Weird & Different Games

[brenthahn]

Not sure if this is the right area for this, but I thought you folks might be interested, and have some more of your own.

At a joint called Scotland Yard in Canoga Park, California (suburb of LA), they play in interesting variation of cricket.

No slop, and you can only point if you're either behind on points or you "inadvertently" close a number and get extras. For example, assuming 20's aren't closed, you throw single 20, single 20, triple 20, netting you 40 points. And then, even though you're up on points, if you then hit single 19, single 19, triple 19, you get 38 more.

So the incentive is to hit a double with your first dart and a triple with your second to maximize your points.

I think it's very interesting and challenging. What oddball games do they have in your neighborhood?

[Getagrip]

I have never played Cricket, not the American version, but there is hundreds of games that can be played on a board, your really only limited by your imagination.

I have a book somewhere with lots in, will see if I can find it.

[brenthahn]

I have never played Cricket, not the American version...

That never occurred to me! Around here, it's the team game that gets played most often in casual pub play, and a lot of the players are Brits or Irish. When I was first starting out (not that long ago) I watched all those ancient and charming John Lowe videos and I was kind of surprised when at one point he referred to "... the new and somewhat controversial game of American Cricket..."

Then again, in the back part of George Silberzahn's book all those guys seem to have played almost nothing other than Baseball, and I have no clue how to play that.

When in Rome...

[gumbo2176]

I think the majority of dart players in the UK would enjoy Cricket as it is played in America. It is more than a skill game as it involves strategy to finish an opponent. Unlike 501 that is played the majority of the time where pounding the board for as many points per turn to get to an out, in Cricket, sometimes all it takes is 3 well placed singles in needed numbers between 20-15 + Bull.

I scored a very close match of Super Cricket ( 20 through 12 + Bulls) last Tuesday for a playoff advancement and it got down to one team needing a 25 (single bull) to take the point lead and 2 in the 12's to close the last number and win the game. The guy hit it exactly as needed to win 10-7 and advance to this Tuesday's match. Oh, and both teams had over 500 points scored and I've scored and played in games where it reached over 1,000 points each.

[jamie373]

cricket is what attracts me most to the soft tip game. watching darts live i find it far more interesting than watching straight 01 legs

[brenthahn]

... watching darts live i find it far more interesting than watching straight 01 legs

Agreed. I suspect that 501 is the standard TV game largely because the time it takes is fairly predictable.

[gumbo2176]

... watching darts live i find it far more interesting than watching straight 01 legs

Agreed. I suspect that 501 is the standard TV game largely because the time it takes is fairly predictable.

That's a very valid point. Most 501 games are over in a few minutes when the pros get after it. With 2 equally talented players, Cricket can last much longer when points are involved. At top level, you better hit between 6-9 marks per turn or you are going to lose, and lose badly.

There are some monster Cricket players in the local Platinum league. A game I played right before my shoulder started giving me trouble a year ago went like this. I remember it vividly because I've never been beaten so quickly in my life.

I got a 25 (single bull), he hit a red eye to take the cork.

Opponent hits S-20, T-20, T-19. Closes 20 & 19 + 20 pts.
I hit S-18x2 and T-18 to close 18 and score 36
Opponent hits T-18, T-17x2 to close 18 & 17 and now has 71 pts.
I hit T-16, S-16x2 to close 16 and now have a total of 68 pts.
Opponent hits T-16, T-15, S-B and only needs 2 bulls to win.
I only hit 1 bull and handwriting's on the wall.
He takes the game in 2 darts on bull

He finished in 11 darts and left me in his wake, and never missed a dart at the numbers he threw at. We played one more game and it went 3 darts longer on his end, but he won decisively.

[brenthahn]

You threw well and played a perfect strategic game and still got creamed. Ouch.

When I'm on the sidelines nursing a beer and waiting for my turn, I'd much rather be watching a hotly contested game of cricket than an '01. Nothing more entertaining than a down-to-the-wire bull fest.

[jamie373]

[gumbo2176]

You threw well and played a perfect strategic game and still got creamed. Ouch.

When I'm on the sidelines nursing a beer and waiting for my turn, I'd much rather be watching a hotly contested game of cricket than an '01. Nothing more entertaining than a down-to-the-wire bull fest.

I don't mind scoring matches and one night I was in a bar and the same guy that creamed me was up against an equally talented player. I scored their match and had to erase the points side of the chalk board to keep a running tally of their point total as they added up. It was not a match to score if mathematically challenged as the pace was quick and the points were high. I got the birds eye view of the darts that night.

[DIRTY G]

KILLER ON THE BULL

This is a game I made up based on the game of killer but only involves the bull, It is only a two player game and can be over in two darts or carry on like a slug fest.
scoring is 1 point for a single bull and 2 for a double bull, The aim of the game is to get 3 points (marks) to become a KILLER any additional points are subtracted off your opponent, so if your opponent is on 1 point and you hit a 1 mark they are back to zero and are still in the game, You need to get them under zero points to kill them.

The way I start the game is to throw closest to the bull with your bad hand and if you manage to hit any bull then you start with that amount of points.

Its a lot of fun and is played quite often now in our club for a quick warm up or to sneak a quick game in in between some drunken 01 debacles. <---after the serious darts has finished of course.

[Donkey]

How does the "real" killer go? I thought we played the normal one until I found some on google that you used only the doubles...?

[Mac Aindriú]

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I started playing American darts back in the late 1960's, I played baseball once, it was kind of a long drawled out game (nine innings).I worked backed then for a newspaper and we had a forty five minute lunch just enough time for a quick sandwich and a game of darts, the bar had two American boards. The preferred choice were short three innings games, like six, eleven, cork (bull), you shot at the six frame first and then the eleven and the cork last. The treble counts as a three a double is two and a single as one the cork (bull) was either a three or five. Split darts was also popular, games like 12, 20, 18 or 2,3, 7, first time up one dart was throw at 12 second time up you threw at 20 and so on, all games you needed to have five or better to score.
When I get bored practicing I play a little 6, 11, cork English style, one dart at the sixth frame one at the eleven the last at the bull, three times. The outer bull is two points the inner is three points, same rules as above, five or better to score.