301 vs 501 in darts

What is the difference between 301 and 501?

The start score, and usually nothing else. Visits of three darts, busts, the double out finish and the bogey numbers are the same in both, as set out in how to keep score in darts. What changes is the length of a leg and, depending on the house, the start rule:

When is 301 played, and when 501?

501 is the game of record. WDF and PDC events play it straight in, double out, so it is the one to learn first, and the nine-dart finish, the perfect leg, is measured in 501.

301 suits a shorter game: a quick match while others wait for the board, a warm-up before league night, or a best-of-many session where 501 legs would take too long. The x01 family has longer starts as well, most commonly 701 and 1001; a bigger start just means a longer leg.

Is 301 played double in?

Often. 301 has a long tradition of being played double in, double out, so your score does not start coming down until you hit a double or the bullseye. Other groups play it straight in like 501, and soft-tip leagues on electronic boards often play their 01 games open in, open out, where any dart starts and any dart finishes. Agree the rules before the first dart.

Double in matters most on the first visit. A first visit of 20, double 20, T20 scores 100, not 120: the single 20 came before the double, so only the double and the treble count, and 301 becomes 201. It does not change the fewest darts: double 20, T20, T20 makes 160, and T20, T19, double 12 checks out the last 141, six darts either way. Double out vs straight out sets out every start and finish rule.

How long does a leg of 301 or 501 take?

At the top end, a leg of 501 takes at least 9 darts, because even eight treble 20s make only 480. A leg of 301 takes at least six: five treble 20s make only 300, and 180 followed by T20, 11, bullseye does it in six.

For everyone else, your 3-dart average tells you. The average is the points you score per visit, and when you win a leg the points you scored are exactly the start score. So the visits a leg takes are roughly the start score divided by your average. Visits come in whole numbers, so the table gives the two either side:

301 is 60% of 501, so at any average a leg of 301 takes about 40% fewer visits. Both players throw in turn, so a leg runs to roughly twice the winner's visits. If the average comes from real games, busts and missed doubles are already in it, because a bust counts as a visit that scored 0.

A leg of 301, visit by visit

Here is a leg of 301, straight in, double out, between Alex and Sam:

Alex wins in four visits. Counted per visit, as the app counts it, that is a 3-dart average of 75.25 for the leg. At that average a leg of 501 takes six or seven visits.