Will T.
Yelp
Track & Field Bar Hack: How to Win At Lawn Games With A Beer In Hand
1) Game lovers, assemble your league of champions: For maximum fun, go with a group of 6-10. To win, make sure everyone on your team knows how to play shuffleboard or bocce (pronounced bah-chee) - see #2 and House Rules at the end for details.
2) Know the rules of the game: Up your game by YouTubing it. For shuffleboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPsqB3tY7hk. For bocce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hhN6S-1urM. Crokinole, what's that? Also, since their courts are not regulation size, reading over their House Rules will help you win - and save your reputation.
3) Book your lane: Booking a lane will cost you $40/hour/group between 5 pm 'till midnight. On Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights, best to book ahead or wait at least 1-3 hours before you play. Pro-tip: All lanes are free after midnight and for walk-ins.
4) Look for the hidden entrance: Head west of College and Ossington, look for the black T&F logo and stairs leading down to seemingly nowhere. The mine-shaft, mega-basement is just under 5,000 sq ft and can hold 158 hipsters so come before 10 pm to avoid the queue.
5) Drinks and snacks: Beers on tap include Eephus Brown Ale, Oast House Barn Raiser, Beau's Lug Tread. Signature drinks include Versace Versace Versace, Quiet American, Negronis. Bar snacks include homemade jerky, wasabi peas, bits & bites, pretzels. Ordering Dominos pizza delivery is highly encouraged. No summer patio?, but why need one when you have the Astroturf?
6) Dance, dance: There's a dance floor, a live DJ playing modern indie, an ultra-modern bar, and a couch swing for all these mix of 20- and 30-somethings. Open seven days a week from 5 pm to 2 am at 860 College St.
If I could, an overall 6/5 stars for Toronto's first ever lawn games bar. Brought to you by the owner of Montauk (Dustin Keating) and reminiscent of the hidden and much-loved Cold Tea, this New York-inspired bar is a game-changer -literally, merging cocktails and craft beer with shuffleboard and bocce.
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HOUSE RULES: @ http://www.trackandfieldbar.com/new-page-1/ and pasted here for convenience.
BOCCE BALL
Refill drink and hold in non-throwing hand.
Form 2 teams of 2 or 4 players.
One team tosses the small white ball - 'the pallino' - down the court. The same player tosses the first bocce ball.
Teams alternate tossing bocce balls, trying to get closest to the pallino or knock the opponents' balls away.
The closest team scores points for each ball closer than the opposing team's balls.
The first team to 7 points wins!
SHUFFLEBOARD
Refill drink and form 2 teams of 2 or 4 players.
Players use the cues to slide discs alternately starting with yellow.
Players aim to push their own discs into the scoring area, or knock opponents' discs out of play (or into the 10-OFF area).
Any disc that lands before the scoring triangle (neutral zone) is immediately removed from play.
After all 8 discs have been played, discs in each scoring section of the triangle are added up to make a score. A scoring disc must NOT touch any lines within the scoring triangle.
Each disc in the 10-OFF zone is -10 points (yes, you can get a negative score in shuffleboard!)
The first team to reach 30 points wins!
CROKINOLE
Refill drink and form 2 teams of 2 or 4 players.
Each team will have equal discs of different colours.
To shoot, place the disc on the board at the 'starting line'. Each player will shoot discs only from within their particular quadrant of the board.
The first player will try to shoot their disc into the centre '20' hole. If it successfully lands in the hole, the disc is removed and set aside to count as 20 points at the end of the round.
If it does not land in the '20' hole, the next player must shoot at that opposing disc in an effort to knock it into the ditch. If a player does not hit the opposing player's disc, their disc is immediately removed and placed in the 'ditch'.
Players alternate shooting their discs until all discs have been played.
When all discs have been played, each disc in a scoring area is added up (any disc touching the lines separating each scoring area is counted at the lesser value).
The difference of the count between players or teams is the score for that round. The first team to reach 100 points wins!