A hat trick is a term used commonly in a number of sports to describe a particular feat, mainly involving an achievement based on the number three. In football (soccer), a player scoring three goals will be noted to have scored a “hat trick”.
Similarly, in cricket where this term was originally thought to have originated, a hat trick is when a bowler takes three wickets with three consecutive bowls.
Hat tricks are supposed to be a rare and impressive feat in most sports but in darts, a single throw makes use of three darts and the aim (and regular occurrence among pro players) is to land three darts in the treble 20.
This is therefore a non-impressive feat so just what is a hat trick in darts?
A hat trick in darts is where a player hits a bullseye with all three darts in a single throw. This is a rare shot even by professional dart player standards and is considered a good darting feat when it’s hit successfully.
While this is the most ‘accepted’ definition of a hat trick in darts, there is definitely some debate as to what the actual definition is for a hat trick in darts!
What Is a Hat Trick in Darts
As mentioned above, the most common definition accepted by most players for a hat trick in darts is hitting a bullseye with all three darts in a single throw.
There are people who stretch this definition to mean you could hit three consecutive bullseyes (this could be the last two darts of a single throw followed by the first dart of your next throw), those that include the outer 25 instead of it just being “three in the red” and even those that include just three bullseyes in a single round or leg in total (not even in the same throw).
I’m not sure where the term first came from but Alan Evans, a former world no 1 darts player definitely popularised three bullseyes as being a hat trick. He was known to have once hit 8 of these shots in a Scottish tour and eventually, a 150 out finish came to be known as an “Alan Evans shot”.
It’s rare for players to throw for bullseyes consistently and to demonstrate just how rare it is to hit three in a single shot, check out this video below and notice how the commentators and crowd react to Michael Van Gerwen when he surprisingly hits the bullseye in three darts… ”Just because he can”.
You don’t get a response like that for hitting three trebles and that is because it’s an expectation and a requirement at the highest level. It’s rare (and difficult) to hit three bullseyes in a single throw and I’ve only done it once in my life and had to take a picture for the memories.
For this reason, hitting three bullseyes in a single throw in darts gets that coveted sporting title of a hat trick.
What Are Three Bullseyes in Darts Called
While I’ve just mentioned that a hat trick in darts is hitting a bullseye with all three darts in a single throw, there is still some confusion when it comes to darts terminology and this will vary depending on where in the world you are playing.
Something I noticed when looking into darting terms in this glossary of terms states:
“Black Eye/Black Hat – Hitting 3 double bullseyes in a round”
There are also places that consider a hat trick to be hitting the bull with all three darts in a throw but they also count the outer bull (25) within this scoring area meaning you could hit three 25’s and class it as a hat trick.
Like with the black eye and black hat term above, others consider hitting three bulls within a leg to also be classed as a hat trick so there is definitely some confusion or variety in what you’d name it when you hit three bullseyes.
The most common phrase when hitting three bullseyes in a single throw, however, is a hat trick in darts and this is the best way to describe it in my (and many others) opinion.
Summary
There’s no denying that you’ll hear some strange terms and darting slang from time to time, especially if you play in the UK! For those of you that might have been wondering “what is a hat trick in darts”, it’s basically hitting three bullseyes in a single throw.
As with most other sports, a hat trick is an impressive feat and as demonstrated by the Van Gerwen clip from earlier, hitting three bullseyes in a single throw is definitely considered an impressive and rare shot in the game of darts.
