Thailand Darts Monthly - October 2008

Volume 020

DARTS THAILAND

October 2008

DARTS BARS ON THE RISE

(Bangkok, Thailand DT) Although this headline won't make any of the major news wires of the professional news sources on the web - it's our lead story this month. We've been contacted by not one or two but three new venues asking how to hang a dart board and set up a throw area. A few others now under construction are also making inquires. As well - some existing venues have been hanging boards. Will be out with the camera this month to let you know which ones are operational in next month's newsletter. Your support of these venues will only continue this popular trend.

We now have a board and area set-up page in our reference section found from our main page. Sure there are enough references found online but since the questions came to us we put up a set-up page. Two printable diagrams - one for board measurements and another for construction an overhead light hood are on the page. CLICK HERE or on the graphic to check it out.

As stressed on the set-up page - get it right the first time. Serious darts players won't play on a board that's not right and if you intend to be a host venue for a league team your board and throw area must be right. The overhead light hood is not required - it's just a good one that happens to work well and takes a lot of guess work out of getting your lighting just right.

Beware pool players & fair warning to our friend Mark (chairman of the Bangkok Pool League) and all his pool playing hooligans. Us darts gentlemen are slowly but surely taking over as more people recognize the more challenging sport. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (dedicated to the betterment of mankind) has determined that darts is a much more difficult game than pool - the reason being obvious. When inebriated the pool player gets to hang onto the pool cue with two hands and has the added benefit of leaning on a large pool table where as the darts player stands unassisted and only gets to hang on with one hand.

On a serious note - I would like to mention again how important it is to support the Bangkok Pool League. We share a lot of the same venues and at least one of the same challenges - short a player on a night. Picking up a pool que for a team in need of a player one night may afford you a pool player willing to pick up some darts when your team finds itself short a player on a night. I know - as poor a player as I am using the best pool que as well as a broom stick - I've actually been asked to play the pocketed game for a really desperate team. Nice feeling to know you can call a few guys not normally involved in darts when you find yourself short a player. - - Johnny

THAILAND DARTS HISTORY - APRIL 1984

1st THAILAND OPEN DARTS TOURNAMENT

Received this email from our friend Paul Seigel "Dartoid" sent to him by “Duds” Cansana from the Philippines. Click on the thumbnail for full size poster.

You probably know Andy Mercado, who owns Terton Darts, makers of the only Abaca dartboards in the world. I was in his place yesterday having one of my darts fixed. While there, we had a few drinks with some of his dart players. His shop is decked with darts memorabilia dating back to the 1970s.

And what did I find in his shop? The poster of the 1st Thailand Open Darts Tournament held at Pattaya in 1984! Johnny Witkowski might be interested to hang it in his web site. I bet that nobody in Thailand has kept a copy that.

Many thanks Duds. Hope to someday get over to Andy Mercado's shop with my camera. If anyone else has any Thailand darts memorabilia from years past - please send it to me and I will put up a Thailand Darts History page.

October's
Darter of the Month
The Vivacious
Miss Belle

"Thai Liaison to the Seoul International Dart League" our own Miss Belle. Growing competition events with our neighboring Asian darts clubs = necessity to appoint not only a talented player but a qualified liaison to our visiting darts friends. This month we're proud to introduce our first international liaison - the vivacious Miss Belle.

BELLE

THAI
LIAISON
TO
SEOUL
INTL.
DARTS
LEAGUE

INTERVIEW WITH GARY DALE

Relatively new to our Bangkok darts scene compared to some of our old hands - Gary Dale had no problem adapting. A talented darts player with a wealth of knowledge of not only the game but organizing leagues from his Vietnam experience - he's a major player in all aspects. We'd like to see him more at the oche but Gary Dale's among the minority of our Bangkok darts players - those with honest day jobs. It's our pleasure this month to present our interview with Gary Dale.
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DT) How and at what age did you get started playing darts? GD) I started playing darts in 1995 so I guess that would make me about 28 years old. I didn’t want to play but was forced into it because the old Emerald Bar in Hanoi did not have enough players for a team. I was slow in getting it but I enjoyed the camaraderie and now it is a fairly permanent part of my life!

DT) Who has influenced you the most in your dart game? GD) Well, my first team captain, Alan “Ossie” Mathews, taught me the importance of counting and I learned a lot about knowing the combinations from some of our better players, Vince Gibbon (a Hanoi player from Ireland) and Blaine Karst (a Saigon player from Canada who lives in Prague now). These guys were really good! I also learned about running the leagues from a guy named Phil Jornlin, an American who the last I heard he was in Lebanon . We can’t forget all the work it takes to do these things. I basically just play the game in Thailand but in Vietnam I was chairman of the Hanoi International Darts League for a while and I put together the league in Saigon and served as its first chairman and was chairman again a few years later.

PROFILE

NAME - Gary Dale Cearley
NICKNAME - Bulldog (but no one calls me that outside of some of the older generation of my family) and my darts team name, Captain Gun
AGE - 41
PLACE OF BIRTH - Prescott, Arkansas, United States (home of the Curly Wolves!)
CURRENT HOMETOWN - Bangkok
DARTS USED - 26 gram, aluminum shaft 80% tungsten barrels (with Bobby George flights)
HEIGHT - 5’10 ”

DT) What has been your most memorable win? GD) Personally, when I beat a fellow named Andrew Scott. He was a swindler who’d gotten some money from me and some of my friends. He, in those days, was a much better player than me but I played way above myself and I won 2-0. In leagues I think when the Really Rottens beat TUG1 (which was called the Gecko at the time) to get the knock out cup in Saigon . That was a good memory. My team was awful for the first three years so this was really a bonus. In Hanoi I guess it would have been when my team, Emerald, went undefeated on the season and in the final beat Mabuhay 11-0. I have some other really interesting wins as well. I helped arrange to put together the

first Saigon vs. Hanoi matches. I captained Hanoi the first time and we smashed Saigon 24-8 then I moved to Saigon and when Hanoi came to visit we smashed them by about the same score. Saigon has run away with the series. The only win Hanoi ever got was when I was captain. There is also the match when Saigon played a team from Singapore , the first international in Vietnam . We expected to lose but we beat them solidly. Oh yeah, there was one last win for the books…

The next to the last time I played in Hanoi I had a doubles partner who nobody else chose. All of our “dream team” doubles on the second day of the competition were losing but my partner, a Thai lady named Kanjana Hawthorn Ewers (“Na”), and I were winning our matches. The format we had was a point per leg and we were the last match still playing in the two day event. We won our first leg handily but nobody seemed to notice. On the second leg though, I noticed that both teams started to crowd around us to watch. The Hanoi doubles team, Phil Pressland and Eric Saxon, stayed really close in the second leg. It was a real toss up but Hanoi won the point. The third leg was not so close. Hanoi was well ahead of us (we were playing 701) so Na and I were desperately playing catch up. Phil and Eric were getting down close enough to score. In the background I overheard one of the Hanoi team members asking the official score keeper what the score was. He answered “ Hanoi 356, Saigon 356. The winner of this match takes the competition.” We found ourselves still at 187 when the other guys were on 32. I hit a 120, leaving 67. The Hanoians busted their shot giving us one last chance. Na aimed her first dart to 17 but missed. The dart was out of the board. The second time she hit the 17, leaving 50. She looked at me and nervously asked “What should I go for now? 18?” I said “Go for the bull’s eye, Darling.” I dared not tell Na that our whole competition may well have been riding on her hitting a dead center bull. Then she calmly turned around, aimed and hit it dead center bull! The crowed erupted! The closest match I think any of us had ever played and Na had no idea she’d hit the winning point. I slung her around in the air for a while then her husband told her. When it hit her she teared up crying! What a great memory!

DT) In how many different countries have you played darts? GD) Hmmm… In league play only in Vietnam ( Hanoi and Saigon ) but for friendlies? Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Portugal and the USA that I can think of now. There may have been others.

DT) You were influential in establishing dart leagues in Vietnam tell us a bit about that and what you see as similar challenges or advantages between Vietnam and Thailand in the time that you've been playing here. GD) The darts in Saigon has gone from strength to strength. Blaine Karst, who I mentioned before, was very instrumental in getting some good sponsorship for us with Johnnie Walker a few years back and they have supplied all the chalkers for the league and lots of money for the special events with Hanoi and Singapore . We cooperated by getting the Johnnie Walker name out there in press releases, on the dart boards and on our team jerseys and anywhere else we could. I think that Thailand could definitely benefit from that experience. We also, as a league, gave support to a few charities. A school for the blind and a foster home for severely retarded children. I don’t know if Thailand does anything like that.

DT) Is there anything you see as unique about darts in Thailand? GD) In comparing darts in Thailand to Vietnam I would say that the local participation is unique here. Many, many more Thai are playing than in Vietnam . But when you look at leagues in the region like in Hong Kong , Singapore and Malaysia this novelty wears off. Most of those guys are locals and expats are the minority.

DT) In general, how would you rate our dart venues, throw areas and overall atmosphere conducive to serious darts play? GD) Whew! A bit more work needs to be done. If you want a standard to follow, try Saigon . They are quite serious about the venues there. SAIGON INTL DARTS LEAGUE

DT) What changes do you see that would improve the popularity and quality of darts in Thailand ? GD) Nude chalkers? Free beer? Actually, I know that this is going to sound funny but I think the layout of one board per bar actually holds the league back in many ways. In Vietnam we had two boards at every venue with eight to twelve man teams. This doubles the amount of people in the place and makes for a funner night and also increases the income for the bar keepers. (I have heard at least two owners complain that the darts don’t bring enough money). I know it is a catch 22. The owners don’t want to put up the other boards because they don’t see the profit yet.

DT) Anything specific you'd like to say to dart players in Thailand and readers of DT? GD) I enjoy playing hear more each week. I am happy that the make up of my team is a majority of Thai people. That is something I never had in Vietnam . I also would like to thank Johnny Witkowski and Kieran Paul for holding down the fort with little back up. I know what that’s like!

Gary Dale's Website - http://www.garydalecearley.com/

PART III OF A NEW SERIES

DOES ALCOHOL ENHANCE PERFORMANCE?

Darts Thailand - Drunken Darter Cartoon

Is a bit of libation part of your darts warm-up? A few beers, a shot or two of Jack or something else? Basic question - do you feel that alcohol is necessary for you to play darts at your best? A common darts topic - well at least here in Thailand.

1) Are a few drinks necessary for you to feel more confident in your darts game?
2) If so, how many and what's your drink of preference?
3) Is there a point that you feel at your peak and more drinks cause your decline? If so, how many?

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I emailed these questions out to our contacts around the world then our good friend Paul "Dartoid" forwarded it onto his many contacts. Richard Lowy of Unicorn Group also replied and promised a few additional replies from some of his many contacts. The number of responses has been overwhelming - so much so that I will run this as a series for a few months. All responses will be published in the order I received them. "Many Thanks" to all those responding. - - Johnny
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Sid Waddell

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On the personal level, when I played seriously at Cambridge University in 1959-62 I found that I was at my best during pint number three of Greene King bitter ale. We played double-to-start and I felt relaxed and chipper. Sadly, further pints brought in what the economists call ‘diminishing returns’ - scrappy play and foul temper.

Generally, in 35 years in the sport as a TV producer and commentator, I have only met TWO total teetollers amongst top players. One was Ken Brown, an England player who now lives in the USA , and the other is Tony Eccles of Hartlepool who plays the big events now and is allergic to alcohol.

Down the years there have been some amazing topers who seemed to ‘need’ the drink to hit top form. Alan Evans of Wales , one of the first pros in the mid-70s, would perform at peak with six or eight pints of strong cider down the hatch. The first world champion Leighton Rees’s pre-match ritual involved maybe four pints of lager and two large brandies, with another four or five pints during a major game. I have seen Jocky Wilson play 14 brilliant winning exhibition matches over three hours with the final alcohol tally being a bottle of vodka and eight pints of strong lager.

A couple of points here. All the above players had graduated to darts from heavy manual jobs, So they were used to a relaxing few drinks and sweating it out the next day on the building site or in a factory. Plus, in your 30s and 40s your body can just about cope with booze abuse.

A final tale. Cliff Lazarenko has for years performed well at the top level with anything up to 12 pints on board. In Ireland five years ago he bumped his head leaving the stage after a defeat. The stewards took him to hospital for a scan and a doctor asked Cliff if he’d taken alcohol recently.

‘Yeah mate, about twenty cans of beer since breakfast.’
It was about 3 p.m. The doctor gasped.
‘But that ain’t a right lot for me,’ admitted Cliff.

Despite the five million pounds a year up for tosses in the PDC this year, a fair bit of gargling will go on. After all, this sport was spawned in the pubs of Britain .

“Duds” Cansana

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I don’t think it enhances my game, but it definitely makes my game more fun. Actually, I just need the alcohol to lessen the tension, especially for those very tight games. About 3 drinks is fine to calm me down, beyond that I see noticeable decline on my performance. Unfortunately, that does not stop me from drinking – if in the end I lose, drinking becomes more fun. Of course, beer it is! San Miguel Beer is staple, but I would not say no to those expensive Belgian ones. If I can play without drinking, I think I would be a better player – but quite a sad one.

Organization: Pier One Bar and Grill

Website: http://www.pierone.com.ph/

Rodman Rodman

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I start my dart outings the same way every time. A shot of Jack Daniels and a cold beer. This doesn’t help my game or make me more confident, it calms my nerves. I get the first round jitters at tourneys and sometimes in league. I’m very confident, but if my hands are a little shaky... well it’s a distraction.
A shot and a beer don’t stop the shakes, they tell my mind to stop shaking my hand. In fact, it’s kind of like a superstition; if I forget my routine, I’ll start a match and realize it and if I’m not feeling the nerve, I finish the match, but if I get the nerves then, I remedy the situation. I drink beer while I play, but I TRY to pace myself. I’m definitely of the mindset that too many (usually between 5-8) puts me in the “oh shit, I got drunk ass for a partner” category and then the night is written-off with the statement, “oh well, at least I had fun!”

Rodman Rodman is from Tennessee (he’s the creative director for an ad agency there and one of his clients is Dolly Pardon)

Justin Irwin

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When I was trying to play darts professionally I was way out of my depth and found that it was only by drinking heavily that I could master my nerves. By the end of my year in the game I found that my alcoholic window of opportunity started at four or five pints of Guinness. I never went far enough in tournaments to know where the tipping point was! I would certainly avoid lager at all costs, as it had a much more varied effect on me.

My darts is now mainly in pub leagues, and therefore a few beers with friends are to be expected. For anyone wanting to take up the game professionally, however, I would definitely advise not drinking at all. It is impossible to always know how it affects you, and the continued development of the sport is surely leading to a time when, one day, alcohol will be banned from the professional game.

Justin Irwin is the author of the book: Murder on the Dartboard.

Justin Irwin's website www.justinirwin.com

Howie Dircks

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I would be happy to give you my prospective on drinking and darts (does it help?) I started playing darts, in a bar, in 1995. I would come in after work (11pm) and catch the dart players after the weekly league. They would be playing for money and most of them had too much to drink. This setup was a easy money maker for me for a short while. I then changed hours at work and started playing 3 nights a week in different leagues, with luck of the draws on fri-sat at the Courtside Pub. (bucky was behind the bar and he REALLY enjoy getting toasted!) Drinking was always part of the pre-game practice sessions.

I have found people believe what is in their minds about a lot of things. It is like the pitcher who NEVER steps on the foul line when leaving the field after an inning. If you believe it helps, then you relax and it helps. Truth is I believe it hurts your game after a number of drinks as you become "foggy" or start making mental mistakes, then throwing mistakes. Drugs have the same problem in darts, some play use drugs to relax, get sharp or it leads their minds to believe the are great and can hit anything. a combo of both is a problem waiting to happen. We all see people at tournament "over enjoy" themselves and I am in no way pointing fingers, as I too have had a few too many, at many a tourney. I mean to me its more social event, with a chance to compete at a game I love. This being what it is, I have always, promised myself that when I need many hard drinks (7-8 rum and cokes) or (3-5 shots of old grand dad) to play a game, that I would quit. I watched a real good player from FLA , drowning himself in scotch (5-6 glasses of a little ice and lots of scotch) just to start throwing. Then he would keep up a pace until his game suffered and he lost. Now I know there would be no way I could convince him he was setting himself up for failure, so I would never try. This is a sensitive subject to a lot of people.

I had a great , close friend and traveling dart partner , I was forced to quit playing with, hanging out with and just talking too. I could not explain to him he hurt both of our games with his intoxication and drug use. I myself tried very hard to play sober for 2 years at tournaments and struggled to make the money round. Stress , pressure began it hurt my game, I developed the muscles in my lower legs would tighten when I got ready to throw and my mind would stop my arm. when I first saw this happen to a women at a tournament I thought it was bull. But it started to happen to a couple of my friends then it DESTROYED my game.

I love darts, and I tried drinking more, then less. nothing helped. I would embarrass myself to the point I would check out and go home. We put great pressure on Ourselves to perform great, hit every triple and every double out. Think of how many times you have thrown 10-20 darts at an out a (during the game) and never hit it....the other guy wins and then you do it. 1st dart is dead center of the double. Why? because you have removed the game and let you mind free of trying too hard. I have never drank and went to work to qualify with my hand gun. Why would I expect to throw better after 5-10 drinks? The drinking is a peer pressure and false belief that it helps you play better. 99% of the people I spoke with MUST have a drink before or during a game. The first thing out of their mouth is "I need a drink" . The bar is not open yet, how can I play? Some complained that if they made the stage at PDC event, that they would only be allowed to have water on stage.

I am sorry this is long, but the question you pose has a long explanation. I will in CT next month and I will try not to make a fool out of myself. If you told the average dart player, wearing panties on his head would help him throw great darts...he would...we all would. If you believe it helps your game is all that matters. If it makes you happy to have a few and play, I say "go ahead enjoy" . But the truth is I do believe it hurts your game, when you are altering the thinking process and fogging up you brain. The one thing you need working 110% to truly be great and play great.

Just my humble opinion, from a dart hacker, and fellow "need a few to get ready to play" dart player.

Howie Dircks
Aberdeen NJ

Scott Harrison

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Hello, Johnny. Paul Siegel asked me to write to you on the subject of Alcohol and Darts for a newsletter article you are writing. It seems to me that, addiction issues aside, some alcohol is not a bad way to rid yourself of the tension that seems to always make the dart fly a little off from the intended target. How much alcohol and what kind? Therein hangs a tale.

First, I need to tell you that I'm getting on in years. I don't drink as much as I used to. Perhaps because I drank so much when I was younger, I feel high most of the time now. Perhaps alcohol is a mind- expanding drug and my mind is now permanently expanded. Who knows?

People I play darts with talk about the "Beer Curve", a bell shaped curve that shows darts throwing ability increasing with beer consumption up to a point and then decreasing. My colleagues cover a lot of territory when it comes to the "Beer Curve." Some show increasing ability while consuming prodigious amounts of beer, with an occasional shot of whiskey thrown in. Myself, One beer doesn't seem to help or hinder my darts, but with the second, I'm on the downside of the curve.

In addition to the dart "Beer Curve" there are other ability curves associated with beer consumption, like walking and talking. Some of my colleagues are still on the upside of the "Beer Curve" when they are clearly on the downside of the "Walking Curve", they stagger to the line and can barely make it to the board to retrieve their darts, and often on the downside of the "Talking Curve" as well, their conversation having become little more than garbled shouting.

I saw a news article awhile back about concert pianists, who seem to suffer from a similar sort of performance anxiety to darters. I've noticed that many of my darts colleagues have no trouble hitting doubles early in a game but run into real problems when a double is the last shot in the game. Tension increases and performance suffers when the darts shooter has an outshot and so does the opponent shooting next. You would think that a darter with a double outshot would be running for that little drop of whiskey to calm the nerves.

Oddly most of my darts colleagues hold off and celebrate the end of the match with a whiskey, when it can no longer make the difference between winning and losing. This may have something o do with the common betting practice where the loser buys the winner a shot. It might be better for the game to have the shot bought for the first player to be on the winning shot.

Well, to get back to the article on pianists, it seems that beta blockers, a prescription medication used to treat hypertension, is the drug of choice for concert solo performers worried about a missed note that will have the critic's jaws wagging in the morning news. Beta blockers have the advantage over alcohol they can't get you drunk and ruin your game (some darters think this is more of a disadvantage).

So far, I haven't run into a darter who uses beta blockers to keep tension a bay, but my sample is small. It might be interesting to hear from readers of the newsletter on this.

Regards,
Scott Harrison
Nuvolux Incorporated

The Circumluminator, attractive custom design, easy to install, essentially shadow-free and glare free dart light. Website
www.nuvolux.com

Once again - many thanks to all those contributing to this series. We will post all replies in the order that we receive them. Looking forward to all coming over for the Medalist Tournament in December. Never been here before and have any questions? No worries. You have the best people in the world at your service - darts people! Give us a holler and we'll be happy to answer all your questions. - - Johnny

BANGKOK DART LEAGUES

TUESDAY - LSDL - WEEK 9

PLEASE CLICK ON OUR SPONSORS

Season XVI - OCT 7 of the LSDL (Lower Sukhumvit Darts League)

THE LSDL PREMIER LEAGUE The LSDL Premier League played their last fixture of season XVI at the end of September. With Play-Offs to look forward to, Vichai’s TDA hold the number one spot in tables 4 points ahead of second place the Moe Syzlak Experience. Domino 82 came in third, 2 points clear of the Domino Titans who hold center position. Flaming Moes had a tough season but still are in a solid fifth. Other Darts have had a difficult first season and we wish them the best of luck in the Play-Offs. Domino Seniors and Stone have battled it out for sixth and seventh place but Seniors have been able to hold onto their lead by point’s difference. (More Info about the Play-Offs and an upcoming Darts Tournament below)

THE LSDL FUN LEAGUE In The LSDL Fun League, with the end of season XVI in sight, The Moon Platoon needs to pull their socks up. The Lazy Pelicans are first, Pelican and Fur Ball Job are second and third. The New Cowboy Bar drops down to 4th place on the tables followed The Aloha Bar. Arch Enemies The Down Under Wabbilies hold their 3 point lead over Larry’s Rebels. White Lightening are on Silver Dollars tail for eighth place and The Sports Corner Bar have a better season this time round, meanwhile The Sports Dink Bar haven’t had so much luck….More Next Time, KaptainX

CHAIRMAN'S NOTE It was our intention to announce the details and for the Premier League Play-off - one night a "beer cap pull" for positioning teams and deciding venues. As this will take little time we will have an Knockout on the night open to all interested darts players - an opportunity for the fun league to get together with the premier league as well as possible teams talking about joining the league next season. Since the fun league still has Tuesday games we need to schedule this event on on night other than Tuesday. We thought that we had it but now must re-schedule and will announce the new date as soon as we can get it nailed down.

"Don't Kill The Messenger" KaptainX has been receiving a lot of flack about stats reports not being up to date. You cannot update stats without data (score sheets). Yeah we're all angry about it but direct your complaints to the offenders not turning in score sheets (listed on our forum). - Johnny

Lower Sukhumvit Darts League

THURSDAY - 6th THAILAND DARTS LEAGUE

Standings as of Week 24, Sep 25 for the 6th Thailand Darts League.

Week 15 July 24	Win	Lose
1) Flaming Moe's	18	2
2) Domino 1982	18	4
3) GPO	13	8
4) TOT	12	9
5) Domino Stone	10	11
6) Offshore	9	12
7) The Other Darts	8	12
8) D'Pelicans	5	15
9) Domino Seniors	3	19

Point of contact for this league -
Dew at Domino Pub & Restaurant. dewdomino@hotmail.com

HUA HIN DARTS LEAGUE

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The current standings from week seven of the current season as reported by league statistician Barry. Standings for the "Top 16" competition in Division One are - Stuart - Golf - Mark - Rune - Martin - Jason - Tao - Peter (JWB) - Dicky - Peter (PF). Standings for the "Top 6" competition in Division Two are Eero - Tao - Muay - Howard - Don - Mojo

DIVISION 1	POINTS
1) Scandic Bar	9
2) Paradise	8
3) CAT	7
4) J.W. Black	6
5) Oasis	4
6) Lazy Daze	3
7) J.W. Red	2
8) Pink Flamingo	1
9) Dick's Office B	0

DIVISION 2	POINTS
1) CAT B	10
2) Butterfly Rock	8
3) Dicks Office A	6
4) Mojo	6
5) Lucky Shot	6
6) Jaew	6
7) Bamboo Grove	4
8) Good Friends	2
9) Love Bar	2

The Hua Hin area
including Cha Am
is darts country.
12 active darts bars
a darts league
and regular
Monday and Friday
darts events.

PATONG DARTS LEAGUE

September games had no real surprises, so Patong Darts League is in for a thrilling finish. Leaders Queen Mary on 125 points will have a bye week on October 7th where No. 2 Offshore on 122 points meets No. 3 Piccadilly on 118 points! The last 2 weeks of the season will see Queen Mary against Offshore and then Piccadilly. These two teams both meet No. 4 Market Bar on 104 points in the last 2 weeks. - - Steen

Steen's "Patong Beach Dart Bar Map" is on our Dart Bar Index Page - check it out. It's a printable map that's great for new-comers to find all the darts action.

NOTE For those with a slow internet speed you may have to refresh or reload this page to have all the images load. Sorry for the inconvenience.

(20 September 2008) It was a dark and dreary Saturday night in most of Bangkok but it was hot and cheerful in the Moonshine as the staff and the darting elite of Bangkok got ready for the bi-monthly dart tournament. Due to the weather only 14 people including 4 of the female darters arrived to partake in the tournament and the great food prepared by the Moonshine staff. With Mitch and Wassana away in the States, Pla and the rest of the staff prepared enough food to feed Genghis Khan’s army. Glad to say he didn’t make an appearance.

Since there were only 14 darters, 2 got first round byes. They were Grant and Su from the Aloha bar. First up were Adul and Allan with both throwing a ton but Adul took the match 2 nil. The good news for both of these darters is later in the night both of them won a dart board in the draw. On board 2 Colin took on Dream (boy is that a great name for her) and took the match 2 nil while only throwing one Ton 40 during the match. The next matches included 3 players from the Aloha bar, Charinee, Harry and Scott. They had mixed results with Scott beating Gayle 2-1, Charinee losing to Jay 2- 0 and Harry losing to Matt 2-1. In their wins both Matt and Scott throw 2 tons. The last first round match was an all Moonshine affair with KaptainX beating David 2-1, he got lucky.

Next up were the second round matches in both winners and losers brackets. In the winners bracket Grant beat Adul 2-0, KaptainX beat Su 2-1 while throwing 2 tons to Su’s 1. In a great match between Jay and Colin that included 8 tons, 5 for Colin, Colin advanced 2-1. In the last match Matt defeated Scott 2 nil to advance to the next round. In the losers bracket, Harry defeated Gayle 2-1 and in an all Aloha affair Charinee defeated Dream 2 nil. In the next 4 loser bracket matches saw Adul defeat Harry 2 nil while throwing 2 tons, Jay defeated David 2-1 while throwing 5 tons to David’s one. In the other 2 matches Allan defeated Scott 2 nil and Su beat Charinee 2 nil. The tournament was now down to 8 players with 4 in each bracket.

In the losers bracket Adul took on Jay and won 2-1 even though Jay throw 5 tons to Adul’s one. Allan defeated Su in a close match with both players throwing a couple of tons each. They now were waiting for the two losers from the winners’ bracket. In the winners bracket Colin defeated Grant 2 nil while throwing 4 tons. KaptainX took on Matt and won 2-1. That means Grant and Matt dropped down to the loser bracket. We are now down to 6 players, 4 in the losers’ bracket and 2 in the winners’ bracket.

In the lower bracket Matt verses Adul and Grant verses Allan were the next matches up. Matt took the first match 2 nil in a good contest. In the Grant Allan match both players throw 2 tons with Allan winning 2-1. Matt and Allan both from the Pelican advance to the next round. In probably the best match of the evening Matt defeated Allan 2-1. This match included 10 tons, with 6 for Allan and 4 for Matt. Matt now waited for the loser of the Colin KaptainX match.

In the winners bracket Colin made short work of KaptainX taking the match 2 nil. KaptainX had to shake off the defeat as he now had to play Matt in the 3rd place match. In this match KaptainX played much better and defeated Matt 2-1. Matt finished in 3rd place. In the final match of the evening Colin again took on KaptainX for the title in a rematch of the winners bracket final. This was a closer match with Colin winning 2-1 while throwing 3 tons to KaptainX’s one. Congratulations to KaptainX who finished in 2nd place and Colin who was the tournament champion.

Besides the dart boards there were 5 bottles of wine given away, David, Gayle and Harry are the only winners that I remember. Sorry about the other 2 but next tournament, we will write down the winners’ names, if we remember that is. All the players and patrons would like to thank Mitch and Wassana for ringing the bell during the tournament. Boy they must have long arms to ring the bell from the States!

1ST COLIN - 2ND KERIAN - 3RD MATT

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The Moonshine would like to thank all the players who braved the elements to attend the tournament. The players would like to thank Mitch and Wassana for hosting the tournament. Special thanks to the Moonshine staff for a great spread, I must have gained at least a kilo on the night. This had nothing to do with the amount of beer drunk during the tournament.

Special note to our tournament photographer, photos with a flash before the match are not a great idea. I was seeing colors for at least 5 minutes after each photo. That must be the reason I lost! - - David

EDITORS NOTE - A photo gallery of this event can be found on the Photo Index Page. Photos of all the players including large group shots - all the raffle prize winners and more shots of the trophy winners can be found there.

FLAMING MOE'S
OCTOBER 501 KNOCKOUT
SATURDAY 25 OCT 8 PM
PRIZES & FREE FOOD

QUEEN'S PARK PLAZA
SUKHUMVIT SOI 22 - BANGKOK

SOFT TIPPERS VS STEEL TIPPERS CHALLENGE EVENT

Still in the works is a challenge event at Bourbon Street pitting steel tip players against soft tip players with the event playing half the games soft tip and half steel tip. Learning more about the differences of the soft tip game we are now aware of a few more logistical challenges. KaptainX is now working on the problem.

The purpose of this event is more to introduce steel players to soft tip and not an official event. Darts - Beer and Socializing in whatever priority suits you. We will try and bypass the soft tip ranking by playing so many games normally required my the Medalist boards. Doug Harrison - owner of Bourbon Street will have two steel tip boards and three soft tip boards available for the event. Additionally he has told us that he has enough house soft tip darts available knowing that steel tip players will not want to purchase soft tip darts for one event. All interested players are welcome. Curious about what soft tip darts are all about? More fun to check it out as a group. Hope to have a date set and ready to go next month. - - Johnny

Welcome again fellow chuckers, into the dark with a lighter view, of the Game Of Prince's here in the land of smiles we once again, dare to tread. I hope you are all enjoying what I am printing on your behalf, remember this is your place to air your views on anything related to Darts in Thailand. I shall print that a few times in this piece, because it seems there are some very tired fingers out there indeed, come on folks get the points good or bad coming in, I can't do this without YOUR help. Again thanks to all who passed on comments in the past month by E-Mail or in passing.

Now for the bit we all like, to hate, the meaty bit, got a few here this month that are going to ruffle a few feathers, but as I said before, you say I put it in print. (love this job).

(1) It has been brought to my attention, that while male players are paying between 55baht to 100baht for a beer on a darts night. Female players are being charged up to 130baht for a short + mixer. I would like to request that Owners/Managers charge a maximum of 100baht on a darts night, due to the fact most female players are employee's of the bars they are playing for, and as you know are being paid a minimal wage. This is forwarded to you only as a request, I can't and do not wish to involve myself in the running of your bar thank you.

(2) Some times the M.M. seems as though it isn't worth the argument. This is supposed to be the FUN ender to a good spirited game of darts. KEEP IT THAT WAY HEY.

(3) It has been stated that certain teams are crowding the thrower at the Oche. Remember everyone has their own personnel space and if you encroach into it, then you are taken to be a threat, which is very off putting to the thrower, who then feels uncomfortable. Play fair give the thrower some space.

REPLIES (1) Charninee and John, would like to pass on their thanks to all who turned up at The Aloha Bar, Sept 12th for the bar anniversary and John's birthday party. We hope you all enjoyed the night. For those who did not you missed David (Aloha bar) doing his version of "Fat Man Dancing "Matt and I can now hang up our shoes, no way can we out do that. Thanks To All

(2) OK OK I stated a falsehood last month, I am not a love child, in fact my father and I were very close. Once I remember my Auntie was telling me that "When you were a young baby, your mother left you on a doorstep. Your father went crazy, shouting, screaming and was even going to hit her. "What she didn't tell me was it was his doorstep?

NONE DARTS RELATED EVENTS (1) D'Pelican Inn, Sunday 12th October,1900hrs Matt's Birthday Party, this is one not to be missed I can vouch for that. Food Pelican Barbecue plus some new Pilipino dishes to try out. Live Bands (yes Bands not Band) Matt welcomes all to come and help him celebrate.

COMPLIMENTS (1) Well done once again to David, Kieran and all the Staff at The Moonshine Bar. Great night again at the Knockout enjoyed by all, looking forward to the next one. THANKS

If I don't receive them I can't post them. Looks like a quiet month. Hope you all enjoyed the above points, even if you were not in agreement with them all. That's what I am here for. Well I think that about covers all again for this month, please get in touch with all comments good or bad. See you down the bar. THANKS

DISCLAIMER. Harry is not a responsible person.
You cant get blood from a 25?
You cant get blood from a 25? - HAVE FUN - HARRYSEZ - sezharry@gmail.com

Here You Go - Rumour Mill # 3 - This Months Rumours, Gossip And Damned Lies

Again Khun Scott from Aloha bar fame is back . . Now that Jayke has left Bangkok it seems the gay rumour mill has surface about Scott and Harry, formerly of D’Pelican and now of Aloha bar, now just because you see these guys, play in the same darts team hang out together, smoking together and when asked if he wants to stay for another beer K Scott reply was ‘whatever you like’ thank goodness he didn’t add dear! That would have been just too much. Now I am not one to speculate, heaven forgive, but I really think that if this was true. . Well they just would not be quite so obvious about it all. I therefore would like to quash all rumours, we have only one Gay in the Village and he is AWOL, are you ever coming back Jayke? Harry misses you

Speaking of which - It has come to my attention that Khun Jayke stated that REAL MEN play steel tip darts not soft tip? thanks to Jaykes boyfriend, for informing me know about this. But was that a code?

Ned having miss-read question 23 on the forum is now working on slowing his game down so he can be on TV. (http://pub15.bravenet.com/forum/1263677913/show/706121)

What will they think of next? Coming to bar near you STEEL TIP Coin Operated Dart Board TRUE http://www.merlindarts.com/

So there you have it for another month, a nice bit of page filler and only because it leaves Khun Johnny free to drink more beer!. . just like his mother always wanted him to do

Cheers All - Gayle - TWFC Email - best501bangkok@gmail.com

FAQ - Where can I buy boards, darts and dart supplies? We have a page listing all known suppliers and some on-line darts suppliers. We only list on-line companies that our players actually use. If we've missed you and you sell darts supplies - contact us and we will add you to our list.

Sukhumvit Eye is a hardcopy magazine that first hit the stands last January. They write darts reports from our articles and use some of our photos. Click on their logo for their website where you can find locations where their magazine is on sale.

Darts Thailand - Johnny "The Big Witkowski"

EDITOR'S NOTE

As always - first want to thank all those contributing to our newsletter. Darts enthusiasm is contagious and we're hopeful to see what looks like a growing trend explode into an outright epidemic.

Will have the Dart Bar of the Month feature back next month as well as Jayke's Take. Jayke's visiting his parents and wasn't able to get his article sent out. Apparently his Mum caught him viewing what she described as disgusting photos and has banned him from using the family computer.

If you're a darter traveling to Thailand by all means pack your darts. New to Thailand? Contact us and we'll point you in the direction of the nearest darts bar. Traveling in a group and want an impromptu darts match - no problem

- - Johnny "The Big Witkowski"

soi22johnny@yahoo.com

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