Finn Billiards
Finn Billiards Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 wooden board (117x49 cm)
- 12 beveled pins (marked with numbers from 1 to 12)
- 1 crossbow + 1 elastic (to be attached to the crossbow)
- 1 disc
- the rules
Set Up
Place the pins into the start zone. Put the crossbow at the end of the board.
Take a sheet of paper and a pen to write down the scores. You may play individually or in teams.
The start zone arrangement of the pins (rows from the far end of the board): 7, 9, 8 / 5, 11, 12, 6 / 3, 10, 4 / 1, 2.
Goal of the Game
Be the first player to reach exactly 70 points.
Game Flow
The players take turns. During each game turn, using the crossbow, a player propels the disk into the pins so as to knock down one or several pins; then, he writes down his score.
Once his score is calculated (see the "Scoring" section below), put the pins upright on their bottom, at the place where they fell. The following player's turn begins, and so on until a player reaches exactly 70 points.
The players may move the crossbow sideways to modify the shooting angle, but always into the launched zone. They can also tilt the crossbow up so as to hit a lob, provided that the crossbow's handle always remains in contact with the board. The rails can be used to knock down pins.
Scoring
- When a player knocks down one pin, he scores the number of points on the pin, or places the fallen pin into the defense zone (see below defense zone). Example: pin 6 scores 6 points.
- When a player knocks down several pins, he scores the number of fallen pins, or places all the fallen pins into the defense zone. Example: pins 7 and 6 fallen score 2 points.
A pin leaning on another pin, a rail or the disk does not score points. The other pins fallen are scored.
- If one or several pins fall out of the board's boundaries, the player must place those pins into the back zone (see the diagram). The player does not score any point, even if other fallen pins are still on the board.
- When a pin falls between the first line and the edge of the board, replace it on the line, at the same level. This pin does not score points.
- When a player performs an air shot (no pin falls), he loses 5 points. The score cannot fall below 0.
Defense Zone
Instead of scoring points, the players can decide to place the fallen pin(s) into the defense zone (see the diagram).
The fallen pin(s) can be placed anywhere into the defense zone, but you cannot place 2 pins next to each other; the pins must be separated at least by a disc's length.
You cannot perform a defense shot if the move brings you score above 70 points.
End of Game
The game ends when a player reaches exactly 70 points. If a player scores more than 70 points, his score is lowered according to the following rules:
- If several pins' points bring your score higher than 70 points, then the initial score is decreased by the total amount of points of the fallen pins. Example: pins 7 and 6 fallen: -13 points. Initial score: 69 pts. Score after count: 56 pts.
- If one pin's points bring your score higher than 70 points, then the initial score is decreased by the value of the fallen pin. Example: pin 6 fallen: -6 points. Initial score: 68 pts. Score after count: 62 pts.
Variants
1. Ride the Rails
In this variant, the players score points each time they contact a cushion during a successful shot. For instance, if pin 8 has fallen after the disc has contacted 2 cushions, the player scores 10 points.
2. The Best Defense Is a Good Offense...
When a player reaches exactly the same score as one of his opponents, the latter's score is set back to 0. Once the players have more than 35 points, their score is decreased to 35.