With so many unexpected changes forced upon the sport due to the closing of bars and pubs, it’s amazing to see dart players come together for the common good of the sport. Dart fans have not given up on the sport they love.

They can’t wait to see the PDC pros back in action on the big stage and also get back to playing in their local league. The darts community has become closer and tighter in ways never before seen or thought possible before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. A (literal) global community of passionate dart players and fans quickly made the shift to playing darts online, (as defined above).
2. The increase in online (open) tournaments.
3. The visible increase in darts-related Facebook Groups.

Despite the need to use multiple apps and multiple devices such as laptops, tablets, and phones to play darts online, dart players are human, not machines. As such, the same human characteristics, tendencies, personality traits, and quirks dart players face in person, still exist online.

Just because you may not be able to see the person you’re playing against, that doesn’t mean those same factors aren’t present. For example:

It’s human nature to want to excel and win in life. And when it comes to darts, dart players are no different. Every dart player wants to win every match they play. Have you ever heard the saying “there’s no such thing as a friendly game of darts?” So even with games being played online, the seriousness, intensity, and desire to win is present.

While it’s not possible to win every match, (even MvG loses matches), some people will do anything to win as many matches as they can. In some instances, unfortunately, that means cheating.

In just a few months, several instances of people being accused of, and some (assholes) actually caught being cheating have popped up in conversations in different Facebook groups.

Call it human nature, or call it simply being an asshole, even with the use of cameras, cheating is going to happen and you may not always be able to catch it.

Technophobia can generally be defined as the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, etc. Not every dart player, even the best of dart players, is 100% comfortable with, or wants to juggle multiple devices and apps to play darts.

Even people who are very comfortable with technology or work in a technical environment don't want to juggle multiple devices and apps to play darts either.

And even if the apps and devices are fairly easy to set up, sometimes, it’s just a pain in the ass to have to set everything up. More on technology, apps, and devices below.

Obviously, when playing against another dart player online, that person is not in the same room. The lack of interaction and not being able to physically see an opponent is very different than what players experience in a bar or pub.

Not being able see the opponent throw their darts, mark their score, or pick up their flight when it falls to the floor can cause strange pauses or gaps in time.

Small changes such as this create a different flow of the game compared to what happens in a bar or pub, sometimes make it difficult to figure out when it’s your turn to throw. 

The silence and/or long periods of time between each ‘thump’ of the dart hitting the board can easily impact the flow and throw a person off their game.

Another impact on the flow of the match is hearing the 'thump' of your opponent's darts hitting the board at the same time you're pulling your darts out of the board from your previous turn.

And yes, hearing the flushing of a toilet, or playing loud music in the background, can also be very distracting. More on that later, as well.

Even those little grunts and moans you make when missing a Triple 20 or a Double 16 and think no one else can hear, can be heard loud and clear by your opponent.

And if you’re used to talking to yourself or commenting on each throw by saying “damn!”, “shit!”, or pumping yourself up by saying out loud “Come on (Your Name)!”, realize those noises are amplified and even more distracting compared to when an opponent talks out loud in a bar or pub.

Ultimately, the less noise, the better. Keep the grunts and moans to a minimum, and keep in mind your opponent can hear everything. So it's worth trying to keep general darting etiquette in mind. Or, as a matter of courtesy for both players, it can't hurt to ask your online opponent if they are ok with background music, etc. before the match begins.

Every dart player who has ever played in a dart league or at their local bar or pub knows that dart players love darts. At the same time, a persons' skill-level, general interest, and reason for playing darts differs from person to person.

Even with devices (phones, tablets, etc.) being labeled as ‘smart’, and apps being described as being ‘easy to use’, technology, devices, and apps are far from perfect. Simply put, don’t expect those devices or apps to be perfect or work flawlessly all of the time, because they are not, and they won’t.

For example, at any one point, when playing online, players are juggling between 2- 5 devices and between 2-5 apps. Something can always go wrong with anyone of those things. That’s the complete opposite of what happens in a bar or pub.

Most importantly, when it comes to devices and hardware, remember to fully charge the batteries of all devices the night before a tournament.

Whether it’s through the use of a cell phone, tablet, or laptop, some online leagues and tournaments require at least two cameras. This is especially important when online matches or tournaments involve money.

The goal of requiring web cameras is to allow each player to see their opponents' dartboard. Requiring players to set up cameras to show their dartboard is not an impracticable or overly burdensome expectation. But with no official rules, or official ‘governing body of online darts’, there are no consistent requirements when it comes to the type of camera or camera angle.

As such, if the camera angle isn’t positioned in a straight/head-on view, it’s really hard to tell where the dart landed on the dartboard. How many times have you questioned your opponents' score (by silently asking yourself) did my opponent really hit a T20, or was that a T5?

Some people have resorted to a DIY approach to building homemade tripods and flexible arms. There’s a lot to do to make sure that you’re fully ready and prepared to play darts online. But even with the best of cameras, flexible arm tripods, or phone holders, it’s simply not as easy as walking into a bar and stepping up to the oche.

If you’re going to play darts online, you’ll have to stop being a cheap ass and invest in good lighting. Dartboard lighting has come a long way over the past 5-10 years. 

The days of lighting a dartboard with yellow light bulbs and aluminum clamp lamps from Home Depot are over. There are more effective, affordable, and easy to assemble lighting systems available than ever before. If you are using traditional lightbulbs as part of your set up, use LED lightbulbs (instead of traditional yellow light bulbs). They provide white light which is much brighter than traditional yellow bulbs.

Good lighting and proper setup and positioning of the light are key ingredients to providing a better darting experience for you and your online opponent.

Along with disabling the screen savers on your devices, here are a few other things both players should do to ensure an enjoyable and uninterrupted darting experience:

• Disabling the ability to receive text messages from your device. No one wants to hear the constant ‘ping’ of text messages during a match.
• Turn down the volume on your phone or device to a normal level in case your opponent forgets to disable messages.
• Remember to disable the messaging ability of other apps such as news updates, Facebook messenger, ESPN, etc.

Add to the mix a mobile app (e.g. Facebook or Discord) or a online darts web app with a poorly designed and highly unintuitive UI (user interface) designed by an amateur software developer and not a professional designer, it's easy to see how even playing one leg online can get frustrating. 

Online leagues or tournament organizers do their best to select the app they think will be easy or best to use. But even the most popular darting apps are challenging to learn and use, and they usually don’t come with a user manual or a ‘how-to’ guide.

It’s easy to see how simple tasks such as entering or changing a score, starting a new leg, or changing control of the screen, can easily be disruptive and cause frustration.

In the end, however, your Wi-Fi connection can suddenly perform slowly making even the most popular apps and web apps malfunction.

Distractions and disruptions darts players encounter in bars and pubs start the minute you walk through the door. The background noise of people talking, glasses clinging, loud music or sporting events pushing through speakers, in some cases cigarette and cigar smoke, the flashing screens of over 20 or sometimes 50 TVs, and who knows what else. It can all be overwhelming.

While those distractions can cause sensory overload, they typically won’t occur at home. While distractions at home are different than in a bar, home and family-related distractions are still disruptive, and still happen. Let’s take a closer look.

It only takes playing just a few legs of darts online to realize that technical glitches such as a weak Internet connection and/or video or audio lag time are a common occurrence. That’s not to say it isn’t possible to have a very smooth, trouble-free online darting experience. That happens quite often.

To avoid frustration (and especially if you’re a hothead/idiot who punches walls), it might be helpful to keep Murphy’s Law in mind that says: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

As an example, I recently watched the final set of an online tournament. During that set, a slow, lagging internet connection prevented one player from seeing their opponents' darts hit the dartboard for more than 15 minutes.

Unless you're fortunate enough to have a separate or secluded room/space to play darts (such as a basement, outside garage, or secluded man cave), most players don’t have large, open available space in their homes or apartments for proper dartboard setup.

This is probably one of the more interesting and controversial issues when it comes to playing darts online. I’ve read many comments on multiple Facebook groups where a player with a high 3DA/MPR (501 and Cricket) lost to a player with a much lower 3DA, and then publicly complained about it.

Online statistics don’t tell the full story, and you’d be a fool to judge a players' ability by their statistics that you might see on DartConnect or other dart playing apps.

But because you saw a low 3DA, you let your guard down and got sucked into your opponent’s online stats. You looked at the stats and said to yourself “I got this. This is going to be an easy win.” But then you got mad because you lost (and it wasn't because of cheating). What’s the lesson here? NEVER judge a player by their online stats.

Again, cheating aside (which may or may not happen), there are probably a few other reasons the person with the higher 3DA lost, and why players should NEVER judge another player by their online numbers. Here are a few of those reasons:

• Countless dart players from around the world have played only a few games on scoring apps such as Dart Connect . Therefore, their numbers and averages will be lower.
• Even if someone has played many games on an app such as Dart Connect, some players, even some very good players, find it disruptive to keep their own score.
• They find it distracting and may not play as well as they might when someone else is keeping score or pressing buttons on the app for them.
• Some players simply play better in bars then they do at home.
• Not everyone has the proper space for proper dartboard set up at home.
• Sometimes players played some great games, and possibly won many games, but didn’t save those scores for one reason or another.
• And there’s always a strong possibility that the app simply didn’t work and wasn’t able to save scores or stats.

Because there are such diverse preferences and a lack of universal standards, playing darts online has become a bizarre version of the dating game. Instead of liking a blonde, redhead or someone with blue eyes, the new version of dart player preferences now reads like a comical version of dating app where dart players are seeking other dart players.

Not only is this not feasible from a financial perspective for many players, but some people may not even have space in their home or apartment to set up extra equipment such as tripods, webcams, or camera arms. This is another big difference between darts being played at a bar or pub, compared to playing online.

I’ll conclude this blog post with 12 important discoveries and lessons learned from observing and playing darts online over the past few months.