Harold - The Game

Harold - The Game

Objective:
To win the match by taking 3 tricks from the opposing player by having the closest ball to the Jill at the completion of each round of play.

Setup:
  • Harold is played on a standard pool or snooker table of any size.
  • Each player requires 4 distinguishable balls (same colour or pattern per player) and one Jill for the table (white ball).
  • Three tokens are required for scoring (tricks) and should all be placed in the middle of the table at the break end.

Play - Jill away:
  1. Determine whom rolls first by tossing a coin.

  1. The player rolling first must roll the Jill forward from the break line with the Jill traveling no less than half way down the table. For Harold the halfway mark is determined by the closest intersecting line through the middle of the table to the centre pockets.

  1. The Jill may bounce of any, and multiple bumpers and come to rest anywhere on the table but if sunk, incurs an instant loss of one trick by the roller.

Play - Chasing Jill:
  1. The player who rolled the Jill takes first roll of one of their four balls in an attempt to strategically place their balls around the Jill in an attempt to have the closest ball to the Jill by the end of the Fingering round.

  1. A players hand may not travel a ‘reasonable distance’ over the break line during their roll. If this occurs, their ball, once stationery, is removed from play. This is a loose rule to avoid ‘foul watching’ so don’t take the piss or you will be banned from Harold for life.

  1. Play alternates between players until all active balls are in play.

  1. Players may strike any ball, including the Jill with their roll in this phase but must adhere to the Rolling Rules. If a discrepancy in ball numbers occurs due to forfeit or pocketed balls, the player with the extra ball/s continues to roll after the player with less balls has rolled all balls into active play on the table and continues to roll until all their remaining active balls are in play.

  1. If a player pockets a ball/s in the Courting phase for any reason, including their own, the ball is deemed forfeit and can not be used again for the entirety of the match.

  1. If the Jill is pocketed as a result of any balls in play contacting her, the round is lost by the active player and a trick is awarded to the other player.

Rolling Rules:
When rolling at the Jill the players balls -
  • MUST move forward over the break line even if the Jill is behind it
  • MUST make contact with either side bumper BEFORE the middle pocket

If either of these rules are broken, the ball is deemed forfeit and must be placed in a pocket and can not be used again for the entirety of the match.

Play - The finger:
  1. A finger is a motion that strikes the active players ball. This can be a flick or poke at the ball but must only strike once and players must use any part of the hand up to the wrist and nothing more.

  1. Once all players active balls have been rolled, the table is inspected and the player with a ball closest to the Jill is deemed to have the ‘advantage’. The disadvantaged player gets to finger first. In the fingering phase the objective is to get one of your balls to be the closest to the Jill as possible by the end of the Fingering round, thus taking the trick. Players each get a single Fingering shot.

  1. The trick is instantly lost if the Jill is struck by the fingered ball before any other ball or bumper on the table.

  1. Once both players have fingered, the table is inspected again and the player with the ball closest to the Jill wins the trick.

  1. As with the Courting phase, if a player pockets a ball/s for any reason, including their own, the ball is deemed forfeit and can not be used again for the entirety of the match. If the Jill is pocketed as a result of any balls in play contacting her, the round is lost by the active player and a trick is awarded to the other player.

Scoring a trick:
A trick is awarded to the player who has the closest ball to the Jill at the end of the Fingering. A Scoring Token is taken from either the middle, or the opposing player side of the table and moved to the winning players side. When one player has all three tokens, the match is awarded to that player.

Grand final scoring:
The exception to the scoring rule only occurs in Grand Final situations. Players may take a token from the center while they are still unclaimed, but rather than a token moving from a losing players side of the table to the winners at the end of a trick, the token is put back into the middle to be claimed by the winning player of the next trick.



1 comment:

  1. That's lots of rules for a game.... Oh no! I've just lost 'The Game'!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

October 08, 2022 at 02:19AM