Table Curling
Table Curling Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
- 16 curling stones (2 sets with storage bag)
- 1 foldable playing board with magnetic holding rail
- 1 polishing sponge
What is Curling?
Two teams alternate in sliding their curling stones in the direction of their target house. After each round, the team whose stones are closer to the center of the house scores points. The team with the most points overall after eight rounds wins.
Set-up
Lay the ice sheet on a flat surface and fix the holding rail at the target end of the ice sheet. Form two teams and give each one eight curling stones of the same color. It is not a problem if one team has one less player than the other; in this case, one of the players plays an additional stone. Determine a starting team.
Course of the Game
Take turns in playing one stone per team until all sixteen stones have been played. The winner of a round starts the next round. In case of a tie (no points), the team that started the previous round begins the new round. Play a total of eight rounds.
Playing Stones
A stone is legally played if you let go of it before the near hog line and the stone slides across the far hog line, coming to rest within the playing area before the back line. Stones that don't meet these conditions are removed from play until the next round. Also, remove any stone that has been moved by the just-played stone onto or behind the back line or that has gone out of the playing area.
Points
At the end of each round, you get one point for each of your stones in the house that is closer to the button than the best stone of the other team. A stone is considered in the house even if it is only touching the blue circle.
For Advanced Players
- At the beginning of the game, play one stone per team. The winner determines which team will start.
- Agree upon whether you want to use the area between the far hog line and the tee line as a free guard zone. If you do, stones that come to a complete stop in this area may be kicked out of the game only from the fifth-played stone on (i.e., the third stone of the first team). Put a stone that has been kicked out illegally according to this rule back to its original place. Instead, remove the played stone from the game.
- The word curling is derived from the characteristic turning movement of the stone sliding over the ice, a movement that can be described as curves or curls. Shove coins under the ice sheet from the sides so that your stones move more authentically.
- Curling is a sport of the Olympic Winter Games. You can look up rule details and curling terms with relatively little effort, for example, online.