The numbering plan known by many today has a 20 on top; however, a great many other configurations have been used throughout the years and in different geographical locations. By most accounts, the numbering layout was devised by Brian Gamlin in 1896 to penalize inaccuracy. Although this applies to most of the board, the left-hand side (near the 14 section) is preferred by beginners, for its concentration of larger numbers. Mathematically, removing the rotational symmetry by placing the “20″ at the top, there are 19!, or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. There are many different layouts that would penalize a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently

To work out averages, simply divide the points scored by the number of darts thrown, eg:

If a player wins best of 3 501, 2-1, and the legs he wins he finishes in 19 & 23 darts, and the leg he didnt win he was left with 106 after throwing 18 darts, you would work it out as follows:

3×501=1503-106(score left)=1397/60(number of darts thrown)= 23.28 per dart average

Darts is not a very good sport for keeping yourself physically fit and some of the professional players are overweight, but this however does not stop the game from being classified a sport.