Big Billy red beard

It’s pretty hard around here too. But I managed to convince a few folks. We also a play game we call International marbles. I saw some videos on YouTube of folks in the Czech Republic playing it. You dig a hole at one end of a playing area. About 20 feet away each player stands and pitches 10 marbles towards the hole. Then her opponent pitches her 10 marbles toward the same hole. Next, players alternate flicking one of their marbles towards the hole. The player who gets all of her marbles into the hole first wins.

It’s pretty hard around here too. But I managed to convince a few folks.

I am starting to think I am one of the few people on this website who actually plays marbles. I hope not. I would love to hear about the different types of games you guys play. It seems like ringer and rolley hole have been discussed before. But we play so many others as well. I read a book about the marbles tournaments sponsored by the VFWs back in the day. One of the kids remembers playing a game called goob. It was like ringer accept all the marbles were piled up on the center of the ring, with one small marble at the top of the pile known as the goob. You played just like ringer accept, when someone knocked out the goob, they got all the marbles that remained in the ring.

I thought it was an armadillo.

These are awesome, man. Thanks for sharing.

What a great idea, stashing marbles for kids to find and, hopefully, play with. I might start doing that myself. It would be great to bring this wonderful pastime back to near universal popularity.

From your mouth to God’s ears. Here’s a shot of our marble yard.

No need to use your prized ones. You get a whole mess of modern ones pretty cheaply. The games are super fun.

That does help. Thanks for taking the time to respond. We will stick with what we have for now, and then do that trick with the dusting and watering that you recommended. As an aside, when I first built the yard, I pulled all the grass out with rake and hoe. Then, to keep it from growing back, I soaked the yard with vinegar. For the first few weeks, it smelled like Italian salad dressing every time we played. I think we may try to make to the rolley hole tournament next year. That would be fun.

Hello all, I started shooting marbles during Covid at the age of 50 years. I have become absolutely obsessed. I have read dozens of books about marbles, built a 22’ x 10’ marble yard at the house, and have been playing several days a week. We play all different types of games, but our clear favorites are rolley hole, Tennessee square, old bowler, and black snake. In any case, I have read many of the posts on this website and am delighted to join the conversation with other marbles enthusiasts.

Hey RolleyHoleMan, I loved this series of posts. I actually ordered a set of marbles from a maker in Monroe county Kentucky about a year ago. I have built a marble yard at my house, although about half the size of what you describe. It has been a blast playing, but I don’t have the dirt quite right. In one of your posts, you mentioned you were getting more dirt for your yard. What type of dirt do you use to fill it?