The Quoits Page

What Is Quoits?
The Board
The Quoits
Game Setup and Play
Scoring
Winning the Game
Why We Love Quoits
Where Can I Purchase Quoits?

What Is Quoits?

Unless you happen to hail from the Lehigh Valley area, you're probably wondering what the hell is quoits? You may have heard of a version of the game that is similar to horseshoes, where you toss heavy metal rings at the horseshoe stakes instead of the horseshoes. Different. The version of quoits we play here (the Slate Belt version) involves tossing rubber rings at an angled slate board with a short (about 4 inch) stake sticking out of the center. Rules and game play is similar to horseshoes, with 2 teams of 2 players each playing to 21.

The Board

The playing surface of the quoit board is an approximately 2-foot-by-2-foot square, 1 inch thick piece of slate (yes, heavy). The "pin", (also referred to as the hub) which sticks up through the center of the board, is a brass or aluminum cylinder roughly 4 inches long and 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Rings are etched into the board around the pin to aid in measuring whose ring is closest to the pin. A 2X4 block of wood is fastened to the bottom of the back of the board to give it slope. Two boards are included in a set.

The Quoits

The Quoits themselves are rubber rings approximately 5.5 inches in diameter and about an inch thick. They are flat on the underside and rounded on top. The hole in the center of each quoit measures 3 inches in diameter. Four quoits are included in a set.

Game Setup and Play

The two quoit boards are set up, downward slope facing downward slope, 18 feet away hub-to-hub. Teammates line up diagonally across from each other, one at each board. Like horseshoes, the opponents at one board have two rings each and take turns "pitching" the quoits at the other board. Quoits are pitched underhand, preferably with a flat to nose-down trajectory and with some backspin, so that they stay on the board and do not bounce off. The object is to get your rings closer to the pin than your opponent, or to get it on the pin (a ringer). When a team scores, they have honors (pitch the first quoit in the next turn). You may attempt to knock your opponent's ring away with your throw (called a "dig"), or simply try to get closest to (or on) the hub.

Scoring

The inside hole of the ring must be completely on the board in order to score. The best way to check this is to stand above the ring. If you see daylight through the hole in the ring, it doesn't count. Rings can be right-side up or upside-down (I've been told by some that the "official" rules of quoits say upside-down doesn't count. I've never seen "official" rules, but if you are playing with experienced players this rule probably makes sense). Rings that bounce off the ground and then land on the board do not count (in fact, they should be pulled off the board immediately, before the next player throws). Scoring is as follows:
1 point - one ring closer to hub than opponent
2 points - both rings closer to hub than opponent
2 points - Leaner. Ring is leaning against the hub and the part touching the quoit board is completely within the innermost circle on the board. These are rare.
3 points - Ringer. If you top an opponents' ringer, it counts as 6 points (Scoring is cumulative. If all 4 rings end up on the hub, 12 points go to the last team to throw). Optionally, you can score tops as negating the ringer below it, thus scoring zero instead of 6. Do this if you like longer games.
4 points -Ringer + other ring closest to pin. If you top an opponents ringer, all quoits not on the hub are irrelevant and cannot score points.
5 points -Ringer + leaner.

Winning the Game

First team to 21 points wins. Must win by two, no cap (unless teams agree to one before the game).

Why We Love Quoits

True, you're outside, among friends, it's a social game, but there is one undeniably great thing about this game:

You can play it while holding a beer!

Where Can I Purchase Quoits?

Many people have emailed me asking where to get a set of quoit boards. The shop where I purchased mine has since gone out of business, so I have been referring everyone to Nestor's Sport Shops in Allentown or Quakertown, PA. There is usually a wait to get the boards; a friend of mine ordered a set from Nestor's in Quakertown and had his set within a month. I know some people who have gotten their quoit sets directly from slate quarries. I will attempt to research other places to buy quoits and post them on this page when I get the info. Stay tuned!