Three measurements define a legal steel-tip setup. The World Darts Federation adopted them in 1977 and they have not changed since. The centre of the bullseye goes 1.73 metres from the floor, which is 5 feet 8 inches. The oche goes 2.37 metres back, or 7 feet 9 and a quarter inches. Measure that from the face of the board, not the wall behind it. The third number checks the other two. The diagonal from the bullseye down to the front edge of the oche should measure 2.93 metres. If that is out, one of the first two is wrong.
The face-not-wall detail is the one that catches out home and pub setups. A bristle board is around 40 millimetres thick. Measure to the wall and you leave yourself standing 40 millimetres too close, on every throw, for years.
Height is the measurement that changes your game most. A board hung five centimetres low flattens your throw. You will still hit things, and you will build muscle memory for a board that does not exist anywhere else. This is why a pub average is worth very little. Score 60 a visit on a board hung by eye, then throw on a correct setup, and the number usually drops.
Space matters as well. The standard setup guidance calls for at least 600 millimetres of clear wall either side of the board. You also want a couple of metres behind the oche, so nobody moves through your eyeline as you throw. A board squeezed beside a walkway is the reason so many pub throws get rushed.
Steel tip or soft tip: what changes between them
Steel tip is the traditional format: metal points thrown into a sisal board, with scoring done by a person or a phone app. Soft tip uses plastic points and an electronic board full of small holes, and the machine keeps score for you.
Weight is the clearest difference between them. The World Darts Federation allows a steel-tip dart up to 50 grams, though nobody throws anywhere near that. Most players sit between 21 and 26 grams. The Professional Darts Corporation runs a tighter limit again, at 40 grams and 200 millimetres in length. Soft-tip darts have to be lighter because the electronics will not survive heavy ones. Common weights are 16 to 20 grams, and soft-tip tournament rules cap the assembled dart at 25 grams.
The throw distance changes too. Soft tip is played from 2.44 metres, a full 8 feet, a standard set by the American Dart Association. That is seven centimetres further back than steel tip. It sounds like nothing. Switch between the two in one night and your first few visits will feel long.
Sydney runs both formats. The soft-tip machines sit mostly in the CBD, at venues like Dartsman on the corner of George and Liverpool Streets. Flight Club in The Rocks uses its own tracking technology, which is a third thing again. Steel-tip boards are what pubs, league clubs and dedicated darts rooms use.
Choose soft tip if you never want to do the arithmetic and you like seeing your numbers afterwards. Choose steel tip if there is any chance you will play competitively later, because league darts in NSW is played on steel.
What a first proper night of darts looks like
501 is the standard game. Both players start on 501 points. You throw three darts, which is called a visit, subtract what you scored, and the first player to land exactly on zero wins. The final dart has to land in a double, the thin outer ring. One completed game is a leg.
The double finish is what makes darts a game rather than a scoring contest. You can be 300 points ahead and still lose, because getting from 40 down to zero needs one specific dart in one specific bed.
Expect to be slow at first. A beginner’s three-dart average sits around 30 to 40 points. That means a leg of 501 takes more than 40 darts, or roughly 14 visits each. Between two beginners a leg runs eight to ten minutes once you count walking up and pulling darts out. A regular pub player averages closer to 50. Professionals average 95 to 105 across a full match.
Six people on two boards works better as doubles than as singles. Three to a board, winner stays on, keeps everyone throwing instead of watching. If half the group has never played, Around the Clock is a better opener than 501. Hit 1, then 2, then 3, in order, first to 20. It teaches the board layout without anyone doing subtraction in their head.
Be ready for a first night on a correct setup to feel worse than the pub. The oche is further back than you are used to, the light is brighter, and the scoring is honest. A good board will not make you better overnight. What it does is make practice mean something, because the same throw produces the same result every time.
Where to play darts in Sydney
There are four kinds of darts venue in Sydney and they are not interchangeable.
The pub board is free, needs no booking, and is where most people play. It is also the least likely to be hung correctly. There is usually only one of them, and it is often placed where people walk past. Fine for a couple of legs. Not somewhere you will improve.
If darts is part of a bigger night out, some venues combine it with other games. Our guide to bars with pool tables in Sydney covers another option for finding that kind of venue.
Social darts bars are the newest option and the most visible. Flight Club in The Rocks is the clearest example. Twelve throwing bays, automated scoring, table service, and game formats built so people who have never thrown a dart still enjoy the night. It does that job very well. It is a night out with darts in it rather than a darts night, and the fit-out is reflected in the price. Under-18s are allowed before 6pm.
Soft-tip machine venues sit in between. Dartsman in the CBD is the long-running one, with DARTSLIVE machines that record every throw against a player card. If you like data and want to watch your average move over months, this format gives you that without needing a scorer.
Dedicated steel-tip rooms inside licensed venues are the option most people do not know exists. Boards set to spec, lighting built for the board rather than the room, and space behind the oche. Hire is by the hour, so you can keep playing without holding up a queue. This is what most people are after when they search for a darts club near them: proper boards, no trial night, and a bar.
One thing worth knowing before you start ringing around. The directory at playdarts.com.au maps darting venues within 50 kilometres of the Sydney CBD, including league clubs that are invisible from the street.
Darts at Club9, North Strathfield
Club9 sits on Level 1 at 9 George Street in the Bakehouse Quarter, North Strathfield. The steel-tip boards sit in custom-built darts lanes, not bolted to a wall in the corner of a bar. These dedicated darts lanes are set up for proper play, with lighting aimed at the board face and room to stand back behind the oche.
It is a licensed venue with a kitchen, so a session can carry on past the point where people want food and drink. That is usually where a pub darts night ends. Equipment hires by the hour, with cheaper daytime rates and a discount for members. Walk-ins are welcome, and everyone signs in at the front desk terminal on arrival.
Getting there without a car is easy. North Strathfield station is a short walk away, and the Bakehouse Quarter carparks give two hours free.
Weekend nights are the constraint. Friday and Saturday boards go first, so booking ahead matters far more than it does on a Tuesday.
How to go from a casual throw to a league team
Darts in Sydney has a competition structure most social players never see. Once you are ready to move beyond casual games, darts tournaments are another way to test your gam The Balmain and Districts Amateur Darts Association has run for more than 60 years and fields teams from Balmain, Burwood, Drummoyne, Dundas, Gladesville, Glebe, Hunters Hill, Hornsby, North Ryde, Rozelle, Strathfield and West Ryde. It is a weeknight commitment played home and away, and most sides are looking for players rather than turning them away.
You do not need your own darts to start, because most venues lend a set. House darts get thrown by hundreds of people though, and bent flights send them off line. Your own set is the first upgrade that changes anything, and it does not need to be expensive. Most beginners land between 21 and 24 grams. Flights and stems are consumables that cost a few dollars and get replaced constantly, so the barrel is the part worth spending on.
If you want to practise rather than socialise, go on a weekday afternoon. Boards are free, hire rates are lower, and nobody is waiting behind you. Progress in darts comes from repetition at the same oche, not from big nights.
Book a lane through the darts page early in the week if you want a Friday or Saturday. Pick a set of house darts you can throw again next time.
