Darts Checkout Calculator

What a checkout is — and why the double matters

A leg of 501 ends when you reduce your score to exactly zero, and under the standard double-out rule the dart that gets you there must land in a double — the thin outer ring — or the inner bullseye, which counts as double 25. A checkout is any combination of one, two or three darts that does it. Get the maths wrong — drop past zero, hit zero on a single, or leave yourself exactly 1 — and the visit is a bust: every dart of the turn is wiped and your score resets. That is why players plan the whole route before the first dart, not after the second.

Why 170 is the maximum

The biggest three-dart finish is T20, T20, Bull — 60 + 60 + 50 = 170, the famous "big fish". Nothing higher works, because 50 is the largest double on the board and 60 the most a single dart can score. Two darts max out at 110 (T20, Bull) and one dart at 40 (D20) — or 50 if you count the bull itself.

The bogey numbers

Seven scores under 170 cannot be finished in three darts no matter what you hit: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159. From 169, for example, two treble 20s leave 49 — an odd number no double can kill — and every other combination falls short or busts. At a bogey number the professionals don't chase a miracle; they throw a setup dart to leave a real finish, which is exactly what the calculator suggests.

Checkout tips worth stealing

Learn the D16 ladder — 32, 16, 8

Double 16 is the club player's best friend. Miss it into the single 16 and you are on 16 (D8); miss that into single 8 and you are on 8 (D4). The number halves cleanly all the way down without ever going odd, so one bad dart never forces a re-calculation mid-visit.

Leave even numbers

An odd leave always costs an extra dart, because every double is even. Plan each visit so the dart before your double leaves 40, 32, 24 or 16 — not 39 or 33.

The T19 switch

When your score is odd, treble 19 (57) is the classic fix: odd minus odd is even. That is why so many chart routes start T19 rather than T20 — and why the setup advice at 169 is T19, leaving 112.

Practise with the chart

Print the chart, pin it by the board, and drill the finishes you actually reach — 41 to 80 come up far more often than the big fish. Cover the routes with your hand, call them from memory, then check. Keep score of practice legs on a printable 501 score sheet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest checkout in darts?

170 — treble 20, treble 20, bullseye (60 + 60 + 50), known as the big fish. It is the largest score that can be taken out in three darts under the double-out rule, because the inner bullseye counts as a double. The next finishes below it are 167 (T20 T19 Bull), 164, 161 and 160.

Why can't you finish 169?

Because no combination of three darts that ends on a double adds up to 169. The biggest double is the 50 bullseye, so the first two darts would have to score 119 — impossible when a dart's maximum is 60. Two treble 20s leave 49, an odd number no double can kill. 169 is one of seven bogey numbers: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159 — at those scores you throw a setup dart instead.

What does double-out mean?

The dart that brings your score to exactly zero must land in a double — the thin outer ring of the board — or the inner bullseye, which counts as double 25. Reach zero any other way, go below zero, or leave yourself exactly 1, and the visit is a bust: your score resets to what it was before the turn.

What checkout should beginners learn first?

Double 16 (32), because its misses stay friendly: hit a single 16 and you are left on 16 (double 8); hit a single 8 and you are on 8 (double 4). You can halve down the ladder — 32, 16, 8, 4 — without ever landing on an odd number. Learn to set up 32, then add the classic routes that leave it, like 41 (single 9, D16) and 48 (single 16, D16).