Nine-Dart Finishes

What is a Nine-Dart Finish?

A nine-dart finish is the perfect leg of darts. In the standard 501 format, each player starts on 501 and must reduce their score to exactly zero, finishing on a double. The minimum number of darts required to achieve this is nine: three visits to the board, three darts per visit, every single one landing precisely where intended.

To put the difficulty in perspective, a player must score at an average of 167 per three-dart visit across the first two rounds, then check out whatever remains with the final three darts. There is no margin for error. A single dart landing a millimetre off target and the perfect leg is gone. It demands the highest levels of scoring power, accuracy under pressure, and the ability to calculate and execute a checkout route in real time.

The nine-dart finish is to darts what a 147 break is to snooker or a hole-in-one is to golf. It is the moment every player dreams of and every fan in the arena rises to their feet for. When the ninth dart hits the double, the eruption from the crowd is unlike anything else in sport.

The Most Common Route

While there are 3,944 possible combinations to finish 501 in nine darts, one route dominates above all others.

Two maximum 180s followed by a 141 checkout on treble 20, treble 19, double 12 is the route most commonly taken by professionals. The logic is simple: the first six darts target the treble 20 bed, which is the highest-scoring area on the board and the default target for every professional player. This leaves 141, and the most reliable checkout is T20, T19, D12. The treble 19 is directly adjacent to the treble 20 on the board, meaning the thrower barely needs to adjust their aim, and double 12 is a comfortable finishing double.

Other routes exist. Some players have finished via 180, 180, 141 using T17, T18, D18. Others have taken more unconventional paths: 180, 177, 144 (as Willie Borland did at the 2022 World Championship), or routes involving a 170 checkout (T20, T20, bullseye) in the final visit. But the classic 180, 180, T20-T19-D12 remains the gold standard.

Notable Televised Nine-Darters

The PDC has recorded over 450 nine-dart finishes across all competitions, but only around 100 have been broadcast live on television. These are the moments that live longest in the memory. Below is a selection of the most significant televised nine-darters in the history of the sport.

Year	Player	Event	Notes
1984	John Lowe	World Matchplay (MFI)	First ever televised nine-darter. Beat Keith Deller. Won £102,000 bonus.
1990	Paul Lim	BDO World Championship	First nine-darter at a World Championship. Beat Jack McKenna. Won £52,000. The only nine-darter in BDO Worlds history.
2002	Phil Taylor	World Matchplay	First live televised nine-darter in PDC history. Beat Chris Mason in QF. Won £100,000 bonus.
2010	Phil Taylor	Premier League Final	Hit two nine-darters in the same match against James Wade. First player to achieve this on television.
2011	Adrian Lewis	PDC World Championship Final	First nine-darter in a PDC World Championship final. Third leg of match vs Gary Anderson. Lewis won 7-5.
2012	Michael van Gerwen	Premier League	MvG's first televised nine-darter, the start of a career that would see him rack up more than any other active player.
2014	Gary Anderson	Premier League	The Flying Scotsman's trademark power scoring at its absolute peak.
2021	William Borland	PDC World Championship	Hit a nine-darter to win a deciding leg vs Bradley Brooks. First player to win a televised match with a nine-darter. Route: 180, 177, 144 checkout.
2022	Josh Rock	Grand Slam of Darts	Pinned a nine-darter against Michael van Gerwen in the last 16. Lost the match 10-8 despite the perfect leg.
2023	Michael Smith	PDC World Championship Final	Nine-darter in the greatest World Championship final ever played. Beat MvG 7-4. Smith finished 141 on D12 after both players had 180s in the same leg.
2024	Luke Humphries	Premier League (Night 5)	First televised nine-darter for the reigning World Champion. Hit during a 6-4 loss to Rob Cross.
2024	Luke Littler	Premier League Final	Nine-darter en route to an 11-7 victory. Second player after Phil Taylor to hit one in a Premier League final. Youngest ever televised nine-darter thrower (16 years, 363 days at Bahrain Masters earlier that year).
2024	Christian Kist	PDC World Championship	Nine-darter in the opening set vs Madars Razma. Won £60,000 bonus. Lost the match but triggered the Paddy Power £180,000 prize.
2025	Luke Littler	World Matchplay SF	Hit a nine-darter against Josh Rock in the semi-final. Finished on D15. Littler trailed 6-1 before the perfect leg sparked a remarkable 17-14 comeback. Won the tournament.

Nine-Darter Records

Most in a Career

Phil Taylor holds the record for the most televised nine-dart finishes with 11 on camera during his legendary career. Michael van Gerwen has the most nine-darters overall across all PDC competitions, with more than 30 recorded perfect legs. Taylor's total across all formats is believed to exceed any other player in history, though precise records from the pre-digital era are incomplete.

Youngest to Hit a Televised Nine-Darter

Luke Littler became the youngest player to hit a televised nine-dart finish at the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters, achieving the feat at just 16 years and 363 days old. He went on to hit several more during 2024 and 2025, accumulating at least four televised nine-darters before his 18th birthday.

Most in a Single Match

Phil Taylor is the only player to have hit two nine-darters in the same televised match, achieving the feat against James Wade in the 2010 Premier League final. Michael van Gerwen matched this record in non-televised competition, hitting two nine-darters against Ryan Murray during the 2017 UK Open Qualifier 4.

First Woman to Hit a Televised Nine-Darter

Fallon Sherrock became the first woman to achieve a televised nine-dart finish in August 2023, pinning double 12 against Adam Lipscombe during the Modus Super Series. In February 2026, Beau Greaves became the first woman to hit a nine-darter on the PDC ProTour, doing so against Mensur Suljovic at Players Championship 6 in Leicester.

First to Win a Match with a Nine-Darter

William Borland became the first player to win a televised match with a nine-dart finish at the 2022 PDC World Championship. Needing the deciding leg against Bradley Brooks, Borland hit 180, 177 and then took out 144 to complete one of the most dramatic moments in World Championship history.

The Probability of a Nine-Darter

For a top professional, the probability of hitting a nine-dart finish in any given leg is estimated at roughly 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 5,000 legs. For the very best players operating at peak form, this may drop closer to 1 in 1,500. For an amateur or club player, the odds stretch towards 1 in 40,000 or beyond.

The calculation depends on three key factors. First, the probability of scoring 180 with three darts aimed at treble 20. For a top professional averaging around 100, this happens approximately 8-12% of the time. Second, the probability of doing it again immediately with the next three darts. Third, the probability of successfully checking out the remaining score (typically 141) with the final three darts, which even for professionals sits at around 3-5%.

What makes a nine-darter so rare is not that any individual dart is impossibly difficult. It is that nine consecutive darts must all land exactly where intended. A single miss and the perfect leg is over. The compounding of probabilities is what transforms something that any professional could theoretically achieve into a moment of genuine sporting rarity.

Despite this, nine-darters are becoming more common. The PDC has recorded over 450 across all competitions, with the frequency increasing year on year as the overall standard of the sport rises. Better equipment, more practice hours, improved nutrition and sports science, and the sheer depth of talent on the modern circuit all contribute to more players being capable of darting perfection on any given night.

Watch: Nine-Dart Highlights

There is nothing quite like watching a nine-darter unfold in real time. The tension builds with each perfect dart, the crowd grows louder, and by the time the ninth dart heads towards the double, the entire arena is on its feet. Here are some of the best nine-darter compilations and moments from professional darts.