While the full history of Shuffleboard is hazy, here's what we do know: it was played throughout Europe over 500 years ago. It was a gambling game for King Henry VIII who forbid commoners to get in the game at all. British records reveal that Henry paid off shuffleboard debts as 'royal expenses' in 1532 so he may have been elitist but at least he paid up when losing.
In the old days, Shuffleboard was also known as Shovelboard, Sioelen and Shove Ha'penny. Very British sounding indeed.
Due to its past associations with cruise ships and retirement homes and because it doesn't promote great physical fitness, the game has come to be associated as a 'geezer' game but that is rapidly changing in Century 21.
Sometimes people like to get together and play just for fun. Sometimes they don't want a full physical workout but a relaxing game to enjoy with friends and family in person. Away from their iPads and computers. Shuffleboard fits this bill beautifully.
In traditional deck shuffleboard, a player uses a stick, known as a tang, to push weighted disks, known as cues or biscuits along a wooden or plastic surface. The idea is to place the cue within the triangular scoring zone at the distant end of the court. In the old days, this was actually called "sending the biscuit" but propriety forbids me to reveal some of the terms now used for this maneuver. We have both "clean" and not so clean versions, depending on whether we are playing en famille or adults only.
The pinnacle of the triangle score zone points towards the shooter and is divided horizontally into 4 smaller zones, each zone representing a certain point value. If the cue lands within the triangular 'tip,' without touching any borders of the triangles, the player receives 10 points. If the cue lands in the second tier of the triangle, it is worth 8 points and the lower tier is worth seven points.
A shooter can actually lose points if the cue land in the trapezoidal '10 off' section. A game is played in frames of 10 with individual players or teams taking turns. A great feature of shuffleboard is that the game can accommodate a number of players.
The basic winning concept is to get the opponent team's cues out of the positive score zone and increase one's own score in the process. It can get surprisingly vicious, but in a good way.
The game is catching on--sort of a retro-game revisited. It's definitely not limited to the old folks anymore. There are also now table top versions making it into so-called 'man caves' all over the place.
There's a reason for these renewed incarnations--shuffleboard is awesome fun! Everyone loves to play and it is inclusive--just about everyone can do it. Are you in?
In the mood to push the biscuit? Whatever you call it, get ready to have fun when you play Shuffleboard!
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