Everyone starts on 501 and races down to exactly zero. Whatever you score comes off your total.
Your turn
You throw three darts, then press Score It. Two ways to enter them:
The calculator — punch in the turn total. Hit 60, 60 and 41? Type 60+60+41, or just 161. The quick keys down the sides cover the usual suspects (26, 41, 45, 57, 60, 80, 100, 180).
The board — press 🎯 Dart Board and tap where each dart actually landed. Slower to enter, but it feeds your double-out and per-dart stats.
Walk through one
You are on 501. You throw T20, T20, 20 — that is 140, so you drop to 361. Next turn 100 leaves 261, then 60 leaves 201.
Finishing (the double out)
The dart that takes you to zero must be a double — the thin outer ring, or the Double Bull.
Say you are left on 121. The gold suggestion at the top of the calculator shows one way home: T20 (leaves 61), T11 (leaves 28), D14 — zero. Game shot.
When a finish is on, three darts light up beside your score. Tap the one you went out with — dart 2 if it took you two darts. That is what makes your 3-dart average honest.
Busting
Score past zero, or leave yourself on 1, and the turn is a bust: the whole turn is wiped and you go back to the score you started it on. (1 is a bust because there is no double that finishes it.)
So on 40, throwing a 25 leaves 15 — fine. Throwing a 45 busts you straight back to 40.
Good to know
Leave yourself an even number when you can — 40, 32, 24, 16 all finish on one dart. Being left on 9 or 17 means an extra dart just to set up the double.
501 keeping score in Dart Keeper
How to win at 501
Score heavy, then set up the finish. Most of a 501 leg is spent on the treble 20. When the 20 bed gets crowded, the treble 19 is the standard switch — it sits next to the 7 and 3, so misses still score reasonably.
Think one turn ahead from about 170 down. 170 (T20, T20, Bull) is the biggest three-dart finish. Below that, aim to leave yourself a number you can check out, and ideally one that leaves a double even if a dart drifts.
Leave even numbers. 40 (double 20), 32 (double 16) and 16 (double 8) are the favourites because a miss into the single halves the number and leaves another double — 32 missed into single 16 leaves 16, still a double.
Avoid odd leftovers when you can. Left on 9 or 17 you must spend a dart setting up a double. Left on 1 you have busted.
Variations and house rules
Dart Keeper plays standard 501 with a double out. Other formats you will see:
Straight out (single out). Any dart that reaches exactly zero wins — common for beginners and casual games.
Master out. The finishing dart may be a double or a treble.
Legs and sets. Matches are played as a number of legs, or sets of legs — the professional format. Dart Keeper can track a match over several legs.
Double in. Needing a double to start scoring is standard in 301 rather than 501; Dart Keeper applies double-in to 301.
501 questions
Do you have to finish on a double in 501?
In the standard game, yes — the dart that reaches zero must be a double, and the bull's-eye counts as double 25. Casual games sometimes allow any finish.
What is a bust in 501?
Scoring more than you need, leaving exactly 1, or reaching zero without a double. The whole turn is cancelled and your score returns to what it was before the turn.
What is the highest checkout in darts?
170: treble 20, treble 20, bull's-eye. Some numbers below 170 — 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159 — cannot be finished in three darts.
What is the fewest darts to win 501?
Nine — the "nine-darter", for example T20 ×6, then T20, T19, D12.
DART KEEPER
