Fancy a game of darts?

Calls for darts to be included in the Olympic Games are getting louder. The game hasn’t been seriously considered by Olympic chiefs – yet – because it’s long been considered a “pub game”, associated with booze and misspent youth.

But darts is officially a sport in many countries and seems to require similar abilities to archery and firearms shooting which have been in the Olympics forever.

Sir Clive Woodward, famed rugby coach, is an important ally: “Darts? Definitely an Olympic sport – look at the fans, TV coverage, audience and real skill under pressure.”

Some estimate darts is the third most popular televised sport in England. This weekend that country’s seaside city Blackpool hosts the start of the World Darts Matchplay, which ends next Sunday.

The tournament is a major attraction for online bettors around the world, with a variety of bet types on offer.

For the uninitiated, the basic rules of darts:

Players both start with a score of 501 and try to whittle that down by subtracting scores they get with rounds of three darts. The first to reach 0 wins a leg. To reach 0 you must finish on a double – e.g. with 40 left, you need double 20.

The simplest bets are Match Winner and Correct Scores.

The Most 180s market is predicting which player will hit the most 180s in the match. A 180 is the highest score possible with three darts. The Total 180s is the number achieved in a match – e.g. over 10.5 or under 10.5.

Some bookies offer handicaps for supposedly weaker players. Nine darts are the fewest amount of darts to win a leg win – a “yes” or “no” bet option, as is the highest three-dart finish of 170.

Betway’s hot favourite for the World Darts Matchplay is youthful sensation Luke Littler on 3.40, with Luke Humphries next on 5.45.