Rotating a Stubborn Dartboard
We have a board at the bar that needed to be rotated. Unfortunately, this particular board wins the “most stubborn dartboard of the year” award, and despite our best efforts, it didn’t budge.
So, I got out the trusty hammer, and did a little operating. Basically, I banged out the inner section of the board, rotated it, and popped it back into place. So, if you’ve never rotated a dartboard and wonder what I mean by that when I mention it, I ran the camcorder while I operated. The video is available here, and on YouTube (it might be the first video on there dealing with American Darts)
I think the first thing you’ll notice is that the board is in pretty bad shape. But, once the video was done I checked the other side, and it’s in much better condition. In fact, I expect it will last the better part (if not all of) the Spring season.
The board being rotated is a Widdy Tournament board. If you have a cheaper wooden board, like say, one of the boards with a 20-inning scoring section on one side, and a “baseball scene” on the other, you won’t be able to rotate it.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I did manage to get it all done without waking up the wife. 
Dorko’s Winter Classic – Recap
I was at one of the tournaments that took place Saturday, and thankfully ended before the “weather” set in in central PA. At the inaugural “Winter Classic” held at Dorko’s Cafe in Mt. Carmel, 3-man teams gathered for a tournament. There was a 110 point cap per team, with averages taken from the State tournament, the Nationals Tournaments, and then League events.
While everyone enjoyed their time shooting darts, meeting freinds they seldom see, and even making new friends at the event, darts were in the air, and shooters were still shooting to win. Several shooters had excellent days, with high games of 57 (Ed Dormer) and 56 (Joe Swatski).
As teams advanced in the brackets, it seemed as though two particular teams had hot hands and would be destined to meet in the finals. And, that’s exactly what happened, with the team of Doug Troutman/Damien Zigler/Nate Dobek taking on the team ”on the perch” of the winner’s bracket, Dennis Conti/Joe Swatski/Joe Zaharik Jr.
When the dust settled, one team stood at the top of the hill . . .
Dennis Conti – Joe Swatski – Joe Zaharik Jr.
By all accounts, the Dorko’s Winter Classic is shaping up to be a regular stop on the tournament tour, and by taking the title in the first ever running of the event, these shooters have etched their name in record books.
December 15th Dart tournaments
this weekend there will be American style darts in the air as two different dart tournaments taking place in central PA.
this weekend seems to be a good time to get out and shoot some competitive darts. the state dart tournament will be starting after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, so it’s a good time to enter a “warm up” event. also, deer season just came to a close last week, so, where else would you rather be on a Saturday than in a tavern shooting darts?
by the way, snedeker says the weather won’t be a problem, although it’ll be a bit chilly.
The first is the inaugural running of the Dorko’s Winter Classic. it’s a 3-man event with a 110 point cap. averages are taken from the State tournament, or Nationals if you shot there. if you haven’t shot at either of those events, bring a league average.
sign ups take place at 12:30, and darts will be in the air at 1pm. with an 8-team cap (although i can see this being extended as high as 12), the winners should expect to be finishing around 9-10pm.
entry fee is $35 per team, and of course there will be food and drink available throughtout the day, and into the late evening. if you don’t have a set team, but would like to shoot, there’s a good chance you’ll find other shooters to team up with before the start of the tournament, so stop on down.
you can find a map to the place on the Dorko’s Winter Classic tournament listing.
the other event of the day happens in Mountaintop, at the Crossroads Inn. It’s a 3-man handicap event (60%) handicap. for more information, including directions, check out their page on the tournament listings section of the site.
Belgian Darts – Vogelpiks – Wooden Darts
I’ve surfed the net looking at various dart sites long enough that when I come across something totally new, it makes my day. And, that happened just the other night.
I’m aware of several different variations of the wooden dart/wood board dart game pairing. For instance, there’s DartBall and the previously mentioned Troy darts.
I recently found a new one (new to me that is), and it seems like the European version of American darts.
It’s called “Vogelpiks”, and it’s a dart game from Belgium.
Vogelpik “Darts”:
The darts are very similar to american darts in that they are hand-crafted from wood, use feather flights, have a steel tip and a lead weight. They use several woods: cherry, walnut, and birch. The flights come in different styles as well. They can be rounded or snipped like a darto/apex dart.
The board is made from . . . you guessed it . . . the endgrain pieces of basswood. It the same material as our American style wooden tournament boards. The layout on the board is insanely simple. There is a “bullseye”, or what we’d call the cork in the center of the board. It’s surrounded by 6 circlular bands or red/white/black. Here’s a pict:
Rules and Gameplay:
First, the distances for hanging the board, and the throw line:
Hang the Board with the cork 62 inches above the floor. That’s a mere 1 inch shorter than an American board, compared to a pub board that is mounted 68 inches above the floor.
The Throw Line should be 72 inches from the front of the board. That’s awefully short compared to other dart games. It comes in at 6 ft, compared to over 7 feet for both American and English darts.
Now, on to the gameplay.
- Players throw four darts per turn at the center of the dartboard.
- Each player gets five turns per game.
- Toe the line, stepping over the line results in a loss of score for that dart.
- Players wait until the score is called to remove darts. If they fail to do so, there is no recourse for an incorrectly called score.
- If the game ends in a tie, players shoot extra rounds of four darts each to break the tie.
Scoring:
The scoring is simple. Each ring has an associated point value.
- The cork/bullseye is worth 50 pts.
- The red ring that surrounds it is worth 25 pts.
- The white ring surrounding that is worth 20 pts.
- The black ring scores 15 pts.
- The outer white ring scores 10 pts.
- The outermost red ring scores 5 pts.
History of Vogelpiks:
“It was very popular in Flanders around the time of 1792, and seems to have originated from the archery skills of the Middle Ages. “VOGELPIK” is the early version of the modern game of Belgian darts. It consisted of a stuffed bird hung by a wire from the ceiling, and in its bill a needle in the horizontal position was attached. The player would balance the wire and try to spear a wooden board that was hung on the wall.”
I read that and re-read that, and I still can’t envision it all. I do think that it adds some background to why there’d be a picture of a Vogelpik board hanging inside a bird cage on the internet though.
I think it’s great to find wooden darts making their way to the States in another form.
Resources:
Standard Target and Dart Co.
Vogelpiks.com
New High Scores
just a heads up that two new players joined the High Score Honor Roll for our web-based American Darts game.
Bob Marinelli managed to hit a 66, and 13 year-old Chris Becker broke the 70 mark.
Congrats guys!
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