Think you’ve got the chops to put plastic on target inside a space the size of a quarter from six feet away? There are some people at DJ’s Saloon in Lompoc who want to have a word with you.
DJ’s hosts an open soft-tip dart tournament every Sunday starting around 1 p.m. and running all night long. Everyone is welcome, from people who have a hard time getting their darts to stick to the board (not unlike myself) to those who can put 11 out of 12 tosses in the bull’s-eye.
If you want to play competitive soft-tip darts, the Medalist League is the way to go. The World Championships are held in Las Vegas each year, and the crowd at DJ’s is doing their best to earn a spot.
This year’s tournament boasted $210,000 in prize money to be had, so people do take their game seriously—but they’re also having a great time doing it.
Beyond knowing the bare basics of 501 (start at 501 points, work your way down to zero) and Cricket (hit each number three times, and then hit the bull’s-eye three times), I’m a comparative dart neophyte.
Some of the locals explained things to me. Mark Lane is something of a Robin Hood. As I watched, he accurately fired off three darts, one after the other.
I tried not to let my jaw hit the floor. If I managed to get all three of my darts to stick to the board, I’d be having a good night.
Most places nowadays use soft-tip darts on electronic boards. Apart from the more obvious problems inherent in mixing alcohol and sharp steel objects sailing through the air, soft-tip darts have a broader appeal. According to Lane, there are a few reasons for this.
“In steel tip, only the inside ring of the bull’s-eye is worth 50 points; the outer ring is only worth 25,” he said. “In soft tip, the entire ring is worth 50. So in steel, everyone is trying to hit triple 20—it’s this big.”
He made a tiny rectangle with his fingers.
Then there’s the handicap. Players are assigned one based on their skill level. One of the players at DJ’s showed me a scoreboard with a bunch of numbers on it.
A 2.75 means 2.75 out of every three darts thrown hit the intended target. In this case, that works out to rank of 8. If 1.75 out of 3 hit, that’s a rank of 6.
For handicapping, a high- and a low-ranking player are put together. So if, say, a rank 1 and rank 11 were teamed up, they could play against a rank 5 and a rank 7. Lane said this makes the game appeal to a broader audience.
“People don’t want to play a game they have no chance at,” he explained. “For example: If you’re shooting pool, and you miss the corner pocket, you miss the whole shot. If you’re throwing darts and miss the triple 20, but hit the triple 19, you still get those points.”
Darts definitely offer a broad appeal at DJ’s. All five of the boards had people playing at them for a recent Sunday tournament.
Sharon Golden threw at one of the boards. She’s all of 5-foot-nothing with a huge smile. The grandmother of six (with seven great grandkids!) is currently ranked a 2, but has been as high as a 5 in the past.
She’s back playing darts after a couple-year hiatus, and said her favorite thing about the game is meeting new people and learning something new. So does she want the grandkids to pitch in and get her a dartboard for home so she can practice?
“No way!” she said with a laugh. “I have to have a little grandma time sometime.”
Current B league champ Tory Schrotke and his girlfriend Dawn Schultz met three years ago on Dawn’s first trip to DJ’s to play darts. They’ve been seeing each other (and tossing darts) ever since. Schrotke and Schultz have won the last four weeks in a row, and if they do it one more time, they’ve got a spot waiting for them in Vegas.
Schrotke said his favorite thing about the game is the fun and the camaraderie, but he’s also honest about his competitive streak.
“Do I like to lose?” he asked. “No, I do not like to lose, but I don’t lose any sleep over it.”
I teasingly asked Schultz how he really handles losing. She just grinned, prompting Schrotke to confess: “Yeah, I used to get really mad and act like a jackass.”
He’s since cleaned up his act, though. He probably took a few hints from DJ’s resident grandmother, Sharon Golden.
“If you’re gonna get mad, don’t come,” she said. “Don’t be a poor loser, or we’ll kick your ass.”
Staff Writer Nicholas Walter is a great loser. Contact him at nwalter@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 5-12, 2009.