Darts games beyond 501: Cricket, Killer, Shanghai and Halve-It

How to play Cricket, Killer, Shanghai and Halve-It, the darts games every pub knows, with the house rules that change from one board to the next.

Last updated: 12 October 2026

Not every game of darts starts at 501. These four are played in pubs and clubs everywhere, between legs of the real thing or when there are more players than a match needs. 9Darts does not score any of them: it plays 301, 501, Around the World and its drills. They are here so the rules are written down, with the house rules that change from one board to the next.

Cricket: close the numbers

Cricket uses seven targets: the numbers 15 to 20 and the bull. Each one has to be hit three times to close it. A single counts as one hit, a double as two and a treble as three; the outer bull counts as one and the bull as two.

Once you have closed a number, every further hit on it scores its value — but only while your opponent has not closed it too. When both of you have closed a number, it is dead, and nobody scores on it.

You win by closing all seven with at least as many points as your opponent. Close everything while behind on points, and you have to keep scoring on whatever your opponent has left open. Two variants change the scoring:

• Cut-throat: your points go to the opponents who have not closed the number, and the lowest score wins. It suits three or more players.
• No points: the first to close all seven wins, and nothing is scored.

Killer: three lives each

Killer is for three players or more. Each player throws one dart with the hand they do not throw with, and the number it lands in is theirs for the game. Two players on the same number throw again.

First you have to hit the double of your own number. That makes you a killer, and a K goes beside your name. Until then you cannot take anybody’s lives, though a killer can take yours.

A killer aims at the other players’ doubles. Each hit takes a life, and everybody starts with three. Lose them all and you are out. The last player with a life left wins. The house rules vary most here:

• Lives: three is usual, and five makes a longer game.
• Your own double: on many boards, a killer who hits their own double loses a life.
• The whole number: some boards count any part of a player’s number, a single taking one life, a double two and a treble three.

Shanghai: one number a round

Shanghai is played in rounds, one number a round: the 1 in the first round, the 2 in the second, and so on. Only darts in that round’s number count, at their value, so a treble 4 in the fourth round scores 12. Seven rounds is usual, and some play all twenty. The highest total at the end wins.

Hit a single, a double and a treble of the round’s number in one visit, in any order, and that is a Shanghai: it wins the game on the spot.

Halve-It: hit it, or lose half

Halve-It is a list of targets, one a round, written on the chalkboard before the game starts. A list might be 20, 16, any double, 17, any treble, 18 and the bull — every pub has its own.

Each round, every player throws three darts at the target, and whatever hits it is added to their score. Miss it with all three, and your score so far is cut in half. The highest score after the last round wins.

Halving costs most late in the game, when the score is big, so a hard target near the end, such as the bull, can turn the game round. Two things to agree on first:

• Targets: numbers, any double, any treble, the bull, or a total — exactly 41 from three darts, say.
• Halving an odd score: round it down or up, as the board decides before the first dart.

Why 9Darts does not score them

Each of these games keeps its score in its own shape: marks on seven targets, lives, a round’s number, a list on the wall. Each also comes with house rules that a scorer would have to ask about first. 9Darts does 301, 501 and its drills well rather than everything a little, and for these a chalkboard still does the job.

The rules of the games the app does score →

Around the World and the drills →

Common questions

Does 9Darts score Cricket?

No. It scores 301, 501, Around the World and its practice drills. Cricket, Killer, Shanghai and Halve-It are on this page so their rules are written down, not because the app plays them.

How many players does Killer need?

Three at least, and it is better with more. With two it is a race to hit the other player’s double three times.

What is a Shanghai in darts?

A single, a double and a treble of the same number in one visit. In the game of Shanghai, throwing one in the round’s number wins the game at once.

What happens in Halve-It if you miss?

If none of your three darts hits the round’s target, your score so far is halved. Whether an odd score rounds up or down is a house rule.