This website uses cookies. to ensure you get the best experience on our website.

agree
  • Login
  • Register
Sign In Forgot Password?
Reset Password
Reset Cancel
Reset Password
Password must be at least 6 characters long with 1 special character
Save
Create Wishlist Save, compare and share your favourite items.
Password must be at least 6 characters long with 1 special character
Tick this box to hear from us about your wishlist, discounts and promotions. We will never share your details with any third party.
Register
Select Your Options
Coronavirus Update: Services all running as normal. Showrooms closed - Learn More
  • Games Room of the Year
  • Order Tracking
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Our Story
  • Meet The Team
  • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Videos
Home Leisure Direct
Multiple Award Winning
Games Room Retailer

0800 622 6464 or 01454 413636

0 items - £0.00

Wishlist View Basket / Checkout

Free Delivery on Everything*

  • Pool
    Tables
    • By Type
      • English Pool Tables
      • American Pool Tables
      • Chinese 8-Ball Pool Tables
      • Pool Dining Tables
      • Luxury Pool Tables
      • Best Selling Luxury Pool Tables
      • Slate Bed Pool Tables
      • Car Pool Tables
      • Contemporary Pool Tables
      • Outdoor Pool Tables
      • Interest Free Pool Tables
      • Snooker Tables
      • 6ft Pool Tables
      • 7ft Pool Tables
      • 8ft Pool Tables
      • 9ft Pool Tables
      • 10ft Pool Tables
      • 12ft Pool Tables
      • Black Pool Tables
      • White Pool Tables
      • Pool Tables Sale
    • By Make
      • Signature Pool Tables
      • 247 Billiards by Porsche Design
      • Aramith Fusion Pool Tables
      • Bilhares Carrinho Pool Tables
      • Bilhares Xavigil Pool Tables
      • Billiards Montfort Pool Tables
      • Billiards Plaisance Pool Tables
      • Billiards Toulet Pool Tables
      • Brunswick Games Room Products
      • Brunswick Pool Tables
      • Buffalo Pool Tables
      • Designer Billiards
      • Diamond Pool Tables
      • DPT Pool Tables
      • Etrusco Pool Tables
      • Gatley Pool Tables
      • Hurricane Billiards
      • Jack Daniel's Pool Tables
      • Joy Pool Tables
      • Longoni Pool Tables
      • Mini Cooper Pool Table
      • Optima Pool Tables
      • Rasson Pool Tables
      • Sam Pool Tables
      • Supreme Pool Tables
    • Other Services
      • Pool Table Accessories
      • Football Club Pool Table Cloth
      • Furniture
      • Pool Coaching with Gareth Potts
    • Commercial
      • Contactless Pool Tables
      • Coin-Op Pool Tables
      • Pool Tables on Rental Agreements
      • Pool Tables on Profit Share Agreements
    • Teams & Brands
      • Chelsea FC
      • Tottenham Hotspur
      • West Ham United
      • Brunswick
      • Jack Daniel's Games Room Range
  • Luxury Pool
    Tables
    • By Type
      • All Luxury Pool Tables
      • Best Selling Luxury Pool Tables
      • Car Pool Tables
      • Contemporary Pool Tables
      • Traditional Pool Dining Tables
      • Chinese 8-Ball Pool Tables
      • Luxury Pool Tables Sale
    • By Make
      • Signature Luxury Pool Tables
      • 247 Billiards by Porsche Design
      • Aramith Fusion Pool Tables
      • Bilhares Carrinho Pool Tables
      • Bilhares Xavigil Pool Tables
      • Billards Montfort Pool Tables
      • Billards Plaisance Pool Tables
      • Billards Toulet Pool Tables
      • Brunswick Pool Tables
      • Designer Billiards
      • Diamond Pool Tables
      • Etrusco Pool Tables
      • Hurricane Billiards
      • Joy Pool Tables
      • Longoni Pool Tables
      • Rasson Pool Tables
      • RS Barcelona
      • Sam Pool Tables
    • Other Services
      • Pool Table Accessories
      • Football Club Pool Table Cloth
      • Furniture
      • Pool Coaching with Gareth Potts
    • Commercial
      • Commercial Luxury Pool Tables
    • Teams & Brands
      • Chelsea FC
      • Tottenham Hotspur
      • West Ham United
      • Brunswick
      • Jack Daniel
  • Pool
    Accessories
    • Cues
      • English 8 Ball Pool Cues
      • 1-Piece English Pool Cues
      • 2-Piece English Pool Cues
      • 3/4 Jointed English Pool Cues
      • 3-Section English Pool Cues
      • American Pool Cues
      • 1-Piece American Pool Cues
      • 2-Piece American Pool Cues
      • Jump and Break Cues
      • Snooker Cues
      • Chinese 8 Ball Cues
      • Britannia Cues
      • Buffalo Cues
      • Cannon Cues
      • Cuetec Cues
      • George Balabushka Cues
      • MacMorran Cues
      • Peradon Cues
    • Other
      • Pool Balls
      • Pool Table Cloth
      • Football Club Pool Table Cloth
      • Jack Daniel's Pool Table Cloth
      • Pool Table Covers
      • Pool Table Lighting
      • Pool Table Trolleys
      • Snooker Balls
      • Snooker Scoreboards
      • Table Care
      • Triangles & Diamonds
      • Cue Cases
      • Cue Chalk
      • Cue Racks
      • Cue Rests
      • Cue Tips
      • Pool Accessories Sale
    • Teams & Brands
      • Chelsea FC
      • Tottenham Hotspur
      • West Ham United
      • Brunswick
      • Jack Daniel's
  • Arcade
    Machines
    • By Type
      • Multigame Arcade Machines
      • New Arcade Machines
      • Used Arcade Machines
      • Vintage Arcade Machines
      • Arcade Machines Sale
    • By Make
      • ArcadePro Arcade Machines
      • Bespoke Arcade Machines
      • GamePro Arcade Machines
      • Pac-Man Arcade Machines
      • New Sega Arcade Machines
      • New Namco Arcade Machines
      • Golden Tee Arcade Machines
    • By Genre
      • Driving Arcade Machines
      • Shooting Arcade Machines
    • Commercial
      • Arcade Machines on Rental Agreements
  • Pinball
    • By Type
      • New Pinball Machines
      • Reconditioned Pinball Machines
      • Virtual Pinball Machines
    • By Make
      • Bally Midway Pinball
      • Stern Pinball Machines
      • Williams Pinball Machines
    • Commercial
      • Pinball Machines on Rental Agreements
  • Table
    Tennis
    • By Type
      • Indoor Table Tennis Tables
      • Outdoor Table Tennis Tables
      • Concrete Table Tennis Tables
    • Accessories
      • Table Tennis Balls
      • Table Tennis Bats
      • Table Tennis Net and Post Sets
      • Table Tennis Table Care
      • Table Tennis Covers
      • Table Tennis Competition Equipment
    • By Make
      • Venom Table Tennis Tables
      • Butterfly Table Tennis Tables
      • Butterfly Indoor Table Tennis Tables
      • Butterfly Outdoor Table Tennis Tables
      • Cornilleau Table Tennis Tables
      • Cornilleau Indoor Table Tennis Tables
      • Cornilleau Outdoor Table Tennis Tables
      • Rasson Table Tennis Tables
      • RS Barcelona Table Tennis Tables
      • Teqball Tables
    • Commercial
      • Table Tennis Tables For Schools
  • Football
    Tables
    • By Type
      • All Football Tables
      • Home Use Football Tables
      • ITSF Football Tables
      • Outdoor Football Tables
      • Glass Top Football Tables
      • Football Tables For Schools
      • Football Table Accessories
      • Custom Football Tables
    • By Make
      • Bonzini Football Tables
      • Debuchy Football Tables
      • Garlando Football Tables
      • Jack Daniel's Football Tables
      • Leonhart Football Tables
      • Roberto Sport Football Tables
      • RS Barcelona Football Tables
      • Sam Football Tables
      • Sulpie Football Tables
    • Commercial
      • Commercial Tables
      • Football Tables on Rental Agreements
  • Jukeboxes
    • New Jukeboxes (By Type)
      • All New Jukeboxes
      • New CD Jukeboxes
      • New Vinyl Jukeboxes
      • New Digital Jukeboxes
    • New Jukeboxes (By Make)
      • All Sound Leisure Jukeboxes
      • Sound Leisure CD Jukeboxes
      • Sound Leisure Vinyl Jukeboxes
      • Sound Leisure Digital Jukeboxes
      • All Rock-Ola Jukeboxes
      • Rock-Ola CD Jukeboxes
      • Rock-Ola Vinyl Jukeboxes
      • Rock-Ola Digital Jukeboxes
    • Vintage Jukeboxes
      • All Vintage Jukeboxes
      • Wurlitzer Vintage Jukeboxes
      • AMI Vintage Jukebox
      • Rock-Ola Vintage Jukeboxes
    • Commercial
      • Jukeboxes for Commercial Use
  • Air
    Hockey
    • By Type
      • New Air Hockey Tables
    • By Make
      • Buffalo Air Hockey
      • Namco Air Hockey Tables
      • Sam Air Hockey Tables
      • Wik Air Hockey Tables
    • Commercial
      • Commercial Air Hockey Tables
  • Shuffle-
    board
    • By Type
      • All Shuffleboards
      • Shuffleboard Accessories
    • By Make
      • Brunswick Shuffleboards
      • Hudson Shuffleboards
      • Hurricane Shuffleboards
      • Jack Daniel's Shuffleboards
      • Signature Shuffleboards
    • Commercial
      • Shuffleboards on Rental Scheme
  • Cool
    Stuff
    • By Type
      • Christmas Gifts
      • Jack Daniel's
      • Pool Accessories
      • Marshall Fridges
      • Skeeball
      • Dartboards and Darts
      • Jack Daniel's Darts Range
      • Covidopoly
  • Commercial
    • By Type
      • View All Commercial Products
      • Contactless Pool Tables
      • Coin Op Pool Tables
      • Commercial Luxury Pool Tables
      • Hygiene Products and Signage
      • Commercial Table Tennis Tables
      • Coin Op Football Tables
      • Commercial Arcade Machines
      • Commercial Shuffleboards
      • Commercial Pinball Machines
      • Commercial Jukeboxes
      • Commercial Air Hockey
    • Rental Agreements
      • Pool Tables
      • Shuffleboard
      • Pinball Machines
      • Football Tables
      • Arcade Machines
    • Profit Share Pool Tables
    • Competitive Socialising 2020 Event
  • Buying Advice
  • How To Play
  • Commercial
  • Showroom
  • Finance
  • Games Room Designer
  • Clearance Sale
  • Home
  • Shuffleboard
  • Shuffleboard Buying Advice
  • How to Play Shuffleboard

How to Play Shuffleboard

Shuffleboard is an incredibly easy game to learn, and incredibly fun and intuitive once the rules are understood.

Shuffleboard is normally played with two players, the winner being the first to reach 15 points over a series of rounds.

How to Prepare the Plank

Shuffleboard Wax on Plank

Before you can begin, you need to ensure that that plank is coated in a suitable amount of shuffleboard wax, to allow the weights to slide down the plank with ease. Ensure there isn't too much, or too little. Too much wax will cause drifts that the weights will struggle to get through. Too little wax will cause too much friction, and may cause the weights to stop prematurely.

How to Start The Game

Once your shuffleboard plank has been prepared with silicone wax, you can assign a colour to each player, and play a quick game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who will go first. The winner chooses if they wish to go first or second (going second normally carries a strategic advantage).

The player going first starts the round by sliding their weight down the plank whilst standing behind the horseshoe. The goal is to land your weight as close to the end of the plank as possible without it falling off of the end or the sides into the gutters. The weight must also pass the minimum scoring line on the table (this will be marked on the plank either at, or beyond the halfway point). If a puck does not pass this line, it is removed and doesn’t count towards any scoring.

The second player then takes their turn, who also needs to try and land their weights as close to the end as possible. During the round, players can use several tactics to try and improve their chances of a higher score. For example, players can try to knock their opponent’s weights off the board, or strategically leave ‘blocker’ weights to either protect scoring weights, or to otherwise make shots more difficult for their opponent.

Players take it in turns sliding weights down the plank until all of their weights have been used, at which point the round’s scoring is calculated.

How to score a shuffleboard round

Once all the weights have been played, it’s time to see how the round has been scored. Scoring a round is almost identical to scoring a round of curling:

How To Play Shuffleboard - Plank

Only one player can score in each round.

The player who scores the points is the one who has the furthest weight down the plank.

From that furthest weight on the plank, count how many points it scores by seeing what scoring zone it has ended in.

From the weight you’ve just counted, work backwards and find the next one. If it’s another one of the scoring colours, then add its score. Keep doing this until you reach a weight of the opponent’s colour.  eventually leaving you with a total.

Scoring Notes

Scoring Zone Boundaries

How To Play Shuffleboard - Scoring Zones

There are strict rules pertaining to what counts as in a scoring zone. For a weight to be counted in a higher scoring zone, it must be completely over the line to count. Being mostly over the line doesn’t count.

Hangers

How To Play Shuffleboard - Hanger

Players can score an additional point if one of their winning weights is a hanger. A hanger is a weight that reaches the very end of the plank, and is partially over the edge.

Continuing the game

Take note of the player’s final score for the round, then swap ends and repeat. The winner of the last round will always go first when starting the following round.

The game ends when one player scores a total of 15 points or more.

 

Examples of Scoring

To better explain how scoring works, we have outlined some examples below.

 

Example 1:

How To Play Shuffleboard - Scoring Example 1

On the above plank, the furthest weight down the plank is red, so it is red who scores the points.

There are 2 red leading weights, both are well within the 3 point scoring zone. There is another red weight in the 1 point zone, however it isn’t counted due to the blue weights being past it.

So the two red weights score 3 points each, giving the red player 6 points for the round.

 

Example 2

How To Play Shuffleboard - Scoring Example 2

On this plank, you can see that once again, the furthest weight is a red weight, followed by another red weight, followed by a blue weight. So once again, the leading two red weights will score the points.

In this case, the leading-most weight is clearly in the 3 points zone. The next weight is on the line between 3 and 2 points. As this weight is not over the line, it will score two points. This is where the scoring ends as the next weight is the opposition’s blue weight.

So overall, 3 points and 2 points makes 5 points for the red player.

 

Example 3

How To Play Shuffleboard - Scoring Example 3

On this plank, we have an interesting case. Here, the leading-most weight is blue, followed immediately by a red, so only the single leading blue weight will score for this round.

The weight is in the 3 point zone, so scores 3 points. However the weight is also overhanging the end of the plank, making it a ‘hanger’. This scores it an additional point.

So overall, the leading weight scores 3 points, and has an additional point added for being a hanger. This makes 4 points for the blue player.

 

Conclusion

Shuffleboard is very quick to learn and to play. Whilst the scoring is a little unintuitive on the surface, it’s very easy when you remember the basic rules:

  • Play Rock, Paper, Scissors and decide who goes first in the first round (going second is better!)
  • Take it in turns to slide weights down the plank
  • Only the leading-most weights of one colour score the points
  • Swap ends after each round
  • First to 15 points wins

If you have any further questions, then check out our video guide at the top of the page, or just ask our team!

<< Back to Shuffleboard Buying Advice

Shuffleboard Buyer's Guide
Secure Shopping - We use SagePay to handle all online payments
Free Delivery* - Everything we sell is delivered FREE to most of the UK
Price Promise - We check all our prices against major retailers every day

223 reviews

Industry leading security

Opayo by Elavon

We accept the following payments

Accepted Payments

Multiple award winners

  • Gold Trust eCommerce Awards 2014 Venda 2014
  • Worldpay Venda 2013

Proud to be Official Merchandise Partner for these prestigious brands

  • Jack Daniels
  • Brunswick
  • Chelsea
  • Tottenham Hotspur
  • West Ham United

Proud to Supply

  • Skype
  • Sky
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • John Lewis
  • Microsoft
  • Oxford University
  • Manchester City FC

Proud to Sponsor

  • GB9 Tour
  • BFA
  • IPA
  • Pool Tour
  • London Pinball Championship

Join Us On Social Media

Useful Links

  • Careers
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Finance Information
  • Pool Tables
  • Luxury Pool Tables
  • Arcade Machines
  • Pinball Machines
  • Table Tennis Tables
  • Football Tables
  • Jukeboxes
  • Air Hockey
  • Shuffleboards

Join our Newsletter

Keep up to date with offers, new products and news from HLD

Sign Up

If you need help with anything
contact our team on

0800 622 6464 or 01454 413636

Offices Open
Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm
Saturday - Sunday 10am - 4pm

Showrooms Open*
Thursday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
* When coronavirus restrictions allow for
pre-booked appointments only


Home Leisure Direct Limited is registered in England and Wales


Registered Office: Unit 7A Point 4 Distribution Centre, Second Way, Avonmouth, Bristol. BS11 8DF


Company Registration: 6364345 | VAT Registration: 914619912 | Consumer Credit License: 692501


Home Leisure Direct is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority


Home Leisure Direct acts as a credit broker and only offers credit products for Secure Trust Bank PLC trading as V12 Retail Finance


Credit provided subject to age and status.


Created by bluebox

Learn Less