How Long Have Pepole Been Playing Darts In Pubs?

The game of darts itself, in one form or another, has probably been around for hundreds of years (King Henry VIII may have played a version of darts, for instance) but did not become widespread in Britain until the 19th century. Even then it wasn't a real part of pub culture.

We can trace darts as an oficial pub game to 1904, when it was recorded as a licensed game known as "Dart and Target." In those days the board had no doubles or trebles round the rim,so the scores were different. As darts became more and more popular as a pub pastime in the early 20th century, people also began to take it more seriously. In 1925 the first leagues and organised matches began to appear. Today darts are very much a feature of traditional British pubs.

For a brief online history, there is a website at

www.tradgames.org.uk

One thousand one hundred years