How to Play Table Skittles

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Jaques of London has made table skittles for well over a century.

Table Skittles is a traditional pub game for two to eight players, played on a freestanding wooden box fitted with nine pins and a swinging ball on a chain. One turn takes seconds, yet the game rewards a steady hand and a consistent swing over luck alone, which is why it holds its own against flashier distractions. Jaques of London has made table skittles for well over a century, a mark of how enduring the format is.

You will most often find it in British pubs, village halls and social clubs, though it travels well to garden parties and family gatherings. The equipment is compact, the rules are easy to explain in under a minute, and a full game rarely outstays its welcome, making it one of the more sociable items in the pub-games cabinet.

A little history

Skittles in various forms has been played in Britain for several centuries, and versions of the game appear in historical records dating back at least to the medieval period. The tabletop variant, where a ball is suspended by a cord from a central post rather than rolled along an alley, is a distinctly British development, though its precise origins are unclear. By the nineteenth century table skittles was well established in English taverns as a winter alternative to outdoor skittle alleys, and it has remained a fixture of pub games culture ever since.

Setting up

1. Place the table skittles box on a firm, level surface with enough clearance around it for the ball to swing freely on its full cord length.
2. Stand all nine skittles upright in their holes in the standard diamond formation: one pin at the front (nearest the thrower), two in the second row, three in the third row, and three at the back.
3. Confirm the throwing position: players must stand at the side of the box from which the chain naturally hangs, and must not cross the edge of the box when releasing the ball.
4. Agree the number of rounds to be played and, if playing in teams, agree the order of play.
5. Decide who goes first by any agreed method, such as each player taking a single practice swing or simply drawing lots.

How to play

1. Players take turns in an agreed order. On your turn you take the ball in your hand, swing it away from the pins, and release it so it travels around the post and comes back to strike the skittles.
2. The ball must travel around the post at least once before it strikes the pins. A throw where the ball fails to complete a full circuit does not count and the player scores zero for that throw.
3. You have three throws per turn. After each throw, any skittles that have been knocked down are left down; they are not reset until the start of the next player's turn.
4. Count how many skittles you have knocked down across your three throws. That total is your score for the round.
5. If you knock all nine skittles down before you have used all three throws, all nine pins are immediately reset and you continue throwing for the remainder of your turn. Any additional skittles knocked down in subsequent throws are added to your running total for that turn.
6. A skittle only counts as down if it is fully flat or has left its hole. A pin leaning against another pin or the post but not in its hole is counted as down.
7. Once all players have completed their turn, that constitutes one round. Play continues for the agreed number of rounds.
8. Keep a running tally of each player's cumulative score throughout the game.

Winning and scoring

The player or team with the highest cumulative score at the end of the agreed number of rounds wins. There is no universally fixed target score: most games are played over a set number of rounds, typically three to five rounds per player in a casual game, with the highest total taking the match. In more competitive or league play it is common to play to a target of 101 or 121 points, where the first player to reach or exceed that total wins. If two players finish level on points after the final round, play a tiebreaker round of three throws each, repeating until one player scores more than the other in the same tiebreaker round.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns whether a skittle knocked down by another falling skittle rather than directly by the ball counts. The standard ruling is yes: any skittle that ends up down by the end of the throw counts, regardless of whether the ball or another pin toppled it. A second frequent argument involves the ball touching a skittle on the outward swing before it has completed its circuit of the post. The standard ruling is that the throw is void and scores zero; the skittles are reset to their positions before that throw and the player uses up that throw.

Players occasionally dispute whether a skittle resting in its hole but tilted at a steep angle is down. The cleanest ruling, and the one most commonly applied, is that if any part of the skittle remains seated in its hole the pin is still standing. If it has fully cleared the hole it is down. Agree this ruling before play begins to avoid arguments mid-game.

How to win more often

• Find a consistent swing angle before the game starts. A smooth, pendulum-style release that sends the ball around the post at the same height every time is far more reliable than a powerful but variable throw.
• Aim to strike the front pin slightly off-centre rather than dead-on. A central hit on the front pin tends to drive it straight back without spreading to the flanks, whereas a slight angle sends the ball and pins outward through the pack.
• After a partial knock-down, study which pins remain and adjust the angle of your swing rather than simply repeating the same throw. Most misses on a second throw are caused by not adapting.
• In team play, resist the temptation to go for a full clearance on every throw if you only need a handful of pins to stay ahead. Controlled, consistent scoring beats spectacular but inconsistent play over several rounds.
• Control the cord length if your set allows it: a shorter effective swing gives more control at the cost of some power, which suits picking off isolated pins. A fuller swing adds momentum useful when all nine are standing.

Variations

Team Play

Divide players into two teams of equal or near-equal size. Players from each team alternate turns rather than all of one team playing before the other. Scores are totalled per team at the end of each round. This format works well with four to eight players and keeps everyone engaged throughout the game rather than waiting through a long sequence of turns.

Killer

Each player is assigned a number from one to nine at the start. You must knock down your own numbered pin before you can start accumulating points. Once you have hit your pin you play normally, but if any other player knocks down your pin on their turn it is reset for you and you must hit it again before scoring. This variant introduces an element of tactical interference and suits confident players looking for a livelier game.

Target Score (101 or 121)

Rather than playing a fixed number of rounds, each player accumulates score across as many turns as needed and the first to reach exactly 101 or 121 wins. If a player's score would exceed the target, their throw is void and they score zero for that turn, keeping their total below the target until they can reach it precisely. This variant is common in pub league settings and adds late-game tension.

Two-Throw Format

Each player takes only two throws per turn instead of three. This shortens the game noticeably, which suits larger groups of six to eight players where a three-throw format can make rounds feel slow. Scoring is otherwise identical, and the nine-pin reset rule on a full clearance still applies within the same turn.

Table Skittles: frequently asked questions