Just make sure you don't have one too many when meeting up with the Raleigh Dart League.

"You've got a steel object in your hand; you're not going to go out and get drunk," said Julie Payne, a player in charge of the league's membership.

The Raleigh Dart League, which has more than 400 members, offers a chance for players of all ages and skill levels to throw back a few while tossing some darts. The league has 52 teams -- with names such as the Elementary School Bullies, the Grateful Darts and Menace to Sobriety -- with six to 10 players each that rotate among several bars in Wake County.

The Upper Deck in Cary and Blinco's in North Raleigh are two of the most popular, said Jason Thomas, the league's vice president.

Registration is closed for new teams to join for the 2006 season, but individuals can still join existing teams through the league's Web site, www.raleighdartleague.org, Thomas said. The season starts Aug. 9 and offers seven skill levels. Each person pays $20 for a season of play.

Members run the spectrum, with blue-collar workers competing against lawyers and those in their late teens playing against people in their 60s, Payne said.

"It's a broad range of players with a broad range of skills," she said.

The league is basically a social outlet and a place for people to work on their dart skills, Thomas said. Most people compete once a week and practice one or two other nights with their teams.

"If you've been in a league long enough, you know the majority of the members," he said.

Thomas began playing seven years ago and was increasingly drawn to the "competition and camaraderie."

"You get into it," he said.

In addition to the ongoing team competition, the Raleigh Dart League sponsors "Blind Draws" on Friday and Sunday nights at Cary's Upper Deck and on Monday nights at Varina Sports Bar in Fuquay-Varina. In a blind draw, players pay $5 and are paired up at random with a partner, Payne said.

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