by Darmon Richter

Created on: May 26, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

Bocce is a very old game. It was played as early as the ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilisations, when polished rocks or coconuts were often used for balls. Modern Bocce uses hard wood or plastic balls, and is played on a long court, usually something in the region 10 to 13 feet wide and 76 to 100 feet long. Official bocce courts have a surface of compacted gravel, to stop the balls from rolling after they land. However, bocce is not limited to such courts, and like the early Greeks and Romans, many enthusiasts will play it on gravel, on the beach, or even on short grass; any long strip of flat ground will do.

The game is played using eight large balls (or 'bocci'), and one smaller ball to be used as a target - this is known as the 'pallino' or 'jack'. The eight bocci will usually be divided into two colours or patterns, in order to denote the balls of different teams. A game can be played between just two people with four balls each, or between two teams of two or four players.

If played between teams, captains are assigned, and the order of play is determined by the toss of a coin. The starting player tosses the pallino towards the far end of the court, and then must throw or roll a bocce towards it. The other team then take their first turn, after which the team with balls furthest from the pallino continues to bowl, until both teams have run out of balls. Bocce players often take a short run-up or make a few steps forward before bowling the bocce.

At the end of each scoring round (or 'giro'), points are awarded according to how close the bocci lie to the target; however, only one team will receive points during each giro. The team responsible for the closest bocce to the pallino will be awarded one point for the winning shot, as well as an additional point for every one of their balls that lies closer to the pallino than any of their opponents' balls.

This may sound a little confusing at first, so let's consider an example. At the end of one round, the closest ball to the pallino belongs to the red team. Then come all four green balls, followed by three more red balls.

At a glance it would seem that the green team have done a lot better than their opponents in this round, as they have more balls in close proximity to the pallino. However, points are only awarded for balls that lie closer to the pallino than all of the opponents' balls... as the closest shot was a red bocce, this means that the red team would be awarded one point for the giro, and the

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