why does the game of darts and dart leagues seem confined to bars and pubs. i think it limits the growth of the sport. I would like to see darts played in places other venues that are not breeding grounds for disorderly conduct, jealous boyfriends, and extra loud music that sucks. Also, places that could encourage youth play. PLaces such as bookstores and coffee shops. what you guys think? where's a place that you frequent that you'd like to see a darts encouraged?

Well in the U.K. darts was always associated with pubs because it was classed as a pub game.

At one time in the early 1900's it was thought it was a gambling game which was not allowed at the time. There was a famous court case where it was proven that it was a game of skill and not chance, so it was allowed to continue, and has been in pubs ever since.

There is not as many traditional pubs as there used to be so not all will have a dart board in them now, but it still has that association of a pub game.

There has been dedicated snooker halls in the U.K. for sometime now and they have recently added darts zones too, these are run by Rileys in the U.K. but the idea of a dedicated darts saloon is not a new one as this pic from 1938 in London shows:

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Also I think some schools have allowed dartboards as a way of helping kids with there maths.

Great post and a very good subject. why not church leagues ? or Boy scouts, girl scouts and the such? I like it.

Schools are also taking it up as part of Maths classes. My Daughter's school is one of those that advocate it in good use of Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction which I think is a very good idea.

Rileys is probably the only place I can think of that's not seen as a "traditional" pub, but still has a bar obviously. Although in my particular club you don't see any loutish behaviour (especially when I'm working) as I just wouldn't put up with it.

We also run purely U21's Tournaments were all 6 boards are put aside purely for the competition so no annoying people playing next to you whilst you're trying to play in the comp. What I do tend to find though with most (not all ) younger players is that after a while they get board and start messing around. This leads to the boards getting damaged and also makes us wary of other youngsters using the boards.

all great ideas..i like the emphasis on math

I was in Venice a few years ago and stumbled into what I thought was a Japanese bar, only small like a shop, counter at the front but it was a dart bar, there were about 8 boards set up, you could get a drink, hire darts at the counter, even buy snacks, each dart booth had a table, couple chairs set back - thought it was a great idea but couldn't see it catching on in here in the UK.

It was called 'Shooter' and was just off St Paul's square if anyone ever gets over there.

In Australia, darts is usually played in a big hall with over 20 Dartboards in it.
Some darts are played in pubs, but with very small leagues, if any.

x2v wrote:

In Australia, darts is usually played in a big hall with over 20 Dartboards in it.
Some darts are played in pubs, but with very small leagues, if any.

Most leagues in Australia play in Returned Services League Clubs or Rugby Clubs. Kind of huge multistory pubs with food, entertainment, snooker tables, the occasional dart board and 2000 poker machines.
I play for Asquith Leagues in the Balmain Darts League
http://www.balmaindarts.com/currentresults.htm
some other leagues that i know of
http://mwdda.com.au/
http://www.sydneywesterndarts.com/

Try to play in DPA tournaments but they are either too far away or always seem to be on when i'm working. only made one this year so far.
Played in the inaugural Bondi Junction Tourament with around 80 players which was a great day. Got to the last 8 and gotten beaten by a ex-team mate who then got beaten by a current team mate who got beaten by an Irishman with about a 30+ average.

It's almost all bars in this area, and even though I smoke, I'd like to quit and don't like being in places that allow smoking. I'd love to see some more family friendly venues, but doesn't look likely. It's definitely seen as a working class, bar game here.

I can see soft-tip being more readily accepted as (theoretically) there's less chance for serious injury and it features shiny, noisey machines like video games that would probably get a younger crowd interested, but the cost of play makes it prohibitive so growth is pretty slow.

It's a conundrum indeed.

zappaluv wrote:

Try to play in DPA tournaments but they are either too far away or always seem to be on when i'm working. only made one this year so far.
Played in the inaugural Bondi Junction Tourament with around 80 players which was a great day. Got to the last 8 and gotten beaten by a ex-team mate who then got beaten by a current team mate who got beaten by an Irishman with about a 30+ average.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I would have entered most of the DPA tournaments if it wasn't for the travel distances.
Unfortunately I lived in Victoria, so It wasn't easy to get to them.
Had some success, got into the last 16 once.
I remember in one tournament I was unlucky enough to be drawn against Simon Whitlock twice. It was a great experience though.

Wonderful topic! It's very interesting and I'm a bit dumbstruck that I haven't given it thought before. How about bowling alleys? I've seen them in a couple, but I'm sure the idea could be expanded. They're struggling with the decline in popularity of bowling and arcade rooms. Put up 4 boards, try to recruit an in-house league or join other bowling alleys in an area and form a league? How about local sports and recreation centers like the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, JCA, etc. Many probably have an unused room or space to put one or two boards up. They could have organized teaching classes if they could find one or two experienced darters to volunteer. The Boy and Girl Scouts could be a great place to introduce the game to youngsters, but I don't know that our Nanny State would allow it. I remember playing lawn darts when I was a cub scout; before they were practically banned. Except in the largest cities, I don't think a single purpose darts saloon could stay in business here in the U.S.

Hmm Bowling Alleys is a good idea, but maybe they dont want people to be distracted from the bowling? Having said that the ones over here usually have a games arcade in them too.

around here the main places to play darts are legions which were originally veterans members clubs. since there aren't many veterans frequenting the legions as often, membership has severely declined and unfortunately a lot of legions are facing a tough time keeping their doors open. the legions here sound very similar to the aussie ones. always a hall/pub with a bar, billiards, dance floor, kitchen and dart boards. the smaller legions in my area have maybe 10 boards while the biggest one has over 30. the legion i play league in has about 16 dart boards but we only use 10 on league night. legions around here need to start attracting younger people to come in and take advantage of them (cheapest drinks in town!) or they may start closing them which would be a shame. i know for a fact our legion makes their largest bar tab of the week off of our dart league nights, but for some reason the legion executives don't give a shit about the dart league. we just got new boards installed a few weeks ago and one guy from the league had to do all the fundraising himself through local sponsorship, the legion wouldn't even give us a cent. although the legions aren't as much of an "old boys" club anymore, they are still being run by the old boy mentality.

unfortunately there aren't any pubs around here with dart boards (at least not to my knowledge). the closest pub with dart boards is about a 40 minute drive away. there is a pub/restaurant about a 20 minute drive away that has 3 or 4 dartboards set up, but for some reason no one is allowed to play darts there. my dad and i went one saturday evening at around 8 oclock and asked if we could have the lights turned on for the boards, the lady running the bar flatly told us "no". there were literally 4 people in the bar and they were no where near the dart boards, but she still wouldn't let us play. so we went to the town's legion instead haha.



i don't know where, but i would like to see more public places around here to play darts. unfortunately darts isn't very popular up here, there are a fair number of decent players but thats because they all practice together haha. i'd be happy just to have a bar or pub with dart boards, but we pretty much only have legions which don't have the same welcoming "vibe" as a bar or tavern does.

Rebel wrote:

I was in Venice a few years ago and stumbled into what I thought was a Japanese bar, only small like a shop, counter at the front but it was a dart bar, there were about 8 boards set up, you could get a drink, hire darts at the counter, even buy snacks, each dart booth had a table, couple chairs set back - thought it was a great idea but couldn't see it catching on in here in the UK.

It was called 'Shooter' and was just off St Paul's square if anyone ever gets over there.

This sounds really intriguing. I get the impression it was kind of like a coffee bar? A bit subdued and laid-back? Were the booths separated from each other by wooden dividers? I can envision a set-up that might be successful here in the U.S. If you put it in a large city; in a neighborhood with a large young adult/hipster population. It might work in a large university town. Make it kind of upscale; lots of rich, dark wood, soft lighting-except on the boards, 4 dart booths each on opposite walls, left and right as you walk in. Hipster music playing at a comfortable decibel. Small bar in front or at back. Three or four good beers, three or four wines, cappuccino, maybe a couple simple cocktails offered. Light pub fare. Small high-top table with two chairs at each booth. If there was room, a few other tables/chairs in the middle between the dart booths. A strip of brass screwed down to wood floors for throwing lines. Black acrylic scoreboards with white dry erase markers. Sounds awesome to me.

thats exactly the kind of thing i was thinkin-good one oche!