The nine-dart finish

How many ways can 501 be finished in nine darts? Every one, counted by the app’s own rules: the doubles they end on, the visits and the sets of darts.

Last updated: 12 October 2026

From 501, there are 3,944 ways to win a leg in nine darts, and 2,296 of them end on the bull.

A nine-dart finish, or nine-darter, is a leg of 501 won in nine darts: three visits, and not one dart wasted. No leg can take fewer, so it is the perfect leg.

Why nine is the fewest

No dart scores more than 60, the treble 20. Eight of them make 480 and leave 21, and a leg has to end on a double, which 21 can never be. So eight darts are never enough, and nine are — but only just.

Nine treble 20s would make 540. A nine-darter can fall short of that by 39 and no more, and the double at the end takes at least 10 of the 39 on its own: the bull, the best of them, is worth 50. Its three-dart average is 167, the highest a leg of 501 can have.

How every one is counted

The count above and the tables below come from the code that scores a game in the app. It starts at 501, tries each of the 62 scoring darts, and sends every dart through the rule that decides a bust and a finish. It keeps each leg that ends with the ninth dart on a double.

Two finishes are different when any dart differs at any point, so T20 T20 T19 and T19 T20 T20 are two ways, though they score the same. No nine-darter holds a bust, since a bust scores nothing, and none can finish before its ninth dart. So each one is three full visits.

The game is the usual one: 501, straight in, double out. The bull counts as a double, worth 50.

Where they end

Only six doubles can end a nine-darter: the bull, D20, D18, D17, D15 and D12. The eight darts before the last have to leave one of them, and no eight darts can leave any other.

More than half of all the ways end on the bull. With the bull to finish, the eight darts before it must make 451, which is 29 short of eight treble 20s, and there are many ways to be 29 short. D12 is the other end: it needs seven treble 20s and one treble 19, so the only choice is where the 19 goes.

The visits

The second table lists every way three visits can add up to 501 in nine darts, with how many finishes each one has. The best known is 180, 180 and then 141 — T20, T19, D12. As a pattern, though, it has the fewest ways of all, 20, because a 180 can be thrown only one way. The most, 162, belong to 177, 174, 150, and to the same visits with the first two swapped.

The last visit is always a checkout of 141 to 170, and 170 is T20, T20, bull — the biggest checkout there is. So the first two visits make 331 to 360 between them.

The sets of darts

Put the order aside, and a nine-darter is a set: eight darts, and the double they end on. The third table gives each set with the number of orders its eight darts can come in. The biggest, with 840 orders, is four treble 20s, a treble 19, a treble 18 and two bulls, with the bull to finish.

Practising for one

No drill throws a nine-darter, but its parts can be practised. The first six darts are trebles, mostly the 20. The last visit is a big checkout, and five of the twenty in the app’s Checkout practice can end a nine-darter: 170, 167, 161, 160 and 141.

Every checkout from 170 down →

How to finish a leg of 501 →

Common questions

Why can 501 not be finished in eight darts?

Eight treble 20s are the most eight darts can score, and they make 480. That leaves 21, and a leg has to end on a double, which 21 is not. So nine darts is the fewest.

Which double do most nine-darters end on?

The bull: more than half of all the ways finish on it. Only six doubles can end one at all — the bull, D20, D18, D17, D15 and D12.

Is 180, 180, 141 the most common nine-darter?

It is the best known, because its first six darts are all treble 20s, which is where a player aims anyway. As a pattern, though, it has the fewest ways: 20. The patterns with the most are 177, 174, 150 and 174, 177, 150, with 162 each.

Does the order of the darts matter?

Yes. Two nine-darters are different when any dart differs at any point, so T20 T20 T19 and T19 T20 T20 are two ways. That is how the total on this page is counted.