Home : Game Players :

Games Of Various Kinds

Air Hockey

Invented by Bob Lemieux, an avid ice hockey fan and engineer at Brunswick Billiards in 1972. It was an immediate financial success, and by the mid-1970's there arose substantial interest in tournament play. To ensure uniform play standards of the highest competitive quality, the United States Air-Table Hockey Association (USAA) was formed in 1978 by J. Phillip "Phil" Arnold, largely as an official sanctioning body.

1. Grip the mallet behind the knob using your fingertips, not on top of it. This will allow more wrist action and help you be able to move the mallet around the table faster.
2. For basic defense, keep your mallet centered about 8-10 inches out from the goal. From that point, very slight movements to the left and right will block virtually all straight shots. Pull back quickly to the corners of the goal to block the bank shots. This is known as the "triangle defense".
3. Gain control of the puck before you take a shot. Shots are often hit out of "drifts", where the puck travels in set patterns designed to throw off your opponent's expectations and timing. The most popular drifts are the "center", "diamond", "diagonal", and "L". After establishing your drift, set up your shots like you would set up a shot in a game of pool - take your time, figure out where you want to shoot, aim and fire!
4. Practice "combos": these are groups of shots which are hit with the same apparent delivery but opposite locations, caused by hitting the puck at slightly different locations on the mallet. For example, a transverse motion of the right arm can lead to a "cut shot" to the left corner of the opponent's goal or a "right wall under" (bank off the right wall, into the right corner of the opponent's goal). Keep your opponent guessing!
5. There are many ways to get around your opponent's defense. Aim for the corners of the goal. On bank shots, try to get the puck in the goal off of a one-wall bank. If you hit double or triple banks, the puck loses velocity and will be easy to block.

Bubble Hockey

For those who did not grow up in a rink or an arcade, bubble hockey is a table game in which competitors go head-to-head, or in teams, with each side controlling five players using rods that move the players forward and back in a slot and turn them in circles (a sixth handle moves the goalie back and forth in front of the net). Though it's technically called Super Chexx Hockey, everyone calls it bubble hockey because of the giant plastic dome that encloses the rink to keep the puck from flying out.

The game moves fast, but speed is not as important as the technique of setting up plays. Where an amateur or even an intermediate player will focus on simply firing the puck at the net, a scorer works the puck to the center, and then, thanks to the design of the game, has an unimpeded breakaway every time he gets control of the puck. There is a pass that exploits a flaw in the game's design - evident in a particular formation in which the gap between sticks is just large enough to push a puck through gently to the center. It's indefensible, both technically and, according to the top players, morally; any rookie who shows up at a tournament and uses the pass is seriously looked down upon.

Foosball

When playing foosball at bars or anywhere where they charge you to play it, use this simple trick and save your quarters for something more useful, like dropping a night’s worth of Journey songs on the jukebox. When no one is watching, slip two plastic sugar caddies side-by-side inside the goals, sitting snugly at the bottom. When a goal is scored, the ball will fall into the sugar caddies, and not into the slot below, facilitating unlimited foosball bliss.

Catch the eye of that rec center babe with your sick table soccer skills. How To: Win at Foosball.

1. Defend Yourself
   Watch your opponent as closely as you do the ball, says Tony “Spree” Spredeman, 2003 world champ. “Once you know his habits, you can bait and switch—show him a hole, then take it away.” This dictates where he shoots, allowing you to anticipate and block. As with a chain saw, grip the handles loosely so your men deaden shots rather than deflect them, and tilt your goalie’s feet forward a bit to cut down angles.
2. Pass it on
   The five-bar (the one with five guys on it, doofus) is where matches are won and lost. On defense, don’t go nuts trying to block passes along the wall and between your men at the same time. “Be on the wall or be in the lane; just pick,” Spree advises. Switch it up occasionally to keep the other guy guessing. On offense, master the brush pass: Tilt your man’s feet back to trap the ball, then squeeze it diagonally through openings in the defense.
3. Finish Him
   Spree’s favorite weapon, the rollover or snake shot, is also the easiest to learn. Pin the ball with your center man’s feet pointed forward. With your right wrist against the handle, slide the rod to line up your shot, then roll your arm upward quickly (keep hold of the handle so it doesn’t spin more than 360 degrees, which is illegal). Your man will whip around and blast the ball past your drop-jawed opponent. Too tricky? Buy him a big pitcher. When he ralphs on the table, you win by default!

Construct a backyard shoe–tossin’ pit and hustle your sorry old man for every penny. Any bum can pound two stakes into the earth and call it a horseshoe pit, but if you want to throw like the pros, take a lazy afternoon to motivate and construct a proper pitching arena. Equipment and Supplies Shovel Two sets of Challenger horsehoes Hammer Six steel horseshoe stakes Drill Two 1'x3' treated wooden planks 16 18"x`8" terracotta stones One ton of noral sand or gravel 12 six–foot 2x4s, treated. Total cost of project: $284 1. Pit Stop Regulation horseshoe stakes are exactly 40 feet apart, so mark these points and dig out a pair of 6'x6' boxes on either side. Section off a three–foot rectangle in the center of each and frame. 2. Log Jam Keep your stakes from kicking loose by anchoring them in railroad ties. Drill pilot holes at a slight angle so that when you drive the stakes in they rest at 12 degrees, roughly three inches from vertical. 3. Box Out Sink four 18"x18" terra–cotta pave stones on the sides of each pit to create walkways; they’ll line up perfectly at six feet. (If anybody ever lands a shoe on one of these, ask him to play for money.) 4. Sand Trap If you haven’t already, crack one open, then fill both boxes with sand. To further dampen the landings and keep your shoes from skipping out of play, remember to spray down the sand before every game. 5. Shields Up Unless it’s cool to thump your dog with an errant toss, you’ll want to install backstops on either end. Anchor a sturdy 1'x3' board at the back of each pit using an extra set of stakes. It’s finally time to throw.

Horseshoes

There is a tradition that the camp followers of the Grecian armies, who could not afford the discus, took discarded horseshoes, set up a stake and began throwing horseshoes at it. Horseshoe historians have not been able to discover when the game of quoits or horseshoes was changed so that it was pitched at two stakes, but it is pretty well established that horseshoe pitching had its origin in the game of quoits and that quoits is a modification of the old Grecian game of discus throwing.

Following the Revolutionary War, it was said by England's Duke of Wellington that "the War was won by pitchers of horse hardware." In 1869, England set up rules to govern the game. The game seemed to have been a favorite among soldiers in most wars. Returning home, these soldiers interested their home folks more than ever in the game and horseshoe pitching courts were laid out in hundreds of cities, villages, and farming communities. Rules differences arose regionally, but the rules most generally accepted are:

Pitched shoes – After all shoes have been pitched, they are either considered to be “live shoes” or “dead shoes” and may then be scored accordingly.

Live Shoe – Refers to any shoe that has been pitched in compliance with the rules of the game and that comes to rest within the pit area.

Dead Shoe – Another term for a foul shoe that was delivered in non-compliance with one of the rules of the game. This term may also refer to a ringer that has been “cancelled” by an opponent’s ringer.

Shoe in Count

Ringers – A ringer is a live shoe that comes to rest while encircling the stake. A straightedge touching either the points or any part of the heel calks of the shoe must clear (not touch) the stake in order to be declared a ringer. A ringer has a value of three (3) points.

Points – A live shoe that is not a ringer, but comes to rest six inches (6”) or closer to the stake, has a value of one (1) point. This includes a “leaner”.

Shoe out of Count

A shoe that comes to rest more than six inches (6”) from the stake is a shoe “out of count” and has no scoring value. A foul shoe (see Rule 5 for additional information) is also considered to be a shoe that is out of count, no matter where it comes to rest.

Cancellation Scoring

In cancellation scoring, the ringers of one contestant cancel the ringers of the opponent. Cancelled ringers are also referred to as “dead” ringers.

Point Limit

The game shall be played to a pre-determined number of points. Forty (40) points is a suggested amount. The first contestant to reach (or exceed) that amount is the winner.

Shoe Limit

The game shall be played to a pre-determined even number of shoes. Forty (40) or fifty (50) shoes is a suggested amount. When that number is reached, the contestant with the highest score is the winner.

Point Limit or Shoe Limit

For example, forty (40) points or fifty (50) shoes, whichever comes first.

Wherever horseshoe pitchers gather to play, you can see many different styles used in delivering. Some of these styles are smooth and correct. But many others are not. Merely picking up a pitching shoe and throwing it does not mean that a person can control it. On many occasions, you can hear a great deal about the importance of the delivery. But, all too often, the fundamentals that go to make up the delivery do not receive enough attention. Even though a horseshoe may represent a symbol of luck to some people, there is little or no luck involved in pitching ringers. Nor is there any shortcut that will quickly transform a novice into an expert player. Many hours of patient and correct practice are necessary to develop a good pitcher. Your limp wrist may finally come in handy.

The 1¼ Turn

Hold the horseshoe upside down by the shank. Allow it to dangle vertically during your backswing, but as your throwing hand crosses your leg, let the natural rolling motion of your arm flatten it right out. Don't forget to visualize!

The Flip Pitch

Grip the horseshoe between your index finger and thumb, bracing the latter on the toe calk (that little ridge at the bottom of the U). Only allow it to flip once in the air or you'll send it careening across the sand like the 'Hoff.

---

top of page

back a page