5 pin rules

[maryfield]

Hi, anyone know the rules for playing 5 pin? A customer was asking and it’s so long since I’ve played, I’ve forgotten some of the rules.

[Zelig]

Hi Maryfield,

The basics are simple. There are 3 balls, one (say, white) is your cueball, another (say, yellow) is your opponent's cueball, the third (usually, red) is neutral (called "pallino").

Each player takes one shot in turn (it is not a series game: at each shot, you are attacking and defending at the same time).

Each player must hit with its own cueball the opponent's cueball first (your "ball on" is always your opponent's cueball), and makes points when:

(i) the opponent's cueball knocks some of the pins -- 2 points for each white pin, 4 points for the red one in the middle, 10 points if it knocks down only the red pin without knocking down any of the white pins

(ii) the opponent's cueball hits the neutral ball -- 3 points

(iii) the player's own cueball hits the neutral ball after hitting the opponent's cueball -- 4 points


Fouls:

- When your cueball does not hit your opponent's cueball
- When your cueball knocks down pins, the value of all the pins knocked down in the shot (including those that were possibly knocked down by your opponent's cueball) go to your opponent
- When your cueball hits the neutral ball first (instead of your opponent's cueball), your opponent gets points


Until the 1980s, this game was played on italian tables with six narrow pockets. It is now played on pocketless carom tables.

Once you are into it, it is a tremendous game to play and even to watch: at each shot, you are trying to earn points as well as "attempting a snooker" because your opponent is next to the table, and you want to hide your cueball from his line. Lots of strategy and positioning.

Professional players of "5 birilli" / 5-pin are masters of touch and angles, they use cushions like carom players knowing perfectly "diamond theory" along each side of the table: they know how to make 6-cushion, or even 8-cushion shots where the balls end exactly in the place they want.

Example: the "royal eight" (ottavina reale) that you can see at 2:28 in this video, where the cueball hits the opponents' ball, knocks some pins, and leaves the opponent "snookered" (after 8 cushions...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WyqlZxekFg

enjoy!

p.s. rules and more details in english are here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-pin_billiards

[DeanH]

cool
opposite to bar-billiards to knock over the pins