Stats
Darts Stats Explained
Two numbers describe most of a darts performance: the three-dart average, which measures scoring, and checkout percentage, which measures finishing. Everything else fills in detail. A player who is losing legs while averaging well has a finishing problem, not a scoring one.
The definitions
These are the standard definitions. They matter because a scoring app that computes them differently produces numbers you cannot compare with anyone else’s.
| Stat | How it is worked out |
|---|---|
| Three-dart average | Points scored ÷ darts thrown × 3 |
| First-nine average | Points from the first 9 darts of a leg ÷ 9 × 3 |
| Checkout percentage | Successful checkouts ÷ darts thrown at a double |
| Darts per leg | Darts thrown in a leg you won |
| 180s, 140+, 100+, 60+ | Count of visits whose total falls in each band |
| Doubles hit rate | Doubles hit ÷ doubles attempted |
| MPR (Cricket) | Total marks ÷ rounds |
Average measures scoring, not winning
The three-dart average counts every dart, including the ones you throw at a double and miss. Those darts score zero and sit in the denominator, so heavy double-missing pulls the average down.
But it pulls it down far less than it pulls down your results. Six darts missed at double 16 costs you maybe four points of average and costs you the leg outright. That gap is why checkout percentage is tracked separately rather than folded into one number.
Work out your own with the average calculator, which also converts it into darts per leg.
Checkout percentage, and how to count it honestly
The denominator is the part people get wrong. A dart at a double is any dart thrown while you were on a finish and attempting it — not one attempt per visit.
On 40, throwing three darts at double 20 and hitting the third is one checkout from three darts at a double: 33%. Counting it as one from one gives 100% and makes the statistic meaningless.
Rough bands: below 20% is a beginner, 25 to 33% is a solid club player, 35 to 40% is county standard, and the professional tour sits around 40 to 45%. Anything reported above 50% over a real sample is almost always a counting error.
First-nine average
Nine darts is three visits, and for most legs that is the phase where you are purely scoring — no checkout to think about, no leave to manage.
Because of that it is the cleanest measure of scoring power, and it is usually the highest number a player can quote about themselves. A professional first-nine average of 105 alongside a match average of 97 is entirely normal, and the difference is the cost of finishing.
MPR, for Cricket
Cricket has no points-based average, so marks per round does the same job. Every mark counts: a treble 20 on an open 20 is three marks, a single is one, the inner bull is two.
| MPR | Standard |
|---|---|
| Under 1.5 | Beginner |
| 1.5 – 2.0 | Casual |
| 2.0 – 2.5 | Club |
| 2.5 – 3.0 | Strong league |
| 3.0+ | County and above |
An MPR of 3.0 means a closed number every round on average, which in a two-player game is close to unbeatable. The Cricket rules page explains what those marks are doing.
What to actually track
If you record only two things, record darts thrown and darts at a double. Everything above can be derived from those plus the score, and neither requires you to interrupt your throw to write something down.
The band counts — 180s, 140+, 100+ — are more motivating than useful. They are worth having because players enjoy them, not because they tell you anything the average does not.
