Darts Bogey Numbers: The 7 Scores You Can't Check Out From

The bogey numbers in darts are 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159. They are all below the 170 maximum, yet no combination of three darts can finish any of them on a double, so landing on one costs you a visit before you can even start your checkout.

Most glossaries stop at that list. This guide shows why exactly those seven numbers are impossible, which numbers are bogeys when you only have two darts left, and what to score so you never leave one in the first place.

The seven three-dart bogey numbers

Every score from 2 to 158 can be checked out with three darts. Above that, only a handful work:

• 170 — T20, T20, Bull
• 167 — T20, T19, Bull
• 164 — T20, T18, Bull (or T19, T19, Bull)
• 161 — T20, T17, Bull
• 160 — T20, T20, D20

Everything else from 159 to 169 is a bogey. You can check the finishable ones dart by dart on the 170 checkout, 167 checkout, 164 checkout, 161 checkout and 160 checkout pages, and see the bogeys explained on the 162 and 159 pages.

Why the maths rules them out

You do not need to memorise the list if you understand the arithmetic. It takes three facts:

• The biggest double is D20 (40), and the bullseye counts as a double worth 50.
• The most two darts can score is 120 (T20, T20).
• Two treble darts always add up to a multiple of 3: 120, 117, 114, 111 and so on.

Now take any score above 160. Even with T20, T20 first, a D20 finish only reaches 160, so anything higher must finish on the bull. That means the first two darts have to score the total minus 50:

• 170 needs 120 — T20, T20. Possible.
• 169 needs 119 — not a multiple of 3, and no other two darts get that high. Bogey.
• 168 needs 118 — bogey.
• 167 needs 117 — T20, T19. Possible.
• 166 needs 116, 165 needs 115 — both bogeys.
• 164 needs 114 — possible.
• 163 needs 113, 162 needs 112 — bogeys.
• 161 needs 111 — T20, T17. Possible.

159 is the odd one out. Finishing on D20 would need 119 from two darts, which does not exist. Finishing on the bull would need 109, and no two darts make 109 either: two trebles always give a multiple of 3, a treble plus the bull gives 110, 107, 104 and so on, and a treble plus a single tops out at 85. Every smaller double asks for more than 120. So 159 is the lowest bogey, and 158 (T20, T20, D19) is the highest score that is always finishable below it.

The two-dart bogeys nobody mentions

The same logic applies when you have already thrown one dart and two remain. The highest two-dart finish is 110 (T20, Bull), and within that range seven scores cannot be done in two:

• 109, 108, 106, 105, 103, 102 and 99

So if you are on 109 with two darts in hand, you cannot win this visit, however well you throw. The useful two-dart finishes near the top are 110 (T20, Bull), 107 (T19, Bull), 104 (T18, Bull), 101 (T17, Bull) and 100 (T20, D20) — the 110 checkout, 101 checkout and 100 checkout pages show the alternatives when the first dart strays.

And there is one more bogey everyone meets: 1. You cannot finish on 1, which is why leaving it is a bust.

How to avoid leaving a bogey

Bogeys usually appear on the visit before your checkout, when you score on autopilot from somewhere between 220 and 270. A few habits fix most of it:

• Know your danger zone. From 269, a ton leaves 169. From 262, a ton leaves 162. From 259, a ton leaves 159. If your score is a bogey plus 100 or plus 60, think before you throw.
• Switch target with the third dart. On 269 you throw T20, S20 and have 189 left with one dart. Another T20 leaves 129, but a single 20 leaves 169 — a bogey. Aim at T19 instead: the treble leaves 132 and a single 19 leaves 170.
• Prefer 170, 167, 164 and 161 to their neighbours. If you are going to leave something big, leave something with a route.
• Below 159 you are always safe. Every number from 158 down has a three-dart finish, so when in doubt, score enough to drop under 159.

If you find yourself on a bogey anyway, do not chase it. Throw at T20 and aim to leave a finish you like: from 169, T20, T20 leaves 49 (S9, D20); from 162 it leaves 42 (S10, D16); from 159 it leaves 39 (S7, D16). A realistic pub player hitting one treble and two singles still drops into three-dart finish range for next time. The darts checkout table lists every route from 170 down, and the darts checkout chart post explains which routes to learn first.

Let the scorer do the warning for you

The easiest way to stop leaving bogeys is to see the remaining score and the route every visit, without doing mental subtraction under pressure. Chalkie shows a checkout suggestion from 170 down after each visit, so when no route appears you know you have left a bogey — and after a few weeks you stop leaving them. It is free on iPhone and Android, works offline, has no ads and tracks your live three-dart average as you play.

On a laptop or a borrowed tablet, the free online darts counter does the same in the browser with nothing to install. If you want to know whether bogeys are actually costing you legs, put your scores into the 3 dart average calculator and compare your average with and without the wasted visits — or read what is a good darts average to see where your number sits.

Quick reference

• Three-dart bogeys: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162, 159
• Highest finishes above 158: 170, 167, 164, 161, 160
• Two-dart bogeys: 109, 108, 106, 105, 103, 102, 99
• No finish at all: 1

Download Chalkie free on the App Store and let every visit show you the route — or the bogey — before you throw.