Darts Player Hits One-in-a-Million Checkout Shot As PDC Official Clarifies Rule

A PDC official has been called upon to provide clarification after a darts player hit a controversial checkout shot, while playing at home.

A checkout in darts is one of the most important skills in the sport, with Luke Littler emerging as one of the best finishers on the PDC Tour.

Historically, Michael van Gerwen has been one of the top checkout players, earning a reputation for his ability to land the 'big fish' - checking out 170.

Now, in a clip that has gone viral on social media, a casual darts player known as Dickos Darts on Instagram, needed 32 to win the leg.

He hit double eight with his first dart, leaving himself needing another double eight to checkout.

But his second dart hit the original, knocking it out of the board before landing in double 16.

That meant after two darts, he had only one dart left in the board, and it was planted in double 16, leading him to wonder whether he had successfully checked out.

The scorer called 'no score', assuming the player had gone bust after hitting double eight and double 16.

But confusion quickly set in for the darts player.

He asked: "Wait, that counts, does that count or not?

"I think I've just checked that out, that counts doesn't it?

"No way, don't think I've ever seen that in darts before. How's it no score? I've checked out surely."

The clip was later shared on X by a darts fan, who wrote: "Never seen this before.. what we saying?"

PDC official Owen Binks, who had been tagged in Pearson's post, replied: "Game shot… All day long!!"

Kirk Bevins, another match official, also weighed in: "Yes that's game shot. He hadn't bust when he threw his 2nd dart and at the point of retrieval it was game shot."

Despite both officials confirming the checkout was valid, that did not end the discussion on social media.

One fan disagreed with them, writing: "Nar. You hit D8 first so you were on 16."

Others were left shocked by the scenario and left to wonder whether it could inspire a new tactic in darts.

"That’s mental and definitely a first for me," one fan joked.

"If you bust can you try and throw one at it to knock it out?"

What began as a casual match at home spiralled into an online debate about whether a completely new tactic had been discovered.