We are all familiar with common pub games such as Dominos, Pool and Darts there are a wealth of different pub games that are not so well known but are played at a competitive level. You can even win trophies if you are good enough.
Bagatelle. This game is like billiards and is played on a long table with a semi-circular end with nine holes. The object of the game is to get a number of ball past pins into holes.
Skittles – also known as nine pins. In this game players take turns to throw a wooden ball along a lane in an attempt to knock over wooden pins. The well known ten pin bowling is thought to be based upon the skittles game. The space required to play nine pin skittles lead to the creation of the game table skittles, in which the ball is attached to a chain and swung at the pins to knock them over.
Shovge Ha’penny – this game is played on a board and involves the players pushing coins with the heel of the hand to send the coin sliding along the board. The board has parallel lines that are spaced by about the coin’s width. The area separated by two lines is known as a bed. The objective is to shove the coins so that they come to rest in a bed without touching the lines on either side. To win requires that the player gets 3 coins between the same lines. Like golf, it has its own terminology for achieving these goals. For example if you are able to score three coins in a bed in a single turn it is known as a ‘sergent’. Five coins in a single turn is known as a ‘sergent major’ or gold watch.
