Official Rules

We’re generally not super strict about the rules, and teams can feel free to work it out between each other if there is an issue or discrepancy, but if not, you can refer to these as the official rules.

If something unique crops up that is not covered here, please ask a host to make a call.

Getting Started

You’ll need at least two players on each team (3 players needed for playoffs). Every team gets to throw four balls per round.

To kick things off, the team captains will do a coin toss or a game of rock, paper, scissors. The winner gets to choose either:

Who throws the pallino first
Which bocce ball color they prefer

The losing team makes the other decision.

Let the Game Begin!

The team that starts will toss the pallino.
The pallino needs to land anywhere between the halfway line and the far end of the court, and must land in bounds. If the pallino does not land in this area, the thrower gets a 2nd chance. After the 2nd attempt, if it still is not within the boundaries, the other team takes over throwing the pallino.
If playing on grass, you are allowed to cross the back court line by one step when you throw, but no more. If you are 2 steps over, the ball will be considered out of play and the ball must be rethrown.
You must throw the bocce ball from between the left and right borders of the court, and it must land inside those same left and right borders. If it’s on the line, the ball should be rethrown (or gently kicked in-bounds if teams are OK with it).
If the pallino isn’t easy to see, you can mark it with a flag, but place the flag at least 2 inches behind the pallino to prevent the pallino from being pinned in.
The player who threw the pallino, then throws one of their team’s bocce balls. After that, they step aside. The other team then takes their turn, trying to get their ball closer to the pallino. After both teams have thrown 1 ball, the team that is farthest away is the one that throws next, until they get closer, or have run out of balls.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

All teammates must alternate throws, in a consistent order. No one should find themselves throwing the ball twice in a row. If you have four or fewer players on your team, everyone needs to throw at least once each frame.
If you have enough people (5 players minimum) and want to split up and have half of your team stick to a consistent side of the field (e.g. 3 players stay at one end of the field, the other 3 remain at the opposite end), make sure the opposing team is Ok with it before the game starts. Otherwise it could be considered an unfair advantage as one team will be used to consistently playing from one direction every round.
During playoffs, it’s especially important to get the OK from your opposing team to split up the teams, and it will not be allowed if there are less than 5 players on a team.
When your team gets a ball closer to the pallino than the other team, you step aside. The other team then throws until they “beat” your closest ball. This continues until both teams have thrown all their balls, and that’s the end of the frame!

Too close to call?

Sometimes the balls are too close to tell visually who is closer. Using feet and hands for measurements is OK for very rough estimates, but for anything close, please use one of the provided tape measures or measuring strings. There should be one included in your bocce ball bag, but if not, ask a host.
Some people choose to use a measuring app on their phone, these are considered OK to use since they are unbiased, easy to use, and are known to be quite accurate.
Tie breaker – If things are too close, another solution is to have a 1 ball roll-off. The original team that threw the pallino can rethrow it, and each team throws a single ball, and whoever is closer is the point winner.

Did the Pallino Go Rogue?

If the pallino gets knocked out of bounds, that frame is considered “dead” and you just restart the frame (this can be a legal defensive strategy). No points are given to either team for a “dead” frame – treat it as if the frame never started, and start again. The person that originally threw the pallino will throw it again.

Bocce out of bounds?

If a bocce ball is thrown out of bounds, and it doesn’t touch any other balls, it’s remains in play and can count towards the score (if no opposing balls are closer).
Bocce balls that are initially thrown in-bounds, but are later knocked out-of-bounds, by either team, are no longer in play.
If an in-play ball, which is located out-of-bounds, is hit by another ball, by either team, both balls that collide out of bounds are no longer in play (it’s like both balls were knocked of bounds, which means they’re both dead balls).

Scoring: How to Win!

A frame is complete when the pallino and all eight balls have been thrown. No points are awarded until the frame is complete.
The goal is simple: Get as many of your team’s balls closer to the pallino than the other team’s balls.
Only one team scores per frame. For example, if you have three green balls closer to the pallino than the closest red ball, the green team gets 3 points! The most points you can get in one frame is 4.
The team that scored in the last frame gets to throw the pallino to start the next one.
We don’t play “win by two” – once a team hits 16 points or higher, that’s it – The game is over!
While the game ends at 16, you can technically score more than 16 points in a game, if the last frame puts you over. This doesn’t matter for the game, but it can help with standings.

Running out of time?

We allow for 60 minutes for games, and 45 for some of our playoff games (game length set by round). There is an official timer available to the game scorekeeper.

When there are 4 minutes or less left on the game timer:

If the game is not tied, whoever is leading at this point is officially the winner and no additional rounds can be played.
If the game is tied, you can play one more round to determine the winner.

This is especially important during playoffs because we have teams waiting to play the following rounds and extending past the deadline pushes the next game back.

Forfeits

A game will be considered a forfeit if 2 players are not present at game time (3 players during playoffs).
If a team forfeits, the score will be 16-0.