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We're not 100% sure, but we suspect that the numbers on the dartboard are arranged in order to maximize players' mistakes. According to Vicky and Lisa's Place for Dart Stuff, the general arrangement of "high numbers alternating with low ones and odd with even" was adopted at the turn of the century and has persisted based solely on convention, despite the possibility of a more "logical" arrangement. Our guess that the traditional arrangement is meant to penalize errant throws comes from our limited knowledge of the rules of darts. Some games require players to clear a set amount of points or "close" certain numbers (hit singles, doubles, and triples in each). By alternating high and low numbers, a missed throw
won't usually help a player get closer to victory. Of course, many darts games rule out "slop" (errant, but scoring throws) and in those cases, the arrangement of the board would seem to be irrelevant. For more on darts and its rules, check out Cyber/Darts, an all-purpose darts resource.
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