Newfoundland and Labrador Darts Association
The Dart Board - Hanging and Maintenance
The center of the board should be 5ft 8in (173 cm) high. It is recommended that
you hang it on a backboard, or any other type of backing, to help protect your
walls. The toeline, or oche, should be 7ft 9.25in (2.37 meters) from the face of
the board measured horizontally.
The only thing you need to do to the dartboard after it is hung, is to rotate it. This
will only work if your dartboard has the removable metal ring with the numbers
on it. Rotating the board will make it last longer. There has been a rumor going
around for years that you should spray water on your board. You shouldn't spray
any types of liquids on a bristle board. It will ruin your board. The surface of the
board begins to 'bubble' and fall apart.
WHY ARE THE NUMBERS ON A DARTBOARD IN THE ORDER THEY ARE?
This is probably the most asked question about the origins of the modern
game. Who was the devious person who structured the segments of the
dartboard in such a frustrating manner?
The man who is credited with the ‘invention’ of the numbering sequence of the
modern standard dartboard is BRIAN GAMLIN. Gamlin was a carpenter from
Bury in the County of Lancashire, England and came up with the infuriating
sequence in 1896, at the age of 44. He died in 1903 before he could patent the
idea.
In those days many working men – and in particular those with carpentry skills –
manufactured dart boards out of elm or poplar wood as a sideline. This cottage
industry was later prevalent across the North of England, the Midlands and the
South East as darts grew in popularity from the mid-1920s onwards. The
reason for producing dart boards at home, or more properly in the garden shed,
was to sell the boards to local pubs, thereby supplementing the family income.
However, more often than not, this income never found its way home at all. Dart
boards were exchanged for credit in the local pub or money earned would finds
its way back over the bar.
The numbering of a standard dartboard is designed in such a way as to cut
down the incidence of ‘lucky shots’ and reduce the element of chance. The
numbers are placed in such a way as to encourage accuracy. That’s it. Pure
and simple. The placing of small numbers either side of large numbers e.g. 1
and 5 either side of 20, 3 and 2 either side of 17, 4 and 1 either side of 18,
punishes inaccuracy. Thus, if you shoot for the 20 segment, the penalty for lack
of accuracy or concentration is to land in either a 1 or a 5.
There are 121,645,100,408,832,000 different possible arrangements of the 20
segments on a standard dartboard so it is perhaps a little surprising that
Gamlin’s arrangement of the numbers is almost perfect.
Gamlin himself is an enigma. Like the lost court records in the case of William
‘Bigfoot’ Annakin, there is a vital piece of information in the Gamlin story that is
missing. Despite the most thorough of searches no record can be found of
Gamlin’s death in 1903. Looking three years either side, for both counties of
Lancashire and Suffolk reveal no one of that name terminating at that time.
However, the answer may be that this is because Gamlin was on the move.
The Daily Mirror in 1992 was asked the question “Who decided the numbers on
a dartboard should be so jumbled and why?” The reply read:
"Brian Gamlin of Bury, Lancs, introduced the odd numbering system in our
fairgrounds in 1896, boasting "No Skill Required". Drunks had no chance, as a
test of sobriety, the darts game 'round the clock' (in which players have to score
with darts in numerical order) became a great success".
So this is why his death cannot be traced. If Gamlin was a showman then, sure,
he would be on the road for at least six months of the year. It makes a lot of
sense for the idea to have come from within the fairground community. They
were the primary cause of the importation of so many ‘French darts’ which have,
over the years become known as ‘fairground darts’. Darts has been a feature of
fairground side stuff from the mid-19th century onwards, so who better than a
showman – always looking for new ways of attracting punters – to come up with
this devious numbering arrangement.
you hang it on a backboard, or any other type of backing, to help protect your
walls. The toeline, or oche, should be 7ft 9.25in (2.37 meters) from the face of
the board measured horizontally.
The only thing you need to do to the dartboard after it is hung, is to rotate it. This
will only work if your dartboard has the removable metal ring with the numbers
on it. Rotating the board will make it last longer. There has been a rumor going
around for years that you should spray water on your board. You shouldn't spray
any types of liquids on a bristle board. It will ruin your board. The surface of the
board begins to 'bubble' and fall apart.
WHY ARE THE NUMBERS ON A DARTBOARD IN THE ORDER THEY ARE?
This is probably the most asked question about the origins of the modern
game. Who was the devious person who structured the segments of the
dartboard in such a frustrating manner?
The man who is credited with the ‘invention’ of the numbering sequence of the
modern standard dartboard is BRIAN GAMLIN. Gamlin was a carpenter from
Bury in the County of Lancashire, England and came up with the infuriating
sequence in 1896, at the age of 44. He died in 1903 before he could patent the
idea.
In those days many working men – and in particular those with carpentry skills –
manufactured dart boards out of elm or poplar wood as a sideline. This cottage
industry was later prevalent across the North of England, the Midlands and the
South East as darts grew in popularity from the mid-1920s onwards. The
reason for producing dart boards at home, or more properly in the garden shed,
was to sell the boards to local pubs, thereby supplementing the family income.
However, more often than not, this income never found its way home at all. Dart
boards were exchanged for credit in the local pub or money earned would finds
its way back over the bar.
The numbering of a standard dartboard is designed in such a way as to cut
down the incidence of ‘lucky shots’ and reduce the element of chance. The
numbers are placed in such a way as to encourage accuracy. That’s it. Pure
and simple. The placing of small numbers either side of large numbers e.g. 1
and 5 either side of 20, 3 and 2 either side of 17, 4 and 1 either side of 18,
punishes inaccuracy. Thus, if you shoot for the 20 segment, the penalty for lack
of accuracy or concentration is to land in either a 1 or a 5.
There are 121,645,100,408,832,000 different possible arrangements of the 20
segments on a standard dartboard so it is perhaps a little surprising that
Gamlin’s arrangement of the numbers is almost perfect.
Gamlin himself is an enigma. Like the lost court records in the case of William
‘Bigfoot’ Annakin, there is a vital piece of information in the Gamlin story that is
missing. Despite the most thorough of searches no record can be found of
Gamlin’s death in 1903. Looking three years either side, for both counties of
Lancashire and Suffolk reveal no one of that name terminating at that time.
However, the answer may be that this is because Gamlin was on the move.
The Daily Mirror in 1992 was asked the question “Who decided the numbers on
a dartboard should be so jumbled and why?” The reply read:
"Brian Gamlin of Bury, Lancs, introduced the odd numbering system in our
fairgrounds in 1896, boasting "No Skill Required". Drunks had no chance, as a
test of sobriety, the darts game 'round the clock' (in which players have to score
with darts in numerical order) became a great success".
So this is why his death cannot be traced. If Gamlin was a showman then, sure,
he would be on the road for at least six months of the year. It makes a lot of
sense for the idea to have come from within the fairground community. They
were the primary cause of the importation of so many ‘French darts’ which have,
over the years become known as ‘fairground darts’. Darts has been a feature of
fairground side stuff from the mid-19th century onwards, so who better than a
showman – always looking for new ways of attracting punters – to come up with
this devious numbering arrangement.
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