Real reason why darts matches start on 501 and not 500

As the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship continues, some fans might be puzzled about the game's rules.

The scoring system of darts often leaves casual fans confused particularly around why does score starts at 501 and not 500. The reason is that round numbers aren't common in darts, hence the 501 starting score.

This unique rule makes the game more competitive. If darts started with an even number, players could simply aim for the 20 on the board to win without needing to hit an odd number.

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But starting with 501 forces players to move around the board and reduce their score in different ways, making it harder to win by hitting an odd number

One fan explained on Quora why darts games start at 501 and not 500. They said: "If you started on an even number, then all you need to do would be to hit the 20s (double, treble or single) until you reached zero."

They also mentioned the challenge of starting with an odd number: "Starting with an odd number and finishing with a double means you have to get to an even number - so you have hit an odd number before your last dart. It makes things more difficult."

Another fan pointed out that not all darts games begin at 501. They said: "FWIW [for what it's worth] before the professional circuit started, the normal game was 301, double start, double finish - no score until you hit a double!!."

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.

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