Variations of Ladderball, Bolo Toss, Hillbilly Golf and Snake Toss to Increase the Fun of the Game

In another article I introduced many of you to the exciting game of ladderball. Many of you may have already known this game by it's other names such as bolo toss, hillbilly golf, or snake toss. The history of the game is hard to track due to the different names it goes by. Due to the different names and histories for each name for the game it should surprise nobody that there are quite a few variations of house rules that are used when playing ladderball and the other names the game goes by. All of these variations affect either the length of the game or the strategy used when playing ladderball. As a host of a game I encourage you to choose any combination of these variations that you wish.

Scoring Variations

Changing the value of the rungs

Many people feel that the standard scoring for ladderball makes no sense. They feel that the hardest rung to hit is the bottom one and not the top one. This can be true, but keep in mind that sometimes to win you need to hit that one point rung to get your 21 exactly. Some people play where the bottom colored rung is worth three points, the middle rung is worth two points, and the top rung is only worth one point. When playing this way, most people agree that any bolo bouncing on the ground and then onto the bottom rung does not count.

Bonuses

In the standard version of ladderball, there is only one bonus. That is one point if you get all three of your bolos on one rung while your opponent has none on that rung. There are other variations that some people play as house rules though.

Some players change the standard bonus slightly. They make the bonus for having three of your bolos on one rung with none of the opponent's bolos on that rung as being worth the value of the rung as a bonus. So if you had three bolos on the three point rung without an opponent on the wrong you would score twelve points. Others play that it's worth double your total score for the round if this occurs. These variations can make a game go much quicker if you get lucky to accomplish this task.