The BullShooter 38th anniversary regional in Washington held at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle North Lynnwood, is now in the books. This was my second experience attending a Bullshooter event, and because I don’t get out often to play larger events, I’ve always had a great time competing win or lose. I’ll go through my personal recap and experience from the weekend.

Day 1

Day 1 only had one event which happened to be Cricket singles. The Cricket singles event was split into 4 divisions (A, B, C, D).

As for myself, I ended up playing the A division. Unlike last year, the division matches used the 13 inch board. I was totally unprepared for this, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. In terms of my performance, I’ll just say I struggled hitting triples on that board, which was pretty demoralizing. I flat out just could not hit, and dropped my first 2 matches and was out of the tournament. Talking to some folks before and after, maybe I should have stuck with hitting singles. I felt good mentally and physically, but just could not hit.

A few notes about day 1:

• Tournament was run in the app and you needed a hot button, this was also different from the year previous in WA. I thought this was great!
• Event was supposed to start at 7pm, but started more like 8:30pm. 
• Before event started, there were instances of electrical breakers shutting off which caused multiple boards to go down.
• Drinks were pretty pricy, $13 for Jack Daniels…ouch. No outside drinks as expected, but best to bring your own and have some drinks in your room.
• Only division A had best of 3 in losers bracket, other divisions had a 1 game match
• There was no stream link for day 1
• A Division Cricket singles bracket

Day 2

Day 2 held two different events Cricket doubles (played on the 15″ board), and mixed trios 701. 

For Cricket doubles, I partnered with Peter Clark again (same as last year). We had our ups and downs, it almost seemed like when one person hit, the other struggled. There were rounds of disappointment with my darts, and overall I felt I shot decently. We just couldn’t build a rhythm, we lost some close legs that could have changed our fate. Still, a good experience and some things to build on and learn from. Also, I need to win the cork more often, starting the match at this level is a big advantage. One match our opponent 9 marked the 20s on their opening round.

For 701 mixed trios, Peter and I partnered with Katie Holmes. It was best of 3 in the winners and losers bracket, open in and double out including the full bull as an out. We found some success early, then ultimately got knocked out in the double elimination tournament. Again, the legs came down to a missed dart here or there, and we just couldn’t wrap up the legs. Missed outs, or our opponent hitting. Personally, felt good was able to be consistent with low tons and hat tricks. Need to be better at closing the show.

A few points from day 2:

• Late starts again!
• Day 2 live stream
• Level 1 Cricket doubles bracket
• 701 Mixed trios bracket

Day 3

On the final day of the tournament, there were 2 events. Doubles 501 and mixed doubles. I only played the doubles 501.

The 501 doubles event for our level was split bull, double out, freeze. I again partnered with Peter. I was feeling good myself, during warmups was able to hit well, Peter wasn’t feeling his best and that showed in his darts. Sadly we went 2 and out. I’m not all experienced in 01 split bull with freeze, and I probably should have communicated better with my partner on freeze situations. No excuses, but the room was tight and often times hard to find a place to stand after shooting so it did make it difficult to strategize with your partner. 

A few points from day 3:

• Late start again, some brackets were messed up and had to be redone.
• Live stream for day 3
• Bracket for 501 doubles

Final Thoughts

Overall, although the tournaments start times were always late, that wasn’t such a big deal for me since I was staying at the venue. I really liked how the the brackets and matches were setup and automated. From the board you login with your hot button or phone app, and board would bring up the match with all the formats setup. After each match, the results were instantly reported to the bracket and you were assigned a new board and match. The event ran really smooth from this perspective. I did hear about certain individuals and teams being assigned into incorrect brackets due to human error reading ratings, it happens and was unfortunate for some individuals and teams. The dart room could use more space, it was really cramped compared to last year.

From the personal performance perspective, the outcomes were not good at all. I did expect to see more success from myself. That said, if I were to compare how I shot last year compared to this year, I’ve felt like I’ve improved. Last year I wasn’t hitting 9 marks in the tournament, this year there were several times I hit 9 marks to come back on games. My nerves were in check, I felt good mentally and physically (except for some pain in my throwing shoulder, but wasn’t enough to bother me in matches). Things to work on….I need to learn to win the diddles more often, continue to work on my consistency, and close out games better. If I can work on those aspects, I would hope the outcomes will get better. 

Finally, it was great seeing folks from the dart community that I don’t see often. Also, great to meet new dart aficionados. Just having the opportunity to compete and enjoy the sport is why I will continue to support and come to this event.