Blind draws: how they work and how to run one

A blind draw is the easiest dart event to run and the friendliest to walk into alone. You don’t bring a partner. Everyone puts their name in, partners are drawn at random, and the teams play a short tournament. It is also called a luck of the draw, or LOD.

Why bars run them

• Nobody needs a team. You can turn up on your own and be in a doubles tournament ten minutes later.
• The draw evens things out. The best player in the room might land the newest one. Every team has a chance, which keeps people coming back.
• You meet people. It is how a lot of league players found their first team, and how captains spot new throwers.

How one runs

1. Sign up. Names go on a list until a set time. Whoever is running it closes the list and counts heads.
2. Draw the teams. Usually doubles. With an odd number of players, one team plays as a three, or one player sits as a single and throws twice. Decide which before the draw, not after.
3. Draw the bracket. Teams are placed at random as well. With a number of teams that isn’t 4, 8 or 16, some teams get a bye in the first round.
4. Play it out. Matches are short, often best of three legs, so the night moves along.

Single or double elimination

In single elimination, one loss and you are out. It is quick, and it suits a big turnout or a late start. In double elimination every team has to lose twice, so a team that loses early drops into a second bracket and can still fight back to the final. It takes about twice as many matches and gives everyone at least two games, which is what most people came for.

What gets played

The usual mix is 501 and cricket. A common best-of-three format is one leg of each and, if it is level, a deciding leg with the game chosen by whoever wins the cork. Whatever you pick, say it out loud before the first match and keep it the same all night.

Drawing the teams fairly

The draw has to be random and it has to be seen to be random. The old ways are playing cards, numbered poker chips or names in a pint glass.

Our Luck of the Spin wheel does the same job on a phone or the bar’s screen. Type in everyone’s name, pick how many teams you want, and spin. Each spin lands on one player and puts them on the next team in turn, until the wheel is empty. It works for doubles, triples, or splitting a room into two sides, and everyone can watch it happen.

Tips for running a good one

• Start on time. A draw that is called for 8 and starts at 9 loses the people who have work in the morning.
• Use every board. Call the next match as soon as a board frees up, and have the losing team keep score for the match that follows.
• Settle the odd-player rule first. It is the one thing people argue about.
• Keep the bracket where everyone can see it. A sheet of paper on the wall is fine.
• Make new players welcome. Pair the first-timer with a patient partner in conversation, even if the draw didn’t. They are next season’s league players.

If you’re the new one

Tell your partner your level before the first dart. Nobody minds a beginner; they mind a surprise. Ask what they would like you to throw at. In cricket that is usually “close what I leave open”. In 501 it is “score, and leave me an even number”. Then enjoy it. A blind draw is the lowest-pressure competitive darts there is, and the glossary will cover anything you hear at the line and don’t recognise.