet, you place your wager on a player to win the match. The moneyline bet may also appear as a straight-match or match-winner bet on some sportsbooks or darts prediction sites.

Most darts tournaments follow a format where a winner must emerge at the end of a match, but there are some instances where a draw is a possible outcome. The Darts Premier League is one of the few tournaments that allow you to bet on a draw.

Outright Bets

The outright is a futures bet on a dart tournament where you place a wager on the player to win. You can find this option on all top sports betting sites like Caesars, where the outright bet markets for the PDC World Darts Championships look like this:

• Luke Littler +350
• Luke Humphries +350
• Michael van Gerwen +550
• Gerwyn Price +1000
• Michael Smith +1600
• Gary Anderson +2200

Handicap Betting

A handicap bet is a unique option that sportsbooks use to improve the odds and value of a match. It’s often used when a very high-ranked player is matched against a lower-ranked player.

For a handicap bet, your sportsbook will subtract or add a certain number of legs from the final score to determine the winner of the bet. For example, in a best of 11 legs match where the favorite has a -1.5 handicap, they need to win by 2 legs for the bet to go in their favor. So, a 6-3 (or 4.5-3) game counts as a win if you’re backing the favorites, but a 6-5 (or 4.5-5) game is a loss. 

Live Betting

The live bet, also known as the in-play bet, allows you to wager on an ongoing darts match. Unlike pre-match bets, live bets carry a higher risk since dart legs are very short and fast-paced, giving room for quick momentum swings.

DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel, and other top sports betting sites offer the in-play betting option, along with a cashout feature that lets you withdraw a portion of a losing bet before the end of the match.

Totals Betting

Also known as the over/under bet, the totals bet allows you to wager on the total number of legs it will take to complete a darts match. For instance, in a best of 11 game, a minimum of six legs is required to win the match. So, you can bet over 6.5 and win the bet if it takes 7 legs for a winner to emerge.

Prop Wagers

A prop wager is a bet on a specific event occurring in a match. The match’s outcome has nothing to do with a prop bet, which makes it possible for sportsbooks to provide many unique prop wagers for you to pick.

On sports betting sites, the player to get the first 180 and player to hit the most 180s are the most popular darts prop wagers available.

Complete History of Darts

Finding information on where and when darts was invented is more complex than many other sports. Different records show links to other sports like Archery and Javelin. Still, the most convincing evidence links the invention of darts to a game played by archers in the Middle Ages, which is supported by these facts:

• The belief that archery teachers used shorter arrows, similar to darts, to train students.
• The similarity between the early dartboards and the concentric circles used by archers for target practice.

Other popular records link the invention of darts to fairground games in the UK where individuals had to throw three darts to win prizes.

Game of Skill or Chance?

Although the popularity of darts was growing rapidly in the early 20th century, the future of this pub game was sealed the moment it was determined to be a game of skill rather than chance.

As with many other countries at the time, the UK government had implemented the Gaming Act 1848, which prohibited games of chance. With the growing popularity of darts in various pubs, the game would come under scrutiny when an Inn owner in Leeds, John Garside, was accused of promoting gambling by installing a dart board.

To prove that darts was, in fact, a game of skill, Jim Garside hired a proxy to throw darts at specified numbers and then asked if the Justices could do the same. Since no one could replicate the throws, darts was deemed to be a game of skill.

Notable Darts Organizations

Today, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) are the recognized bodies behind professional darts competitions. The BDO was established in 1973, but lack of media coverage for darts forced some members to leave and set up the PDC in 1992.

Other notable organizations in the history of darts include:

• The National Darts Association (NDA) was set up in 1925 to formulate rules to govern the game.
• National Darts Association of Great Britain (NDAGB) which stayed in control from 1954 until the early 1970s.

Darts In the Present Day

Darts is a simple game in which players throw darts on a board to reduce their score to zero.

In dart competitions, a game of 501 is the most common, but you can also have a game of 301, 401, 601, or any specified value.

To start the game, each player will throw a dart, and the closest to the Bull gets to throw first. A game requires a straight-in or double-in for scoring to start, and each player can throw three darts in a round. With each throwing round, the sum of the points earned by a player is deducted from the starting score, and this goes on until a player has a zero score. To get to zero on the scoreboard, a player is usually required to get a double out or, on rare occasions, a straight out.

To provide more context and improve your understanding of the game, here are some popular darts terms you should note:

• Legs: A single game in darts is a leg. In tournaments that use the leg format, players usually compete in a “best of” match. So, in a best of 11 legs, a player that wins six legs wins the game.
• Sets: A set in darts consists of several legs. A player must win more legs than the opponent to win a set.
• Straight In: This type of game doesn’t require any form of unique scoring, and your points immediately start counting from the first dart throw.
• Straight Out: This darts game doesn’t require a double or unique scoring to end the match. You can end the game by simply getting your score down to zero.
• Double In: In a double-in match, a player must throw a dart in the double score area for their score to start counting.
• Double Out: In a double out game, your winning shot must be a double that gets your score to zero.
• Bust: A bust occurs when your throw causes your score to be below zero. If this happens, your round immediately ends, and your score returns to the value before the bust.

Darts Notable Teams

Most events in the darts yearly schedule are individual events, with the World Cup of Darts appearing as the only team event. The World Cup of Darts is hosted by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), and 32 countries compete with teams of their two best players.

Darts Betting News

Darts Betting FAQs

When does the darts betting season start?

Unlike the NFL, which has a regular season starting in September, you can start betting on darts in January or any other month. In January, you can place bets on the World Championship or The Masters, February has the Premier League, the UK Open Finals is available in March, and more darts tournaments are available every month until December.

What is the single biggest darts betting event of the year?

The PDC World Championship is the largest darts betting event of the year. This event takes place from December to January, and the futures market for this event opens during the first half of the year on various sportsbooks.

Can darts bets be made during the preseason?

Most sportsbooks provide access to futures bets that allow you place wagers on various darts events before they commence. These offer massive payouts but require a lot of research on your part.