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Bobby George, the bling-tastic former darts player and pundit, coined the phrase “trebles for show, doubles for dough” to explain the importance of being a clinical checkout finisher.
The trebles are what darts players hit to bring their score down from the 501 start point, but it’s the doubles – the outer ring on the board – which need to be hit for legs, and therefore games, to be won. And ‘dough’, well, that’s an English colloquialism for money.
George was right, too. The most important part of darts is the checkout: that ability to take out the double and win the leg before your opponent does likewise. But what is the highest checkout in darts?
What Does Highest Checkout Mean in Darts?
A checkout in darts is a one, two or three-dart combination that sees a player take their score from a viable outshot to zero, finishing with a double or the bullseye.
And so the highest checkout is simply a stat that shows which player has recorded the biggest finish available with their three darts – generally speaking, a high checkout would be in the 100+ point range.
Newcomers to the sport often ask, ‘what is the highest checkout in darts?’ And the answer is 170, a checkout sometimes referred to as the ‘Big Fish’: you’ve hit two treble-20s (which equals 120) before finishing on the bullseye, a 50-point segment that brings the checkout up to 170. This is the highest available finish with three darts in hand.
Players don’t get any sort of bonus for checking out 170 – they simply get another leg on their score, but it’s certainly an enjoyable feather in the cap of those who achieve the perfect outshot.
The highest checkout with two darts is 110 – if a player leaves this score with two darts left in hand, they will throw at treble-20 before trying to hit the bullseye. If a player has three darts in hand and 110 on their score, rather than going treble 20-bullseye they’ll instead use all three of their darts: often going treble-20, single-18 and double-16, or treble-20, single-10 and double-20, to maximize their likely success rate.
Historical Milestones
Although still a remarkable feat of precision, achieving that highest possible match checkout in 501 darts of 170 happens more often than you might think. Indeed, there are examples of the ‘Big Fish’ being reeled in on TV since the 1970s, so these are far more prevalent than that other slice of darting perfection: the nine-dart finish.
For example, at the 2023 Premier League, there were five different 170 checkouts made, with Michael van Gerwen (x2), Chris Dobey (x2) and Jonny Clayton the men responsible – one of MVG’s even coming on Finals night.
Nathan Aspinall won the 2019 UK Open courtesy of a 170 in the last leg of the final, while Fallon Sherrock did likewise in a Grand Slam game against Gabriel Clemens back in 2021.
On the biggest stage of them all, the PDC darts final highest checkout of 2024 was also 170 – with both Luke Humphries and Luke Littler accomplishing the ultimate test of accuracy in the same game.
According to PDC darts data, the best 170 hitter historically has been Van Gerwen, who in 2020 managed to hit 8% of all his attempts at the Big Fish.
Breaking Down the Numbers
As we’ve learned, the highest darts checkout available is 170. So is the Big Fish being taken out more regularly in this exciting era of the sport?
It’s certainly possible. As we’ve learned, the 170 was checked out five times at the 2023 Premier League – rewind a decade to 2013, and it was finished just twice.
At the 2024 World Championship, seven different players checked out 170 – Humphries doing so twice. At the 2014 edition, only two men – Terry Jenkins and Wes Newton – managed the treble-20, treble-20, bullseye outshot.
These are only small samples, of course, so it would be wrong to suggest that 170 checkouts are more prevalent in world darts these days. That said, in the biggest tournaments of them all, they have been more prevalent over the past ten years.
Another anomaly is that it takes a very specific combination of darts to leave a score of 170 on the board – there are games where neither player has had a shot at this highest of checkouts, simply because they haven’t left 170 after their scoring phase.
It’s also interesting to note that players are very savvy when it comes to the success rate of taking out 170 and similarly challenging finishes. If their opponent hasn’t left a finish, a player may be more likely to ‘lay up’ the 170 – perhaps aiming to score 130 to leave their favourite double-top (double 20), rather than trying to hit 170, maybe missing the dart at the bullseye and then leaving an odd number or a less-favored double to hit.
Even so, the stats suggest that 170 checkouts are more common now than ever before.
Darts Checkouts in Sports Betting
In amongst the many darts betting markets that you can wager on, there are odds for whether or not a 170 finish will be thrown in a hit, while you can also bet on which player you believe will record the highest checkout in the game.
At BetVictor Canada, we offer these lines amongst a mammoth range of darts betting odds and markets. You can bet on checkouts, 180s, legs and, of course, who you think will win a specific game or tournament. You can even check out our futures odds for the World Darts Championship, which are typically available throughout the year.
We also offer an exclusive welcome bonus when you register an account, with a range of darts and other sports promotions available for our new and returning players.
Whoever you choose to bet on, it’s important that you do so sensibly – you can learn more about responsible betting practices, such as never chasing your losses, at our Safer Gambling portal.
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