Check out San Mateo’s Prince of Wales Pub — a little bit of England on the Peninsula.

But forget what you think about darts. It’s not a plastic, electronic board with soft-tip darts that you feed a bunch of quarters. Prince of Wales plays darts the way it was meant to be — with steel-tipped darts and bristleboard dartboards.

And the people playing know what they’re doing. The Prince of Wales is home to a few of the best dart players in the country — if not the world. Owner Jack Curry, who took over the pub in 1974, won the U.S. title in 1976. Although he gave up throwing a couple years ago, he is still active in the scene. His Monday night tournament is the longest-running weekly tournament in the country, which started in 1970.

“I think we’re well known for our darts,” Curry said.

Curry established the pub’s darts legacy in the 1970s.

“Whenever the top throwers from England came over, I’d put them up at the local Howard Johnson’s,” Curry said.

That kind of notoriety paid off. On a recent Monday night. Curry’s tournament hosted the reigning pub champion, Half Moon Bay’s Tom Monaghan, two-time reigning U.S. national champion Chris White and former two-time soft-tip world champion Rob Heckman.

“I play at the Prince of Wales every week unless I’m traveling,” said White, a Foster City resident.

Although White is one of the best in the country, he uses the weekly Prince of Wales tournament — as well as league play at other places — as a way to hone his skills.

And when Heckman shows up, White needs every bit of talent. Heckman, an Alameda police officer who lives in Fairfield, is one of the few people at the pub that plays White straight up — no handicap for either player.

The steel-tip game is relatively new for Heckman, who made a name for himself playing in soft-tip tournaments.

“Going from soft to steel, it’s a different mentality,” Heckman said, adding that a lot of traditional dart players look down on the soft-tip game as nothing more than hobby.

“Steel-tip has helped my soft-tip game,” Heckman said. “When you play darts, you have to have the talent and skill but you still have to play the game.”

Both White and Heckman said that they didn’t necessarily get along with each other at the beginning. White discovered the Prince of Wales first and considered it “his.” When another big dog like Heckman came on the scene, White wanted to protect his turf.

“It was a friendly distaste for each other,” Heckman said. “But now, me and Chris are best buddies.”

Such good friends, in fact, that the two travel to tournaments together, forming doubles teams as well as playing in singles competition.

The Prince of Wales has three “traditional” dartboards and there are no fancy scoring systems. Just white boards and erasable ink markers. You have to keep your own score.

Curry must love the game to put up with the things he does. The dartboards cost upward of $60 apiece and he has to replace the boards every few months because of wear and tear. His insurance premiums are also three-times higher because insurance companies look at steel-tipped as more dangerous than their soft-tipped brethren. Curry compared it to having pool tables where cue sticks can be used as weapons. But Curry noted he has never had a dart-induced incident at the bar.

There is no charge to enter the Monday tournament — just show up and put your name on the list. And don’t be intimidated by the competition. The better players are given handicaps where they have to score more points to beat the inferior player.

“If [people] hear there’s a U.S. champ here, they think they don’t have a chance,” Curry said.

You might not, but what better way to kill a couple of hours than shooting saw darts — and the breeze — with some of the best in the business?