Halve It darts strategy: stop watching your score shrink

At Halve It, the best thrower in the room doesn't always win. One round on zero and your total is cut in half: the whole game is about balancing ambition and caution, one round at a time. Here's how to approach each round so you finish with the biggest score on the board.

This guide follows the Halve It rules as Throw plays them (the French version, Le Capital): 17 rounds by default (18 with the treble 1 finale), your score halved on every fail (the default rule), rounded up.

The golden rule: never score zero

A fail is a round worth 0 points. One valid dart is enough to avoid it, and that drives almost every decision:

• In a number round, your third dart doesn't go for the treble if the first two have missed. It goes for the big single, the widest part of the segment.
• The further into the game you are, the more a fail costs. In round 2 you lose half of not very much. In round 16 with 400 points, you lose 200.

Take risks early, play safe late.

The CAPITAL round: your foundation

The whole board counts: you can't fail unless all three darts miss the board. Aim at whatever you hit best at 501, usually the treble 20.

It's your base, and if the TREBLE 1 round is switched on, every treble 1 in the finale is worth exactly this score.

Number rounds (20, 19, 18... 13)

Single, double or treble of the number, each at face value. Your first two darts can go for the treble; if neither has landed, the third makes sure of the single. On the numbers you rarely practise (14, 13), a single in the right bed beats a missed treble in the neighbour.

Whole-visit rounds: adapt dart by dart

Five rounds are judged on all 3 darts together. It's all or nothing: make it and you score your visit's total; miss it and you score zero. The trick is to choose each dart based on the one before.

3 COLOURS

Singles are black or white (they alternate around the board), doubles and trebles red or green, the bullseye red and the outer bull green. You need three different colours.

The safest route: two singles of different colours (the black 20 and the white 1, say), then a dart in a ring or the bull for your red or green.

3 IN A ROW

Three consecutive numbers (4, 5, 6), in any order, trebles excluded. Consecutive numbers aren't neighbours on the board, so each dart needs its own aim.

Don't lock in your plan: if your first dart lands in the 12, go for the 11 or the 13 next. And watch out for trebles, a single one spoils the round.

57 POINTS

You need a total of exactly 57. The simplest way: three single 19s (19 + 19 + 19). Another favourite: 20 + 20 + 17.

Do the maths after every dart: how much is left, and which bed gives you exactly that? After a 20, you need 37 with two darts (20 + 17 or 18 + 19). After a treble 20, you're already over: the round is gone.

3 SIDE BY SIDE

Three neighbouring segments on the board (like 20, 1, 18), trebles allowed. The easiest round to build: your "missed" darts land right next door anyway. Let the first one pick the area, then fill in around it.

DIAGONAL

One bull and two numbers opposite each other on the board (20 and 3, or 6 and 11 across the middle). Order doesn't matter.

The trick: your first dart in a number decides the diagonal. Landed in the 19? Your opposite number is the 1, and the bull is still to come. You can also flip it round and start with the bull, the hardest dart: if it goes in, all you need is two numbers facing each other.

TREBLE, DOUBLE and BULL

• TREBLE: only trebles count, any treble. Pick the one you hit most often, not necessarily the 20.
• DOUBLE: only doubles, bullseye included. Your favourite checkout double from 501 is the right call.
• BULL: 25 or 50. Aim at the middle, an outer bull is enough to save your round.

Picking your secret bonus

Before the game, everyone secretly bets on one round. If you post the best score of that round, on your own, it gets multiplied (x2 by default, x3 as an option). With bonus stealing on, another player who tops that round on their own takes it from you.

Two ways to play it:

• A round where you have a real edge: your favourite number, or the TREBLE round if you're the most consistent player at the table.
• A hard whole-visit round (DIAGONAL, 57 POINTS): others often score zero, so one success puts you alone at the top. But if everybody misses, the bonus is lost, just as it is on a tie.

The treble 1 finale

If it's switched on, every treble 1 is worth your CAPITAL round score. Three darts, three shots at big points. But no treble 1 at all is a fail, and your total gets halved in the very last round. If you're well ahead, this is the moment to hold your nerve.

In Throw, the phone judges every round by itself, whole-visit rounds included: you focus on your maths, not the scoresheet. Fancy a change? Try more darts games for groups.