Why a tournament is worth the bother

Most pubs have a dartboard tucked in a corner and, if they're lucky, a skittles alley or table that gets a decent workout on a Sunday. What turns that from a bit of background noise into a proper occasion is a tournament. Get it right and you'll find the same faces turning up early, chalk in hand, arguing about the leg they lost last week. Get it wrong and you'll have half a dozen players standing about wondering whose turn it is.

The good news is that a well-run tournament doesn't need a big budget or an events committee. It needs three things: a set of fixtures, rules everyone has agreed to in advance, and a scoreboard people can actually see from where they're standing. Everything else — the pies, the prizes, the bragging rights — follows on from those.

Choose the game, then choose the format

Darts and skittles ask quite different things of your evening, so decide which one suits the space and the crowd you've got. Darts is quicker, noisier and easier to run in a corner of the lounge bar. Skittles takes longer, needs bodies, and works best as a team night with a bit of ceremony about it.

For numbers, a rough guide:

• Six to ten players — a straight round robin, everyone plays everyone, best of three legs. You'll finish in about two and a half hours.
• Twelve to twenty — group stage into a knockout. Four groups of four, top two through, then quarter-finals, semis and a final.
• More than twenty — straight knockout, or doubles instead of singles. Doubles halves the fixtures and doubles the noise.

For skittles, teams of six work nicely, three balls each, and a league format over several weeks often suits better than one long night. A single-evening knockout is still possible if you keep it to eight teams and start promptly.

Draw up the fixtures and publish them

Work out the fixtures on paper before the night, not on the back of a beer mat at eight o'clock. A simple grid with player names down one side and across the top does the job for a round robin. Number each match so you can call them out in order.

Then publish it. Pin a copy behind the bar, tape one to the wall by the board, and keep a master copy with the chalker. If you're running a league over several weeks, print the table as well as the fixtures so people can see where they stand. Anyone can then answer the question "who's on next?" without finding you.

Allow around fifteen to twenty minutes per darts match and forty-five minutes per skittles match when you're setting start times. If you've got a kitchen serving food, tell them the schedule too.

Agree the rules before a single throw

Nothing causes more sulking than a rule nobody mentioned until it mattered. Write the rules on a sheet, put it up where everyone can read it, and read the important ones out before the first match.

For darts, the essentials are:

• 501 straight in, double out is the standard, though 301 double out keeps things moving if you're short of time.
• Board height is 5ft 8in to the centre of the bull, with the oche at 7ft 9¼in. Check it before play.
• Who throws first — nearest the bull, then alternate legs.
• The chalker calls the score clearly and marks it. Loser chalks the next match, or nominate a neutral for the final.

For skittles, the variations are local and fiercely defended, so settle them in advance: how many pins must fall for a legitimate score, whether the front pin must be hit first, whether a spare is allowed, and how many balls each player throws. Left-handed players usually get the left-hand side of the alley, so make that clear too.

Give the scoreboard pride of place

A visible scoreboard is the single thing that makes a tournament feel like a tournament. A chalkboard or whiteboard on the wall beside the board is ideal — big enough to read from the far end of the room. Write up the match in progress, then the results as they come in.

For a league or group stage, keep a running table with played, won, lost and points. Update it after every match, not at the end of the night. Players will check it constantly, and that's exactly what you want.

If you're using paper, go for A3 rather than A4, and use a thick marker. Keep a spare pen tied to the board on a bit of string — it will go missing otherwise.

Feed them, and keep the night moving

Hungry players leave early. Keep the food simple and easy to serve in batches: pies, sausage rolls, chips, cheese cobs, a ploughman's platter, or a hotpot if the kitchen is keen. A "pie and a pint" ticket sold in advance takes the guesswork out of catering and gives the kitchen a number to work to.

Serve between rounds rather than during play, and keep water on the go alongside the beer. If you're running a long evening, a mid-way break of twenty minutes keeps everyone sharp and gives you a chance to update the board.

Finally, sort the prizes before the night: a trophy, an engraved glass, a jug, or simply the winner's name chalked on a board behind the bar. A small trophy that lives in the pub and gets its photo taken does more for next year's entry list than any amount of promotion.