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How to Play Bola

Learn Bola in minutes. Master it over a lifetime.

A demo video is coming soon

Click Play to Watch the Bola Instructions Video

Five questions

If you can answer these five questions, you’re ready to play.

  • What am I trying to do? Move your bola through 1 → 2 → 3 → Poison.
  • What can I do to opponents? Spend a Hit to move their bolas.
  • What happens when I reach Poison? You become dangerous and can eliminate other Bolars.
  • What happens when someone else reaches Poison? They keep throwing as long as they keep striking bolas.
  • How do I win? Be the last Bolar remaining.

The steps

  1. Set up the course

    Four targets, about 100 feet apart in a rough rectangle: 1, 2, 3, and Poison. Each is a 7.5-inch disc on a pipe with a bell.

    Setting up the four-target course.

  2. Take your bola

    Every Bolar gets a numbered bowling ball. Play starts beside the Poison target, in numerical order.

    Taking your numbered bola.

  3. Throw

    Stand with one foot on the spot where you picked up your bola, or take a running start and release before you cross that spot.

    A standing or running throw.

  4. Strike your target

    Hit them in order, 1 → 2 → 3 → Poison. The bell rings. Your turn continues, and you pick up your bola wherever it came to rest.

    Striking a target, bell ringing.

  5. Earn a Hit

    Every strike earns one. You can only hold one at a time.

    A Bolar lining up a throw at target 2 after earning a Hit.

  6. Spend a Hit

    Instead of going for your next target, throw at an opponent’s bola. Connect and you pick theirs up and throw it anywhere. Then return to your own and carry on.

    A Bolar mid-throw, spending a Hit at an opponent's bola.

  7. Chain reactions

    One throw can move several bolas. Every bola your throw moves, directly or down the chain, is yours to pick up and throw before you resume.

    Several bolas scattered on the grass mid-play, a chain reaction in progress.

  8. Reach Poison

    Complete the sequence and strike Poison, and your bola becomes a Poison Bola. You throw again immediately.

    A Bolar throwing toward the Poison target, marked with its sign and bells.

  9. Eliminate

    A Poison Bola knocks any bola it strikes out of the game and into the Bola Graveyard. Keep striking, keep throwing.

    A Bolar throwing hard, a Poison Bola on its way to eliminate an opponent.

  10. Win

    When two Bolars are left, either can win by striking the Poison target regardless of prior progress. Otherwise: last Bolar remaining wins.

    The last Bolar standing.

The full infographic

How to Play Bola: the ten-panel infographic covering the object, setup, hitting targets, earning and using a Hit, chain reactions, reaching Poison, important rules, and the winner.

Ready to play?

Read the full official rules or head straight to registration.

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