Shuffleboard

Shuffleboard players who believe their game to be a 20th-century American invention would be surprised to know that the game already existed in the time of Shakespeare. "Quoit (i.e. throw) him down... like a shove-groat shilling," Falstaff says in Henry IV. Shove-groat was the name of an English table game in which coins were slid across a table. Or as the game was also known: "shovelboard."

Shuffleboard history

Shuffleboard was brought to America by British colonists, though the old coin-and-table version remained a popular tavern game for decades. Shuffleboard really began to take hold of the American imagination in the late 19th century, and this discovery was accompanied by the creation of very beautiful and expensive handcrafted shuffleboard tables.

Shuffleboard's popularity ebbed and flowed during the first decades of the 20th century, but by the 1950s shuffleboard was as big a gaming craze for its time as no limit poker is today. Many shuffleboard manufacturers sponsored national tournaments, but the lack of any kind of organized league or federation resulted in shuffleboard being eclipsed during the 1960s by pool halls.

Shuffleboard today

Despite this demise, shuffleboard has retained its place as a popular rec room game. Shuffleboard table sizes have shrunk a great deal through the years. Once 32 feet long, tournament sized shuffleboard tables are now 22 feet long and home shuffleboard tables are as small as nine feet long.

The Internet has also proven a valuable resource for bringing shuffleboard players together. Standardized rules are available from the Table Shuffleboard Association (www.tableshuffleboard.org). Results from even small tournaments are posted at sites such as www.eshuffleboard.com.

If you're considering adding a shuffleboard table to your home, you're in good company. Over 1 million shuffleboard tables are being played every year by over 5 million people. And that's not even including Shakespeare.

Shuffleboard Games

One of the great things about shuffleboard is that it isn't just one game with one set of rules. Many different shuffleboard games can be played with the same equipment, and each variation has its own name and unique set of rules. Knock Off, Crazy Eight, Horse Collar, Tap & Draw, and Target are just some of the many shuffleboard games you can play at home, but the first three are the most popular shuffleboard games.

Knock Off

Knock Off is the commonest shuffleboard game and the one most often played in competitive tournaments. Games are played to 15 points and pucks are in play if they're on the board and past the short foul line. Only one team scores per round, counting all weights past the opponent's deepest weight. Each player/team alternates playing puck by puck.

Crazy Eight

In Crazy Eight, each player/team alternates playing all eight pucks. The first four pucks are thrown together with one hand, and all must stay on the table past the far foul line for the player/team to continue that round. If so, then the other four weights are thrown one at a time and must knock off the original four weights in order to score. Crazy Eight shuffleboard games are typically played to 15 or 21 points.

Horse Collar

Horse Collar is another shuffleboard game in which one player/team handles all eight pucks. To score in Horse Collar, all pucks must be past the long foul line and at least one of them must be in the 3 zone or hanging.

Horse Collar shuffleboard games are played to 51 points. Hangers are worth 13 points, and corners - pucks partially hanging over both the end and the side of the playing field - are worth 26 points. If Horse Collar is being played in teams, then both teammates play from the same end, one playing the first four weights and the other playing the final four weights.