How to Try the Beat Luke Littler 24-Dart Challenge

The Beat Luke Littler 24-dart challenge is simple: start on 501 and check out in no more than 24 darts. That gives you eight visits to complete the leg.

It was reported as the first stage at the London and Manchester auditions for Beat Luke Littler. Players who passed then faced an interview and judging panel, so completing the challenge did not itself earn a place in the show (GiveMeSport).

Netflix says 20 amateurs will be selected for the live event on 30 October 2026, where £501,000 is available to anyone who beats Littler (Netflix Tudum). As of 30 September, the official casting page still allows players to register their interest, although the announced September heats have passed.

The important distinction is that 24 darts was an audition threshold—not a claim that a 24-dart leg would be enough to beat Littler.

The 24-dart challenge rules

Play a normal straight-start, double-out leg of 501:

1. Start at 501.
2. Throw no more than three darts per visit.
3. Subtract each visit from your remaining score.
4. Finish on a double; the bull counts as double 25.
5. Apply the bust rule. If you score too many, leave one, or reach zero without hitting the required double, your score returns to its value at the start of that visit.
6. Pass by reaching exactly zero in 24 darts or fewer.

The current Darts Regulation Authority rules define a visit as a maximum of three darts and require a standard 501 leg to finish exactly on a double. A visit ends early when you check out or bust. A two-dart checkout on your eighth visit therefore completes a 23-dart leg, not a 24-dart leg.

Use a regulation steel-tip setup when testing yourself. If necessary, follow this dartboard setup guide rather than measuring diagonally from the bull.

What average is a 24-dart leg?

Completing 501 in exactly 24 darts produces a three-dart average of:

501 ÷ 24 × 3 = 62.625

Rounded to two decimal places, that is 62.63.

Do not treat 62.63 as the only target. You can score above that rate early and still fail by missing doubles. The challenge connects three skills:

• scoring quickly enough to reach finishing range;
• leaving a finish you can calculate;
• taking the double before dart 25.

Useful checkpoints

Use these pace markers to diagnose a leg, not as additional rules:

• After 12 darts: 250 or less leaves you approximately on 24-dart pace.
• After 18 darts: 125 or less keeps you around the same pace with two visits available.
• After 21 darts: you must leave a valid three-dart checkout.

Being above 250 or 125 does not automatically end the attempt. A strong visit can recover the leg. The final checkpoint is decisive: with only three darts left, anything above 170 cannot be finished.

The standard three-dart bogey numbers—169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159—also cannot be checked out in one visit. If you leave one after dart 21, the challenge is lost even though the score is below 170.

That makes setup decisions important. Before the final dart of a visit, check what a single, treble or miss would leave. The best target is not always treble 20 if a different segment avoids a bogey number or leaves a preferred double.

If subtraction interrupts your rhythm, calculate and record the remainder before retrieving your darts. The chalking and subtraction guide provides repeatable methods for doing this.

Run a ten-leg test

Warm up normally, then play ten independent legs under identical conditions. For every leg:

• restart from 501;
• stop when you check out or throw dart 24;
• count every dart thrown, including misses and darts in a bust visit;
• do not restart because of an early poor score;
• record the result immediately.

Leg	Left after 12	Left after 18	Left after 21	Darts used	Result	Main failure
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Classify each failed leg by its main cause:

• Scoring: more than 170 remained after dart 21.
• Setup: you reached finishing range but left a bogey number or no familiar route.
• Doubles: you reached a double but did not convert the attempt.
• Bust: a scoring or checkout error erased a visit.

Your headline result is the pass rate out of ten. Also count how often you left a valid checkout after 21 darts. If you regularly create a final-visit opportunity but rarely pass, the immediate weakness is more likely to be finishing than general scoring.

Practise the failure, then retest

After the ten legs, spend ten minutes on the most frequent failure.

For scoring failures, throw five sets of 12 darts at your normal scoring segment and record every set total. Use one technical cue only—such as keeping your final gaze on the precise target—instead of changing your stance, grip and release together. This repeatable aiming guide explains how to establish a consistent sight picture.

For setup failures, recreate the actual remainders on your scorecard and attempt each with three darts. Record whether you reached a double, not merely whether you completed the checkout.

For doubles failures, begin with the double you missed. If it belongs to a familiar halving route, practise the full sequence: for example, D20, D10 and D5. Record hits from a fixed number of darts at each target.

Retest with another ten legs on a later day under the same rules. Compare three figures: pass rate, valid finishes left after 21 darts and doubles converted. Together, they show whether the 24-dart challenge is being lost during scoring, on the setup dart or at the outer ring.