Cricket darts strategy: when to score and when to close

October 27, 2026

Between two cricket players of the same standard, the one who knows when to score and when to close wins more legs. Accuracy matters, but every visit asks a real tactical question. Here are the principles that make the difference, in standard cricket and in cut-throat.

Quick reminder first: the game is played on 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15 and the bull, you need 3 marks to close a target, and a target you've closed scores points for as long as an opponent still has it open. The full detail is in the cricket rules.

Start on the 20? Usually, yes

There's no set order. But most players open on the 20: it's the target worth the most per mark (bull aside), and the one you already practise at 501. From there, most people work down: 19, 18, 17...

Two situations where you can break the habit:

Your 20 isn't going in tonight: if your darts keep drifting into the 1 and the 5, switch to the 19 (flanked by the 7 and the 3). A visit with no marks is a visit handed to your opponent.
Your opponent has already closed the 20 and is scoring on it: then the question isn't opening any more, it's covering (see below).

Score or close: the points rule

This is THE cricket dilemma. You've closed the 20, your opponent hasn't. Do you keep loading the 20 to pile up points, or go and close the 19?

In Standard (highest score wins), one simple rule works well:

You're behind on points: score on a target you've closed and your opponent hasn't. You can't win while you're behind, even with everything closed.
You're ahead on points: close. Every extra target you shut is one your opponent can no longer score on against you.
You're well ahead: stop chasing more points. A points lead is only there to protect you while you close the rest.

The classic mistake: spending three visits piling points on the 20 while your opponent quietly closes 19, 18 and 17. Points are insurance, not the goal.

Covering your opponent's numbers

When your opponent has closed a target you still have open, every visit they put into it costs you. Closing that target on your side is called "covering": the target goes dead and their advantage disappears.

When should you cover?

As soon as they start scoring on it and you're behind on points.
Especially on a high number (the 20 or the 19), where one visit can be worth 60 points with a single treble.

Comfortably ahead, you can let it run for a bit. But never leave an open target to become their points machine.

The bull: the endgame battle

The bull is almost always saved for last, because it's the hardest target to close: the outer bull (25) is worth 1 mark and the bullseye (50) is worth 2. There's no treble, so no closing it with one dart.

What that means for you:

Get to the bull with a points lead: the end of the leg often comes down to who closes it first, and a deficit is hard to claw back on such a small target.
If your opponent has closed the bull and you haven't, every mark they land is 25 points for them. Covering becomes urgent.

In Throw, a leg has a maximum number of rounds (20 by default). If it's reached, the leg goes to the player with the most closed targets, then to the best score. One more reason not to waste visits on points you don't need.

Cut-throat turns it all upside down

In cut-throat (the default variant in Throw), everything flips: your extra marks hand points to every opponent still open on that target, and the lowest score wins.

How that changes your game:

Closing is your defence. As long as a target is open on your side, anyone can load points onto you there. Shutting the high numbers early closes the most dangerous doors.
Go after the leader. You don't choose who gets the points: they go to everyone still open on that target. So look for targets where the best placed player is still open, ideally on their own.
Watch out for unspoken alliances. With three or four players, whoever leads quickly becomes everyone's target. Leading too early isn't always a gift.

The logic is the same as standard cricket, just reversed: behind (score too high), load the others; ahead (score low), close so nothing more comes your way.

MPR: your measure of progress

MPR (marks per round) is the go-to cricket stat: the average number of marks you land per visit of 3 darts. A treble is 3 marks, so an MPR of 3 is the equivalent of one treble every visit.

It's a good measure because it doesn't depend on your opponent's tactics: it simply tells you how much you're hitting. Throw shows it at the end of the game, and if you have an account it keeps your marks per round from one game to the next so you can follow your progress (more on that in improving at darts with stats).

To sharpen your cricket between games, Shanghai is a great companion: it makes you aim at every number, trebles included. Our Shanghai tips show you how to get the most out of it.