I’ve spent a lot of time the last few days playing darts on my iPhone, which is strange because I have hardly watched darts on television. Then again, darts is not popular television fare in the United States. In Great Britain, it’s a different matter.

Some of the greatest darts players on earth are portly, including Englishman Phil Taylor, considered one of the greatest darts players of recent memory. However, I would believe one has to stay in good shape to play darts, especially keeping the arms loose and working. Leg stamina is also important, too.

There is plenty of strategy in darts. The countdown is from 501 to zero, and to “check out”, a player needs to hit a double and bring their score down to exactly zero. Since a player is starting with an odd number, there has to be at least one throw with an odd numbered score, since all double scores will be even. The best strategy to achieve that is to hit the triple 19, which is 57.

The inner bullseye is actually a double, worth 50, so a player could check out by hitting the inner bullseye. From what I’ve seen, most want to get down to 40 and hit the double 20 to check out. For a right-handed player, the numbers on the left side of the board are a little difficult, and it’s the same for a left-handed player on the right side.

I don’t have the room in my house to put up a dart board, so playing it on the iPhone is as close as I’m going to get. It’s a great way to learn the nuances of the game, as well as different variation from the standard 501, the game played in most tournaments.

There is an option on the iPhone to require a double to open scoring, meaning a player is stuck on 501 (or 601 or 701) until they hit a double, then the points can be deducted. Hitting the inner bullseye is optimal, but difficult. I’ve learned that a few times.

It was a good time killer today. I had a noon appointment with Crista, and I played a few games waiting in line in Hays to get my car washed. It was sunny and 75 (24 Celsius), record warmth for Hays, so people were out en masse getting their cars washed. Mine needed it bad, and since I had the time, I could wait the 20 minutes in line.

I played more darts in Norton waiting for Peggy before we ate dinner. Norton plays Phillipsburg in girls sub-state tonight at 7. By eating before, I can leave and not be back in Russell too late.

The Winter Olympics and high school wrestling are over. Not missing either.