Just a thought about 180's or 171's.

I have felt for the past couple of years that instead of 180 or 171, the mention should be for any shot 170 or better (170, 171, 174, 177, 180).

Just as an example 2 weeks ago my partner left me on 213. I hit 2 T20's, leaving 93 with 1 dart left. I didn't think twice about it (I seldom think once) and shot at the T19 to leave 36 (naturally, I hit the T3 instead, but that's another story). My belief is that I would rather leave my partner or myself a shot at the double if I can rather than leave them a 2-darter and take the mention. I think you should be able to have both. Each shot you need 3 triples (except for 170, in which you need the double bull), so it's not like we'd be diminishing the accomplishment, plus we would be rewarding players for smart play. Part of our role in the club is to teach the game, and I believe that showing that there are other big shots besides 180 can help. I normally tell my partner that I'll give them one of my pins if they hit the triple going for the right shot.

Not a bad idea, although I know that part of the difficulty is getting all three darts into ONE small area. I also know it's very tough to hit 2 or 3 different trips in one turn so I'm not diminishing the difficulty there. I think this is a topic worth discussing further. Anyone else have an opinion?

PS. How rude of you to let a partner you are playing with think you have more than one pin. ;)

If they believe I have more than one, then that adds credibility. False credibility, but hey, it worked for Davy Crockett. Well all except that Alamo tussle.

I think you are both right. If your at 400 then you need to have three in the bed, but with 213 I feel smart play should be rewarded too. Now the question is how can we have both rules? T77 with 400 left is good darts but with 213 it is awsome shot giving your team an easy out. Although in cricket three trips is rewarded no matter whitch ones are hit just so long they all count. Just something to think about.

I was just curious, does T18,T18,T20 in a doubles cricket match constitute a mention?

Yes that is cricket trips, you had to need all of the trips for close and/or score,
for it to count.