My Project 365 - 52

My Project 365 - 52

Game On!

I downloaded a game on to my smart phone the other, basically for when i'm hanging around waiting for something or bait time, when my camera is not available, which to be honest is fairly rare.


The Game is Darts, which set me thinking about when i played darts on a regular basis, i must point out it was only ever for fun, usually after several beers. I seemed to play a lot of darts at college (probably to avoid my coursework) and then when i was a pub regular, both seem like a long time ago.

Anyway this evening i've dug out my arrows and here they are.




They've had plenty of use over the years but probably haven't been near a board in 7 or 8 years.

And a very small history Lesson -

There is a speculation that the game originated among soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of the cask or at the bottom of trunks of trees. As the wood dried, cracks would develop, creating "sections". Soon, regional standards emerged and many woodworkers supplemented bar tabs by fabricating dart boards for the local pubs.

The standard numbering plan with a 20 on top was created in 1896 by Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin.However, a great many other configurations have been used throughout the years and in different geographical locations. Gamlin's layout was devised to penalise 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. Many different layouts would penalise a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical papers published that consider the "optimal" dartboard.


Den