What is Nine Dart Finish? Nine Dart Finish Explained in 2 minutes

What is a Nine-Dart Finish?

A nine-dart finish is the perfect leg of darts in which a player achieves the required 501 points to win with the fewest amount of darts – nine. It is the equivalent of a 147 break in snooker.

It is clear after the first few darts as to whether the nine-dart finish is on and is always an exciting event in any darts match.

This finish requires a treble 20 (60 points) on each of the first six darts and then there are a number of different combinations that can end up giving the player a nine-dart finish.

How is Nine-Dart Finish used in Sports Betting?

With the rise in the technical ability and skill of darts players, a nine-dart finish is more common these days than it used to be but it is still a relatively rare event and bettors usually get the chance to predict whether one will occur during a match.

If a darts tournament is televised there is usually an added incentive for the players to achieve a nine-dart finish with a cash prize for the feat. It is not necessarily the very best players that will perfect a nine-dart finish but two of the all time greats – Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen – were able to complete two nine-dart finishes in the same match.

Did you know…

Although the first televised nine-dart finish was by John Lowe back in 1984, the first perfect leg thrown at the BDO World Championship was by Paul Lim in 1990. The relatively unknown player picked up a cheque for £52,000 for his achievement – more than double the amount that Phil Taylor received for winning the entire tournament.

See also

First Dart of the Match

First Dart Treble 20

First Leg Winning Checkout

Highest Checkout

Next Leg 180