Two deep-set traits of my game play became painfully obvious again today:

• Giving in to pressure and bungling a comfortable lead in the last round, losing the game by eight points and missing my personal best by one.
• Increasingly poor performance as the night grows late.

First game (8 sets count-up):

    2   13  T-18 T-15  T-20 T-20 OUT   13
    2    1     2   10     6  T-1  13 T-15
   10    2     2  OUT     1    3   1    1
=========================================
   14   30    88  143   210  276 290  349

Second game (8 sets count-up):

    5    6    18    3  T-18   20  17    4
   13 T-20   OUT   17    18 T-10  20    4  
    1  OUT    11    1  D-18    4  18 D-20 
=========================================
   19   85   114  135   243  297 352  400

Third game (counting down from 301):

   14    3   15    13    4  T-17 OUT  OUT   4
  T-1   20    2    15   13     9  19    7 OUT   
 BULL   15    1      7   3     5 OUT BULL   3 
=============================================
  234       196  178 143  123  58 39 BUST  32


Fourth game (counting down from 301):

    3  OUT  OUT     6 BULL    5   10  
    7   20   11     7    2    5    2     
    3    2   19    10 T-19   12    7   
======================================
  288  266  236   213 104    82   63                          

My colleagues play darts more than they play bowling and I went with them today. This was my first time at darts, and I started out with a good chunk of beginner's luck, especially in the third game:

First game (8 sets count-up):

  19   4   2  OUT  50   15  14  17
T-13   4   5    5   3    1   9   1
 D-2 D-5  18  OUT  17 D-20  17  14
==================================
  62  80 105  110 180  236 276 308

Second game (counting down from 301):

   2  14   1 OUT
   2   2 T-5  20
   5   5   6   5
========================
 292 271 249 224 

Third game (8 sets count-up):

  17 D-BULL  20 BULL   4 T-15 OUT   1
 T-7     19   1 T-17 T-3  D-8   3  19
   9   BULL   3 T-13  13   13  15 OUT
=====================================
  47    166 190  348 374  454 472 492

Unfortunately, it went seriously downhill from there, with dismal performance in the next two team games of cricket (in which you have to hit specific combinations, which requires more target control than I could muster).