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Somewhere in a bar outside of Philly. Throwing at one of these:

...with one of these:

I still throw darts and I'll say it:

501, 301, and cricket are just stupid games.

Baseball - especially w/ variations like "3 to count, pull 2's" is far superior for me anyway.

In American darts, the blue is out of play, the skinny white is a 3, the red is a 2, and the interior white is a 1. I'll take turkey feathers over stupid plastic flights any day.

The skill at putting three darts into an area as tight as the double bullseye will never happen in American darts because the darts are too fat and there's no double bullseye anyway.

101, 301, 501, 1001, etc., forces throwers to be good at math. Throwers can get by with someone calling the numbers for them but that will only get them so far. Cricket also forces players to do the math.

There are plenty more games than 01 and Cricket. Killer is one.

Shanghai is another one and it makes Baseball look amateur. In addition to potentially using all of the numbers, it has the additional challenge of not starting on 1 each time like baseball. Throwers need to be able to start from anywhere.

As for the physical darts, there's something to be said for each thrower having their own darts: weight, balance, diameter (tungsten percent), shaft length, and other things such as hammer head points. Some throwers who are good enough to throw all three darts into a triple or a double bullseye appreciate spinner shafts.

There's a reason thousand of people go nuts watching English dart tournaments but few watch American darts.

It's a common cliffhanger to be playing 01, holding two darts with 3 remaining while your opponent is sitting on 32 remaining. You hit single 1 and double 1, or likely take the loss.

It's also great to see that rare 9-dart out in 501.

The best leg of all time in darts (1:34 length):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcL6bRdbO-4

Simon Whitlock goes out from 150 with three double bullseyes (1:17 length).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2H1BhYJmDg

I'll take turkey feathers over stupid plastic flights any day.

I agree with almost all your post with the exception of turkey feathers. A tungsten carbide arrow with plastic flights is the best. However, the tungsten carbide arrow is small but of the same weight but requires a delicate touch in the exact right place on the arrow. It is superior in the hands of a skilled darts man. Alas, not in my hands.

I worked in the Middle East for years with many UK companies and all had their clubs and darts and alcohol which was not legal in some nations. Oddly, the local authorities turned a blind eye to such with one simple rule, "drink it in your premises and do not sell it to a muslim. It worked. In Oman we just registered with state provider of alcohol as a Christian and were allowed to buy such on a limited amount. The limited amount was very adequate.