1-17-14 Afternoon OT

American Darts From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American Darts is a regional variant of the game (most U.S. dart players play the traditional "English" style darts). This style of dart board is most often found in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New York state. American Darts originated in eastern Pennsylvania in the early 20th century; this style of darts was first played in both the Philadelphia area and the coal regions of northeastern PA.

A "Widdy" American Dart Board, located in Manasquan Beach, NJ.




There are a number of differences between an "American" board and a traditional "English" board. American Darts uses a board made of basswood, using the end grain. High-quality boards have rotatable centers that can be turned so the board will wear more evenly.

Embedded in the board are thin steel wires that separate the board into scoring sections, as opposed to the wider steel dividers placed onto the surface of traditional boards. On those English boards, the wider steel makes it much more likely that the dart will hit the steel divider and bounce off onto the floor. Since the dividers on an American board are much thinner (usually around 1/100 of inch), and they are completely pressed into the surface, it is extremely unlikely that the dart will bounce off from hitting the steel.

The scoring areas on an American Darts are also laid out differently from an English board. The center bullseye (or cork) on an American board is one section; there is no "inner" and "outer" bullseye. Additionally, unlike the traditional board, the triple ring is not halfway between the outer edge and the bullseye; rather triple is itself on the outer edge, and the double ring is directly adjacent to it, just inside the triple ring. The remainder of the board is the single scoring area. The bullseye is colored red, the single area is uncolored, the double ring is red, and the outermost triple ring is uncolored. The entire scoring area is bounded by a large out-of-bounds blue ring.

The number sequence (20, 1, 18, 4, etc.) is the same as on a traditional dart board.

Height and distance[edit]

An "American" board is mounted a few inches lower, and a few inches closer, than the more commonly seen "English" board. The center of the cork is 5' 3" from the floor.[1] The distance be set at 7' 3" from the back of the dartboard. This would result in a distance of 106.4" from the center of the cork to the throw line. On the other hand, the ABDA (American Baseball Darts Association) sets the distance at 7' 3" from the front of the board. This is 107.4" from the centre of the cork to the throw line.

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