We stumbled across this little “What’s the best bar game?” poll on phishhook.com yesterday. Let’s look at the results…
The five options for answer were ‘Pool’, ‘Darts’, ‘Foosball’, ‘Shuffleboard’ and ‘Bubble Hockey’.
We know what we would have voted for, but what about you?
Bubble Hockey is probably the least known of the five games, especially in Australia, and this is probably why it ranked last with 5% of votes. Just like Foosball (table soccer), the object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent, using turnable levers to control your team. Good fun, but not epic.
** We rate it 2 stars (mainly because ice hockey is nothing here in Oz).
Since we mentioned Foosball above, we’ll look at that next. It got 13% of the votes. Definitely good fun and doesn’t take up much room, but if you’re a novice at the game it’s near impossible to enjoy playing someone with skills. The gap between being good and great is extreme, which can take some fun out of it.
*** We rate it 3 stars.
It was interesting to see Pool and Shuffleboard finish equal second with a 21% split of votes. The two sports have been both best friends and the greatest of enemies in the USA for over 100 years. Shuffleboard was the more popular throughout the first part of the 1900s, but pool has held a global domination since shortening of tables and the explosion of pool halls in the 1960s.
Anyone can play pool. Anyone can play shuffleboard. Both are perfect bar games. When added together (21% + 21%) shuffleboard and pool wins this poll with 42% of the votes. It doesn’t work like that though, so equal second it is.
***** We rate pool and shuffleboard 5 stars.
Winning this phishhook.com poll with 37% of the votes was Darts. A great game with a great history that traces back to Robin Hood times. Anyone can play (as long as you can throw) and dart boards are a cheap purchase. Negatives? A dart in the neck is the main one…
**** We rate it 4 stars.
Like quotes? User Jbslist left this comment along with his vote on the phishhook.com poll:
“A well maintained shuffleboard table owns all others. Especially if you get decent at it. Made to be gambled on, addictive.”
Head to the Southern Cross Shuffleboards Facebook page and have your say in our very own “What’s your favourite table game? poll!
I prefer foosball. I have a nice bubble hocky set though…I take it with me to work on really rainy days.
They left out dwarf tossing, total fail.
Shuffleboard tables vary in length, usually within a 9–22-foot range (2.7–6.7 m), and are at least 20 inches (510 mm) wide. Tables are intended to be kept level, but any given table may have its own slight slope, adding an extra challenge. In order to decrease friction, the table is periodically sprinkled liberally with tiny, sand-like beads of silicone (often referred to as shuffleboard wax even though silicone is not a wax, or sometimes as shuffleboard sand, or shuffleboard cheese, due to its visual similarity to grated cheese). These beads act like ball bearings, letting a puck slide down the table a great distance with only a slight push.
Each end of the table is divided into three scoring sections by straight lines across the width of the table. The scoring sections extend from the very edge of either end of the table towards the middle of the table, covering approximately one-third of the length of the table. The outer scoring section, at the very end of the table, covers approximately 4 to 5 inches (100 to 130 mm) from the edge, and is labeled with the number “3″ in the middle (for “3 points”). The next section is adjacent to this section, of equal length, and is labeled with a “2.” The final section, “1″, is adjacent to section “2.” This section is about 4 times the length of either of the first two sections. The center third of the table is unmarked. The line that separates the center third of the table and the beginning of the “1 point” section is called the “foul line” (a weight which does not pass the foul line closest to the player is removed from the table for the round). The table is surrounded by a gutter, or “alley”; pucks that accidentally fall, or are knocked, into a gutter are out of play for the rest of the round.
Those are all good games, but I prefer playing with my pet parrot.
I’ve been playing shuffleboard since The Wonder Years.