Topic: Earliest written foosball rules.

[jkhFoos]

When & where did you read written Foosball rules for the first time? The first table I played was Mr. L. Patterson's Foosball Match. I knew a distributor who placed one in the game room where I worked but I don't recall seeing any rules attached to that table. Perhaps they existed.  I just remember being told ,no spinning. I wrote some rules for the 1972 Rene' Pierre Footsball Championship (in Virginia Beach) which is on page 95 of Johnny & Kathy's "World Table Soccer Almanac"2007. That reference mentions the TS Denver International tournament of '74 which had only 10 rules but I wasn't there haven't seen all of them in writing. Of course today we have pages of new & well defined rules from the ITSF. Probably plenty of house rules have been displayed at bars through the decades & are now in landfills. Just curious.  I guess some might figure "who cares?"-but then I would have an answer-me. Not that I'll lose any sleep over it--- just wondering.

[Buckshot]

I first read foosball rules in 1975, Tournament Soccer.

[jkhFoos]

 Thanks Buckshot. Figures that TS would get something in writing for their tour. I re-read my old rules. Pretty incomplete by today's standards. No mention of Jarring let alone a definition. Back then I think if a game started near a bar's backdoor & ended near it's front door ,we realized we shook the table a bit! No big deal-everybody did it. No distractions either.  I remember singles players with a ball pinned on the three, then deliberately slap the 5 rod handle with left hand & shoot right away. Oh how times have changed.

[Buckshot]

Hey, jkhFoos, I remember you now! We had a conversation a couple years ago about how Tidewater, Va. in the early 1970's had the greatest concentration of foosball tables anytime, anywhere. And you told me the story about how you won a car in a foosball tournament way back in the early 70's, well before Tournament Soccer. I guess you're still playing on Bonzini, I know it's still popular back east. All we have around here in Oklahoma is Tornado, except for my living room which is where I have my Fireball.

Tornado and Bonzini, my two least favorite tables! What a world. I bought this Fireball two years ago because I thought it was the next big thing. Boy, was I wrong. Great table, no customer support or tournaments.

[jkhFoos]

Hi Buckshot,  Yes I remember our conversation. You once lived in Tidewater on the north side of the Chesapeake Bay while I lived on the south side. I see you're in Oklahoma now-I live in a Chicago suburb where it's all Tornado also. I do like Fireball, only played it one time in 2010.  Tony Spredeman lived in Milwaukee at the time & hosted a Tournament in June. I remember the FB ball being easier to pin than on Tornado. It IS the ITSF USA table.  I like to pass & shoot from a front or back pin. I've had a Bonzini in my living room since late 2008 & a Tornado since early 2011.  I mainly got the Tornado because I was tired of loosing all the time & it helped because now I only loose most of the time lol. I've given up on trying to figure out why players prefer a certain table over others, so many factors. A friend who lives only 10 minutes away has a Tor & Bon too. Once a week 4 of us practice Tor &/or Bon somewhere-last night at my house.  Lots of tables everywhere but the Bonzini USA tournaments are in NC,SC, & VA.  I've been to 5 of them (at least one in each of the three states) since 2000. Wish I could go more often. Lots of FUN.  Keep on foosin man.