The dartboard may have its origins in the cross-section of a tree. An old name for a dartboard is "butt"; the word comes from the French word , but the meaning is "target". In particular, the Yorkshire and Manchester Log End boards are differ from the standard board in that they have no treble, only double and bulls’ eye, the Manchester board being of a smaller diameter, with a playing area of only 25 cm across with double and bull areas measuring just 4mm. The London Fives board is another variation. This has only 12 equal segments numbered 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10 with the doubles and triples being a quarter of an inch wide.

There is a speculation that the game originated among soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of the cask or at the bottom of trunks of trees. As the wood dried, cracks would develop, creating "sections". Soon, regional standards emerged and many woodworkers supplemented bar tabs by fabricating dart boards for the local pubs.

The standard numbering plan with a 20 on top was created in 1896 by Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin. However, a great many other configurations have been used throughout the years and in different geographical locations. Gamlin's layout was devised to penalize inaccuracy. Although the most of the boards, the left-hand side (near the 14 section) is preferred by beginners, for its concentration of larger numbers. Mathematically, removing the rotational symmetry by placing the "20" at the top, there are 19!, or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. Many different layouts would penalize a player more than the current setup, however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical papers published that consider the "optimal" dartboard.

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