What is the safehouse in 121?

A number you check out in three darts or fewer becomes your floor, and a miss can never take you below it. Check 125 out with one visit and the worst that can happen afterwards is going back to 125. A number that takes four darts or more still moves you up, but it does not become the floor.

What happens if you bust in 121?

The same as in a game of 501. Score more than you have left, leave 1, or reach nothing on a dart that is not a double, and the visit is over with your score back where it was at the start of that visit. It does not go back to the start of the attempt. The busted visit still counts as one of your three.

Can you play 121 with fewer than nine darts?

Yes. Six darts gives you two visits at each number. Three darts gives you one, which is harder and closer to what a match gives you. With three darts the numbers that no three darts can finish (159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168 and 169) are skipped on the way up, so checking out 158 takes you to 160.

What happens when you get to 170?

Checking out 170 ends the session straight away, whatever the attempt count. It is the biggest finish there is, so there is nowhere higher to go.

121 darts

How do you play 121 in darts?

Start on 121 and try to check it out in nine darts, which is three visits, finishing on a double or the bull. Do it and your next number is 122; miss and you go back to 121. Check a number out in three darts or fewer and it becomes your floor, so a miss never drops you below it. After ten attempts, your score is the highest number you checked out.

Play it now

PracticeKept out of your match figures, and kept in your Practice area.

Best none yetFloor 121attempt 1 of 10

Checking out 121

121

visit 1 of 3
9 darts left

RouteT20T11D14

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Getting the board ready

A checkout drill that climbs. Every number you finish moves you up one, and every miss drops you back, so the score is simply how high you got. The board shows the number you are on, how many darts you have left at it and the standard route from what you have left; after every attempt it says where you are going next and why.

How it is scored

Target	Checked out in	Floor after	Next
121	3 darts	121	122
122	3 darts	122	123
123	6 darts	122	124
124	no finish	122	122, the floor

123 took two visits, so it moved you up without raising the floor. Missing 124 sends you to 122, the last number you checked out in three darts.

Clubs play 121 a few different ways, and each one changes how high the same darts can get you. So they are set before the first dart, and a best is only ever compared with sessions played the same way.

When you miss: Back to the floor is the default. Down one takes you to the number below the one you missed, never under the floor, and climbs much higher from the same darts. Stay gives you the same number again, which suits a beginner.
Session length: Ten attempts, twenty, or open until you end it. Ten attempts can take you no higher than 130, so a longer session is the way to find out how far you can really go.

What the numbers say

Alongside your highest checkout, the finish screen counts your darts at a finish: darts thrown when one dart could have checked you out. Sign in and those sit next to the same count from your matches. If you finish well here and badly in a match, the finishing is there and the pressure is what costs you. If it is the other way round, you know the routes better than your practice rate suggests.

Questions

What is the safehouse in 121?: A number you check out in three darts or fewer becomes your floor, and a miss can never take you below it. Check 125 out with one visit and the worst that can happen afterwards is going back to 125. A number that takes four darts or more still moves you up, but it does not become the floor.
What happens if you bust in 121?: The same as in a game of 501. Score more than you have left, leave 1, or reach nothing on a dart that is not a double, and the visit is over with your score back where it was at the start of that visit. It does not go back to the start of the attempt. The busted visit still counts as one of your three.
Can you play 121 with fewer than nine darts?: Yes. Six darts gives you two visits at each number. Three darts gives you one, which is harder and closer to what a match gives you. With three darts the numbers that no three darts can finish (159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168 and 169) are skipped on the way up, so checking out 158 takes you to 160.
What happens when you get to 170?: Checking out 170 ends the session straight away, whatever the attempt count. It is the biggest finish there is, so there is nowhere higher to go.