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Each team consists of 2 smartly dressed players. Teams have 4 balls (either the red or green set) to play in each frame. In the regular season, matches will being with the flip of a coin to determine the privilege of first toss of the pauline. In tournament play, the higher seeded team does the honors.
One frame consists of the pauline and all 8 balls being thrown, two balls by each player. The object of the game is to get as many of your team's balls closer to the pauline than the other team's closest ball. Only one team scores per frame. For example, if at the end of a frame there are 3 green balls closer to the pauline than the next closest red ball, the green team receives 3 points. If a ball is physically touching the pauline, this is worth an extra point. Thus, there are a possible 4 points per frame, plus any bonus points for touching. If at the end of any frame the closest ball of each team is equidistant from the pallina, no points are awarded to either team and a new frame begins, with the same team tossing the pallina, as the previous frame.
The starting team throws the pauline between the halfway point and the end line of the playing field. The same team throws one of their balls and steps aside until the opposing team has either rolled one if its bocce balls closer to the pauline, or has thrown all of its balls. Consecutive or alternating throws by teammates shall be at the option of the players. After that, whenever a team gets a ball closer, it steps aside and lets the other team roll. The other team throws until it beats (not ties) the opposing ball. This continues until both teams have used all their bocce balls. When all the balls are thrown, the frame is finished. The team who scored last throws the pauline to begin the next frame.
If the starting team fails to throw the pauline between the halfway point and the end line, the other team gets to throw the pauline. Any ball thrown out of bounds, or short of the mid line, is out of play, and cannot be counted in scoring. A ball is judged to be in or out of bounds by the position of the center of the ball. The only exception to boundary rules comes if the pauline is knocked out of bounds, in which case the boundaries are null and void, and even previously dead balls are counted in play.
Should the two teams fail to agree on ball positioning or scoring, the dispute will be settled by an official tournament referee.
In a break from past tournaments, the 2006 tournament will be modeled after the World Cup structure, with a group stage of 4 teams competing for the right to be one of two teams from each group to advance to the knockout round. Each team will play every other team in the group once, and the best two records will advance. Tiebreakers will be decided by the result of the head-to-head matchup between the two teams in question, or in the event of a three-way tie, a simulbocc.
A 'simulbocc' is essentially an entire frame of bocce played in one instant, in which all four players throw all eight balls simultaneously. Once the pauline is tossed by a non-participant, all four competitors toe up to the line with a ball in each hand. On the count of three, all eight balls are thrown at once, as competitors yell "Simulbocc'!" The team with the closest ball wins the tie break.
The end of day tournament is structured much like the World Cup
knockout round, or the NCAA tournament in college basketball. Teams
enter into a bracket (placement predetermined by group), with the
winner advancing to play another winner, and the loser advancing
to a long offseason of disappointment and self-loathing. At the
end of the tournament, the winning team will drink from the trophy,
and will have their names engraved into the chalice base before
it is returned to public display in the bar Floyd,
NY.
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