How to Play Halve It

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Halve It is a darts scoring game for two or more players built around a simple but brutal rule: hit the round's target and bank your points, miss it entirely and watch your total cut in half. That single mechanic turns every visit to the oche into a genuine risk-reward decision and keeps every player invested right to the final throw.

It is a staple of pub darts nights across the UK, valued because it scales neatly from two players to a large group, needs no special equipment beyond a standard dartboard and chalk or a whiteboard, and rewards accuracy rather than raw power. It is equally at home as a warm-up drill for competitive players and as the main event at a casual gathering.

A little history

Halve It belongs to the broad family of target-sequence darts games that have been played in British pubs for generations. Its precise origins are unclear; no single inventor or date of invention is recorded, and it does not appear in early rule books as a named standardised game. It is traditionally regarded as a pub game that spread by word of mouth, with minor regional variations in the target sequence still common today.

Setting up

1. Hang the dartboard at the regulation height of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) to the centre bullseye, with the oche 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m) from the face of the board.
2. Agree on the target sequence for the game. A standard sequence is: 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, Double, Triple, Bull. Write the sequence clearly on the scoreboard before play begins.
3. Draw a column on the scoreboard for each player and write the agreed sequence down the left-hand side so every round is visible.
4. Decide the order of play. The traditional method is 'diddle for the middle': each player throws one dart at the bull, and the closest goes first. Subsequent players follow in clockwise order.
5. Give each player a starting score of zero. No score is entered until after the first round is resolved.

How to play

1. Players throw in the agreed order. Each player throws all three darts before the next player steps up.
2. Each round has a single target taken in order from the agreed sequence, for example '20' in round one.
3. To 'hit' the round, at least one of your three darts must land in the target segment. Any dart that scores in that segment counts, including doubles and trebles of that number.
4. If you hit the target, add all points scored by all three darts to your running total. Only darts that land in any scoring segment count; darts that fall out or miss the board score zero.
5. If none of your three darts lands in the target segment, your current running total is halved. Round any resulting fraction down to the nearest whole number.
6. When the target is 'Double', you must hit any double (the outer narrow ring of any number, or the outer bull) with at least one dart to avoid halving. Points scored by all three darts are added if you succeed.
7. When the target is 'Triple', you must hit any treble (the inner narrow ring of any number) with at least one dart to avoid halving.
8. When the target is 'Bull', you must hit either the inner bull (bullseye, 50 points) or the outer bull (25 points) with at least one dart. Both count as hitting the target. Points from all three darts are added if you succeed.
9. After every player has thrown in a round, move to the next target in the sequence and repeat.
10. Play continues through all targets in the sequence. The game ends after the final round's scores are resolved.

Winning and scoring

The player with the highest total score after the final round wins. There is no set winning number; the winner is simply whoever has accumulated the most points. If two or more players are tied after the last round, the standard ruling is a sudden-death tie-break: tied players each throw one dart at the bull, and the closest wins. Repeat until the tie is broken.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the Double and Triple rounds: if a player throws a treble 20 during the Double round, that dart has landed in the treble band, not a double, so it does not satisfy the hit condition on its own. The rule is strict: the dart must land in a double segment (outer ring or outer bull) for the Double round, or a treble segment for the Triple round. However, all points from all three darts still count toward the score if the condition is met by any one dart.

A second frequent argument is whether a dart that bounces out or falls from the board before it is retrieved counts. The standard ruling across pub play is that a dart must be in the board when the player retrieves them: bounce-outs and fall-outs score nothing and do not satisfy the hit condition. Players should agree this rule before the game starts to avoid later disagreement. On the halving rule, if a player's score is an odd number the halved result is always rounded down, never up, for example 37 becomes 18.

How to win more often

• Protect a high score when the stakes are greatest: if you are well ahead and facing a difficult target, aim conservatively at the largest part of the segment rather than chasing a treble that might miss entirely and wipe out your lead.
• In the Double and Triple rounds, aim for a large segment whose double or treble sits in a forgiving area of the board. Treble 19 and treble 18 are flanked by relatively safe neighbours compared with treble 20.
• Early rounds matter more than they feel: a halving in round one hurts less in absolute terms but sets a low base for the rest of the game. Build your total aggressively while the targets are straightforward large numbers.
• Watch your opponents' scores before you throw. If a rival is well behind after a halving, you can afford to be more cautious; if they are close, you need to maximise points even at the cost of some risk.
• Practise the Bull round separately: it is the most common round that separates experienced from casual players, and a confident inner-bull throw can swing a tight game decisively.

Variations

Extended Sequence

Instead of ending at Bull, the sequence continues with additional targets: often 7, 3, and then specific doubles or trebles of chosen numbers. This extends the game time and adds more halving jeopardy, making it well suited to experienced players or longer pub evenings.

Team Halve It

Players split into two or more equal teams. Team members throw alternately within each round, and the team's combined three darts determine whether the target is hit or missed. The team total is halved if no dart meets the condition. This works well for larger groups and encourages communication about who should aim where.

Set Starting Score

Each player begins with a fixed number of points, commonly 40 or 50, rather than zero. This prevents players from being stuck on very low totals early in the game after a bad run and keeps the scoring more competitive for beginners or mixed-ability groups.

Custom Target Order

Players agree a bespoke sequence before the game, often designed around the weakest segments of the group, or shuffled randomly by drawing numbers from a hat. This variation removes any predictability from practised sequences and tests adaptability rather than rehearsed skill.

Halve It: frequently asked questions