Bowling

Bowling is a sports-themed poker dice game that can accommodate any number of players. The goal is to roll and re-roll dice to form poker hands to score strikes and spares, ultimately scoring more points against your opponent across 10 frames.

This game is a Junior original, created by Louie Mantia.

Dice

Poker dice § Dice

This game uses five six-sided poker dice.

9	10	J	Q	K	A

Setup

Track progress with a Bowling scorecard, this interactive scoreboard, or scratch paper.

Choose a player to begin.

Gameplay

Goal

The goal of Bowling is to roll the highest-scoring poker hands possible in each frame.

Your Turn

When your turn begins, roll all five dice.

If a Strike, score 30 points. (Written as X.) Your turn ends.

Otherwise, score the applicable hand, then re-roll any or all dice.

If a Spare, score 10 points in addition to your first roll. (Written as /.)

If your hand improved, score the applicable hand.

If a Bust (no combination), score 0 points for the frame.

Now it’s the next player’s turn.

Continue until all frames are scored.

Ending

The player with the highest total score wins!

If the players have identical scores, rejoice in the shared victory!

Scoring

Poker Hands									1st Roll		2nd Roll
					Four of a Kind				30		10
					Big Straight Five in a Row				30		10
					Full House Three of a Kind, One Pair				30		10
Poker Hands									Either Roll
					Small Straight Four in a Row				6
					Three of a Kind				3
					Two Pair				2
					One Pair				1

Strategy

In Bowling, the first roll is unlikely to produce a Strike. But which dice you keep and which you re-roll is critical to securing a Spare or higher-value pickup. For example, if your first roll is “One Pair,” it might be more advantageous to try for either “Straight” with your second roll than “Three of a Kind” or “Four of a Kind.”

While 300 is the theoretical highest score possible, it is extremely unlikely. Shoot for 100, but know that a lower score is more likely. Below is an example game to illustrate how to score each half of a frame on the top, and the running total along the bottom.

Related

See also

• Poker dice
• Junior Royals
• Junior

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