Better Off Bowling Rules

Better Off Bowling has its own rules that are different from most leagues, so it is important for members and especially captains to understand how it works. It’s pretty simple!

1. Team Size

   Teams are made up of 6-10 people including the captain. Your team is not eligible to play until you have at least 6 members accepted/paid on your team. If you do not have enough members by the time registration closes, you will either have random members added to your team or, if the league is full, have your money refunded to your credit card.

   Teams may have any number of men/women, there is no requirement to be co-ed, though most teams are.

2. Scheduling/ Matches

   Each team plays six matches over the course of the season, one each week. Each match is against one opponent (except on rare occasion of a bye-week). You have approx. an hour and 25 minutes to bowl, and get in as many games as you can before your time is up. You must then choose the top 4 scores from your best game.

   You will receive a schedule for 5 of the 6 weeks of play in the beginning, and the last week’s schedule will be decided by your team standings

3. Betting a pitcher at the bar with your opponents on the game is highly encouraged

4. Scoring

   Though there are 6-10 people on a team, only the top four scores of one particular game count. YOU MAY NOT MIX-AND-MATCH SCORES FROM MULTIPLE GAMES. This scoring setup means that you shouldn’t be afraid to recruit fun people to your team just because they aren’t ringers – because only the top four scores matter anyways.

   Additionally, we track individual best scores for awards and individual standings, so to the right of the column for entering team score, you may enter individual scores (their best score from any game), however these will not impact the team score at all.

   There are no handicaps in Better Off Bowling.

   If you do not have at least 4 people present, you may still bowl, but each person’s score may be only counted once, so you will be at a disadvantage. Incomplete scores may be counted, but you may not extrapolate or “average out” what you would have scored.

5. Standings

   Team standings are primarily determined by the win-loss-tie record. In the common case of teams have the same record, standing are then determined by season average. In the unlikely case of a tie there, the tie-breaker will be the highest individual score throughout the season.

   On the last (6th) week, the 1st ranked team will play the 2nd ranked team, 3rd will play the 4th, and so on. The championship decided by the outcome of the 1st place and 2nd place team.

6. One person may not bowl under multiple names in a game.

7. Don’t talk about fight club.

8. After your game is over, have the captain record the scores/retrieve scores from front desk (if available) and enter them into the website (www.betteroffbowling.com).

9. Don’t be that guy/girl who gets in a fight or argument over a marginally competitive/social bowling league. If there is an issue, contact your league rep or email one of the contacts listed on the website.

10. Have fun and meet some fellow bowlers!