This is intended to be an extremely short intro to the game of petanque - and for that reason it is not 100% accurate. But for a leisurely game, it will do.
How the game is played.
Two teams play.
- 3 players play against 3 players (triples) or
- 2 players play against 2 players (doubles) or
- 1 player plays against 1 player (singles).
They might consist of one, two or three players each - the essesential part is that both teams have the same number of boules. So if you are 5 - play 2 vs. 3, with 12 boules all together.
Usually a game with 2 players have 6 boules, and a game with more than 2 players have 12 boules. It is quite pointless to play with more than 12 boules, as chaos will erupt.
Flip a coin to decide what team goes first.
The winner start off by making a round marking in the sand, with a diameter of about 60 cm. (1,8 ft).
Step into this circle, and throw the little ball (often called "pig", or "cochonette") more than 6 meters and less than 10 meters. If you throw it to short or to far away, try again.
Then the team that threw the cochonette starts off by trowing one boule.
The other team then plays until they have a boule that is closer to the cochonette that the opposite team. The basic rule is that "if you do not lead you have to throw".
When one team has no more boules left the other team throw their remaining boules.
The scoring is simple: The more boules you have closer to the cochonette than the opponosing team, the more points you get.
One point to team B.
One point - even if they have played very well. the distance does not matter, only the number of boules.
3 points!
First team to get 11 points (or 13, make sure you agree on this first) wins! And whatever team wind one round get o throw the cochonette for the next round!
For more info visit our beginners-section
Finally some petanque-product news have arrived. It is not often new things appear, boules are quite simple items, and the differences are subtle mostly. But this time it is a completely new product
It is 7h30 I have slept only 4 hours and I am one of them. My team number is 207 and we are playing against V.Chavinat game 1581. I go to the games Office, get my playing pack (3 bags, 3 t-shirts , 3 bobs/soft sun hats, 3 chifonettes) and my playing card on which we will have to enter the score at the end of the first round and return it to the same office.
We just got word of a new petanque-game, for all of those of you with a PC. It's called "petank party", and looks quite unique...
We have integrated petanque.org with yet another newcomer to the web, this time it is youtube. So please give us your ideas!
Here are some pics from the 2nd Johannesburg Open played at the Boulesdust piste at the Zoo Lake Sports Club in Johannesburg (see Google Pic). There were 10 doublets who played in 2 round robin leagues. The top 2 teams then played in the semi-finals. The final was won by Paul and Howie who beat Gerald and Bridget in a tense final that finished well after 8pm.
New petanque-product hits the webGérald at Mondial La Marseillaise a Petanque 2008-08-04Crazy petanque game soon availableYoutube joins petanque.orgLyon library - story on Boule lyonnaisePetanque.org integrates with flickrPetanque.org is 10 years old! Illegal Petanque ExposedA Petanque calendar for 2008Hot club petanqe and Le mondial la marseillaise a petanque 2007
technique (10 )Cheating? (2 )2009 the world game competition arena (1 )No boules for playing games (4 )anyone made a surface? (2 )quintais (6 )new terrain? (5 )Pastis? (3 )Tir de precision history (1 )Shame on the cheap Dutchmen! (3 )Feedback (1 )Boule (1 )World Championships (8 )dislodged dead boule line (3 )divebomb technique (5 )
