ICDL FAQ
What is the ICDL?
The Inner City Dart League is an Atlanta based co-ed dart league that started in 1998. Each team is typically associated with a bar/restaurant that has 2+ dartboards. Depending on the length of the season, each team plays each other a minimum of two times (once at the home bar and once at the road bar) before going into a short single elimination playoff series at the end of the season, followed by a league party.
What dart games do you play?
We play Cricket (hitting 3 of 20’s, 19’s, 18’s, 17’s, 16’s, 15’s and Bulls). If you hit a number that you’ve already closed but your opponent has not, you get points. First to close all the numbers wins, as long as the opponent doesn’t have more points.
We play x01 games like 301 (double in, double out), 501 (single in, double out) and team 801 (single in, double out). You start from the game total and subtract your darts thrown from your total until you reach zero, with the caveat of having to sometimes hit a double to start scoring and always having to hit a double to reach zero. Go past zero and your turn’s a bust, you try again next throw.
Shanghai is a somewhat new game to the league. Similar to Cricket (and sometimes called Super Cricket), it is played according to the same rules with the following additions: having to also hit 3 each of any double, any triple and beds. Beds are 3 darts that land in any segment of the same number (could be 3 singles, or 1 single and 2 doubles, etc). The game-changer is hitting a Shanghai, hitting a triple, double and single of any number. You could theoretically score that as a Bed, but people normally prefer the 200 points you get for scoring it as a Shanghai.
What does a typical match night look like?
Most players arrive an hour or so before the match. Matches are typically at 8PM and usually take 2-3 hours to finish. Each team usually pick 4-5 people that will be playing that night. Singles games are 1 v 1, doubles games are 2 v 2, team games are typically 4 v 4. Points are won for each match won and the winner of the most points at the end of the night is the winner. The format is as follows:
4 sets of Singles Cricket
2 sets of Singles 501
2 sets of Singles 301
2 sets of Doubles Cricket
2 sets of Doubles 501
1 team game (either 801 or Shanghai)
What are All -Stars, High-Ins and High-Outs?
During the regular season, we like to recognize and reward those players that are throwing well. In a Cricket or Shanghai game you can earn points by hitting 5+ of a number (ie, 2 darts in single 20’s and 1 dart in triple 19 counts as 5 hits, if your opponent hasn’t closed them yet). In a x01 game, you can get points for scoring 95+ points in one turn. High-Ins are the highest total you “get into” an x01 game that required you to double in. High-Outs are the highest total on one turn that you “double out” and win the game. You are typically looking at 100+ points for the High In’s and Out’s. Winners receive recognition and prizes at the end of the season at the league party.
Do I have to be a dart master? Is this a competitive league?
You’ll get different specific answers, but the general consensus is that we are a social league and we want to have fun. If we aren’t having fun then something is wrong. Sure, we all like to win, and the matches can get spicy, but we all hug it out in the end and leave as friends. We are fine with complete beginners if you are willing to learn and practice, and we’ve had tons of newbies get pretty darn good over time. If you find yourself getting so competitive that you want to get more serious, we have a lot of friends at the more competitively structured ADA league.
What else?
Come out and throw. Some teams practice during the week or over the weekend. Send us a note and we’ll let you know some bars and times that might work for you. Come watch a match. These are public bars on normal operating nights, we’ll be there. Look out for social events and blind draws. Blind draws are just fun nights at a bar where team lines dissolve and you get assigned to a random partner to try and win it all. Great way to meet and throw.
Let us know who you are, what your experience level is, and what area of town you are in. We’ll let you know what is open. If you are a regular at your own bar and want to start your own team we’re always adding new teams and venues. They just have to be dart friendly and have at least 2 dartboard lanes available every Monday night.
Join Us!
Want to join a team, start a team, practice with us, let us know..