It's been pointed out to me that when I wrote an otherwise brilliant post explaining how to play the dart game of 501, I failed to mention what happens if you score TOO many points in a throw. If you recall, the goal is to reach exactly zero points and the dart that puts you at zero MUST be a double. So what happens if you hit too big a number and it takes your score below zero?
In that case you've "busted" and receive no points for that turn. Ie, your score reverts to whatever it was before you threw the first of your three darts. The same thing happens if you reduce your score to exactly 1 point, since there is no way to double out on a one.
For example, you have 14 points remaining and (against my advice) you throw at the double 7. Ya hit a 19 and guess what? Yerrr busted! Go pull your dart and wait for your next turn. Going for double 1 and ya hit a single instead? That puts you at 1 point, so you busted, too. Got 16 remaining and trying to hit that double 8 but ya pop a single 16, bringing ya to zero, right? BONNNNNNKKKK! Wrong answer, thank you for playing our game. The dart that brings you to exactly zero MUST be a double, therefore you busted.
Sometime soon I'll tell the heartbreaking story of the biggest bust I ever saw up close.
