Scorekeeper, Cabinet, Surround

That’s a pretty classic picture, isn’t it? The “traditional green surround” that’s a standard in many coal region bars and man caves across the Mid-Atlantic.

Different people I know have different names for them – dart surrounds, cabinets, scorekeepers. I’ve always referred to them as Big Green Dart Cabinets. They provide the stage for the infamous “Have Fun, Relax, Play Darts” slogan!

The traditional cabinet has built in scorekeeping (via scoring wheels) for six players (or teams). There is place for an overhead lamp (a necessity for tournament set ups), and a fold-down shelf.

The shelf is supported by a couple of chains and a set of hinges that were probably designed for light duty. My “house” at the tavern has a supply of 300lb men, and if you stick your dart potato on that shelf, they’ll pound their way through the shelf before you know it. It may be fine for your house, but now, I put the potato somewhere else!

Either way, the cabinets provide the service of being somewhere you can hang your board. Board after board, after board. You set them up once, and then as you wear out old boards and bring in new ones, you simply insert the new board into place. No measuring each time you’re putting up a fresh dart board.

It also saves your wall from having dart boards screwed into it time and time again. So, if you’re in an environment like a tavern that is going to be replacing dartboards with any sort of consistency, getting a cabinet is definitely something to look into. 

Another thing a cabinet does is add some protection for your walls from stray darts. Truth is, beginning dart players do throw some insanely stray darts. 

There are almost as many ways to hang and set up a dartboard playing area as there are boards, but this particular set up is a classic. They are made by ProDart and Widdy currently, and have been made by at least Darto as well in the past.