9 Darter: The perfect darts game explained

by Corinna

With a 9 Darter a player succeeds in playing the perfect game of darts. There are various ways in which this can be achieved. Especially during world championships the perfect game makes the fans cheer.

9 Darter: How to play the game successfully

Darts is becoming increasingly popular and is far more than just a leisure activity in a bar. A 9 darter is considered a particularly successful pass.

  • When throwing at a dartboard, you can score either single points, double points (for example Double 20) or triple points (for example Triple 20). In addition, 50 points are awarded for the Bulls Eye and 25 points for the Single Bull.
  • A player may throw three darts in succession at the board before his opponent’s turn.
  • Most of the time, the goal in darts is to go from 501 points to exactly 0 points, with the last throw landing in a double (double-out). The fastest way to achieve this is a game with 9 throws, the so-called 9 Darter. For this, a player therefore needs three times three throws.
  • To finish a game with exactly nine darts, there are a total of 71 possibilities.
  • One of these is the point combination 180, 180, 141. The first three darts must then, just like the second three attempts, all go into the field of the Triple 20 (60 points each). For the remaining 141 points, the triple 17 and the triple 20 (the order of these two hits does not matter) and finally the double 15 can be hit.

Famous 9 Darter

Because a 9 darter is the perfect game in darts, even professionals rarely manage it. Nevertheless, there have been a few legs with nine perfect darts that could be seen live on TV.

  • The first 9 darter to be seen live on TV was achieved by John Lowe in 1984, for which he also received $175,000.
  • Raymond van Barneveld reached the first 9-dart match in a World Championship in 2009 in the quarterfinals against Jelle Klaasen. At the following World Championship, but still in the same year, he managed the feat again. This time in the second round against Brendan Dolan. Both matches van Barneveld won.
  • 2011 Adrian Lewis managed a 9-dart finish. He did it in the final which he won against Gary Anderson.
  • The 2013 World Championship was the first time the fans could admire two 9 Darters in a World Championship. Dean Winstanley managed the feat in the second round against Vincent van der Voort. But he lost the match. Michael van Gerwen won his duel. He managed the 9 darter in the semi-finals against James Wade. But in the final he lost to Phil Taylor.
  • The World Championship 2022/2023, in which German Gabriel Clemens reached the semi-finals, ended in the final with a particularly spectacular leg. After Michael van Gerwen just missed the double 12 and after eight perfect darts missed a 9-darter, his opponent Michael Smith managed nine perfect darts with a triple 20, a triple 19 and a double 12 and a 9-darter.

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