Rolley Hole Marbles (game) rules and interpretation document

[Marble_Go_Team]

On 6/28/2025 at 12:04 AM, RolleyHoleMan said:

The loops are a pretty cool idea. I’m going to try that method when teaching folks to play on carpet. The 4” is decent for giving folks an idea, but I’d go with a lot smaller since the original holes are the size of a marble. That’s just my personal preference though. 

Yeah, great point. I'm trying to find a balance with the loop size. I want to keep the spirit of the holes as a target; that's why I didn't use knots where a player just spans in to a knot on the scoreline. But at the same time, a 10' scoreline in the kit brings the game from a 30' length between top and bottom hole to around 8'. An added dynamic is that marble has to have enough momentum to roll over the cord and stop, but not too far and overshoot. Since it's a compact adaptation at 8', I augmented some rules as a compromise such as disallowing 'spanning in' – a player can span close, but has to make the shot in. Another modification is disallowing spanning toward the next hole a player is for – instead span perpendicular or away from the next hole. Players on the compact course also won't have a huge yard (think a carpeted room for example), so I'm hoping common etiquette will come in to the mix (like over-blasting an opponent and risking breaking their marbles)...Marble Go kits advise using glass marbles because they're ubiquitous. Not sure that flint is all that accessible.

Anyhow, perhaps a suggested 2"-4" loop would suffice and allow house rules to prevail. I might make it up to the 42nd tourney in September if I can get a camping spot; might be sold out by now. It's only a couple hours away.

[RolleyHoleMan]

1 minute ago, Marble_Go_Team said:

Yeah, great point. I'm trying to find a balance with the loop size. I want to keep the spirit of the holes as a target; that's why I didn't use knots where a player just spans in to a knot on the scoreline. But at the same time, a 10' scoreline in the kit brings the game from a 30' length between top and bottom hole to around 8'. An added dynamic is that marble has to have enough momentum to roll over the cord and stop, but not too far and overshoot. Since it's a compact adaptation at 8', I augmented some rules as a compromise such as disallowing 'spanning in' – a player can span close, but has to make the shot in. Another modification is disallowing spanning toward the next hole a player is for – instead span perpendicular or away from the next hole. Players on the compact course also won't have a huge yard (think a carpeted room for example), so I'm hoping common etiquette will come in to the mix (like over-blasting an opponent and risking breaking their marbles)...Marble Go kits advise using glass marbles because they're ubiquitous. Not sure that flint is all that accessible.

Anyhow, perhaps a suggested 2"-4" loop would suffice and allow house rules to prevail. I might make it up to the 42nd tourney in September if I can get a camping spot; might be sold out by now. It's only a couple hours away.

I should have read it a little better, I didn’t realize it was compacted. When I teach it indoors I have a massive room that lets me do the full size yard. What we use indoors for the holes are quarters, which is pain but what the marble players use. 
 

As for the camping spots, Standing Stones campgrounds will be closed for renovations unfortunately. There’s a camper campground outside the park that isn’t all that bad, ans about an hour away is Rock Island State park which has wonderful campgrounds (I used to work there and maintain them, so I can say with certainty they’re some of the best).

I plan on being at the next Rolley Hole to spread marbles a bit. 

[Marble_Go_Team]

Question. What is the typical size for the flint marbles used traditionally in Rolley Hole? 

[RolleyHoleMan]

11 minutes ago, Marble_Go_Team said:

Question. What is the typical size for the flint marbles used traditionally in Rolley Hole? 

Oh man, now that’s the question right there. 
 

When I started asking this question I was usually told “about a quarter inch”. What it comes down to is the preference of the player. You’ll find that players with more meaty hands favor a smaller marble , and players with more slender hands will often have a larger marble to bridge the gaps. 
 

I went around measuring marbles when I could, and it ranged from .75 to .80, with legend Russell Collins playing with the .80. 

Personally I’m favoring .78 marbles. I made a bunch of .81 and .80, and I can’t really play with them. I keep a bag of 10 marbles in my pocket at all times and keep larger ones since folks like to see them, but my designated shooter is .78 I think. 

 

Now for the time being I’m leaving out the “youth” marbles for teaching children. Usually those are more in line with the regulations for ringer marbles since those kids play both. For ringer the standard size is 5/8”. 

[RolleyHoleMan]

As a good side note here, the folks never would call me a marble player. They know I’m plain no good. But they would openly call me a marble maker. 
 

Some folks who want a marble are picky. I swear they can feel a thousandth of an inch. Those folks know by holding a marble if it’ll be any good for them. 

[Marble_Go_Team]

Fantastic, detailed response! Thanks! I get the best aim without a major pull right or left from 3/4" with medium/large hands, but have zero experience with flint marbles and wouldn't know if a .78 - .8 would be better since all glass marbles are standardized (for the most part). Hoping I can pick some up for myself and my kids in September. I guess they're relatively non-existent outside the Clay County pocket, because I can't find them anywhere.

[RolleyHoleMan]

4 minutes ago, Marble_Go_Team said:

Fantastic, detailed response! Thanks! I get the best aim without a major pull right or left from 3/4" with medium/large hands, but have zero experience with flint marbles and wouldn't know if a .78 - .8 would be better since all glass marbles are standardized (for the most part). Hoping I can pick some up for myself and my kids in September. I guess they're relatively non-existent outside the Clay County pocket, because I can't find them anywhere.

They’re very hard to find outside the area, but a few of the marble makers sell online on Etsy and I’ve done both eBay and Etsy. The market is pretty though so most just sell in person at the event. 
 

There are always marbles for sale in the Standing Stone State Park gift shop though. Typically these are more polished and pretty. Players all have different needs when it comes to finish, with some preferring a slick marble that slips from the hand with ease, while other want a gritty marble that gives more grip. So you’ll have to find what size you like, and what finish works best. I play with one that’s maybe 100 grit, and polish them up to 6000. Those 6000 ones are like glass. 

[RolleyHoleMan]

Hey folks, here is something related to Rolley Hole to keep an eye on. Here at the Cumberland Trail we have the lifelong work of Bobby Fulcher who is the father of the tournament at Standing Stone. 
 

What I’ve done is create a YouTube channel where I will be uploading the recorded interviews he has with folks for the Tennessee state parks folklife project. This will cover many amazing things, but starting out (since I have photos of these folks for the video), I am posting interviews with legendary marble player Dumas Walker (made famous by the Kentucky Headhunters song of the same name).Next on the list is Bud Garret, who was a famous marble maker who gave us the way we make marbles today. 
 

https://m.youtube.com/@JPWCTA
 

I don’t know how often I’ll post on there since each video takes a long time to make. I first find the audio cd, heavily edit to remove the sound of the tape machine and tape hiss, then convert it to a video format. I then edit the video where the only visual is a photo of the person being interviewed. From there I post it. Each step takes a very long time unfortunately, and I do this on my own time after work. 
 

So far I’ve heard many amazing bits of Rolley Hole lore from folks who were there. It really helps paint a full picture of the last 100 or so years of Rolley Hole. I will warn you all though, this is Tennessee/Kentucky dialect and can be hard to understand. I’ve got a bit of an accent myself so I can understand these videos well, but folks talking to me often have no idea what I’m saying. So be warned. 

[Marble_Go_Team]

On 7/15/2025 at 11:58 PM, RolleyHoleMan said:

Hey folks, here is something related to Rolley Hole to keep an eye on. Here at the Cumberland Trail we have the lifelong work of Bobby Fulcher who is the father of the tournament at Standing Stone. 
 

What I’ve done is create a YouTube channel where I will be uploading the recorded interviews he has with folks for the Tennessee state parks folklife project. This will cover many amazing things, but starting out (since I have photos of these folks for the video), I am posting interviews with legendary marble player Dumas Walker (made famous by the Kentucky Headhunters song of the same name).Next on the list is Bud Garret, who was a famous marble maker who gave us the way we make marbles today. 
 

https://m.youtube.com/@JPWCTA
 

I don’t know how often I’ll post on there since each video takes a long time to make. I first find the audio cd, heavily edit to remove the sound of the tape machine and tape hiss, then convert it to a video format. I then edit the video where the only visual is a photo of the person being interviewed. From there I post it. Each step takes a very long time unfortunately, and I do this on my own time after work. 
 

So far I’ve heard many amazing bits of Rolley Hole lore from folks who were there. It really helps paint a full picture of the last 100 or so years of Rolley Hole. I will warn you all though, this is Tennessee/Kentucky dialect and can be hard to understand. I’ve got a bit of an accent myself so I can understand these videos well, but folks talking to me often have no idea what I’m saying. So be warned. 

Really great. A meaningful channel name close to my heart coming from the start of the CT down here in Chattanooga and a lifelong backpacker.

[RolleyHoleMan]

2 minutes ago, Marble_Go_Team said:

Really great. A meaningful channel name close to my heart coming from the start of the CT down here in Chattanooga and a lifelong backpacker.

I’m the newest ranger for the Cumberland trail. My role so far is mostly trail building and folklife. During my off time I work on this channel and have a ton of videos on a posting schedule to keep a steady stream. Some videos I’ve posted, like the Dumas Walker interviews, I’m already working on making into a longer length and higher quality. Seems as I make and post things, I learn to make them better. 

Some of these videos are not just good, but they’re teaching me things I didn’t know, or had long suspected. For instance marble size was reduced according to one of the sources, which finally confirmed it. Another interview also talks about two players having very similar looking marbles but of slightly different sizes. One of the players thought it would be funny to sneakily swap marbles, and both players started missing shots and wondering what was wrong. 
 

Bobby taught me a lot about marbles and it all came from these interviews, all of which are stored here at the CT and will be on the channel. No one can ever replace Bobby, but the best we can do is save and share what he did. 

[Marble_Go_Team]

Clarifying questions on rules I can't seem to uncover in clarity anywhere: 

1. If a player has made a hole, can they strategically stay in that hole for several turns and defer their turns/shots to their partner, effectively "protecting" that hole from opponents for a period of time whilst their partner plays for other holes?
   1. If yes, can an opponent hit that marble in the hole (glancing it so-to-speak, but likely to stay in the hole) and ride that to get another shot towards the hole they're for? I know that would be rare, but I've come up with a few scenarios where I wondered.
2. If you span, do you have to shoot? Or can you span and then defer the turn over to your partner? I'm fairly certain you have to shoot if you take a span, but I do want clarification.

 

BTW, @RolleyHoleMan you said you taught with quarters indoors. We reduced our scoreline loops to 2" or so that that's been better than the 4", but then we've been experimenting (with success) using split rings (key ring things). 

 

[RolleyHoleMan]

5 minutes ago, Marble_Go_Team said:

Clarifying questions on rules I can't seem to uncover in clarity anywhere: 

1. If a player has made a hole, can they strategically stay in that hole for several turns and defer their turns/shots to their partner, effectively "protecting" that hole from opponents for a period of time whilst their partner plays for other holes?
   1. If yes, can an opponent hit that marble in the hole (glancing it so-to-speak, but likely to stay in the hole) and ride that to get another shot towards the hole they're for? I know that would be rare, but I've come up with a few scenarios where I wondered.
2. If you span, do you have to shoot? Or can you span and then defer the turn over to your partner? I'm fairly certain you have to shoot if you take a span, but I do want clarification.

 

BTW, @RolleyHoleMan you said you taught with quarters indoors. We reduced our scoreline loops to 2" or so that that's been better than the 4", but then we've been experimenting (with success) using split rings (key ring things). 

 

So yes, a player can make a hole and decide to “lay” in that hole as defense. This has mixed results since players are usually darn good at knocking those marbles back out of the hole. Staying in the hole is also dangerous because if a player is for that hole, they can lightly hit the marble defending the hole, and lean their marble against it, making that hole. Once they lean against and “make” that hole, they’ll usually blast the opponents marble out of the hole. 
 

Pt2 of that. You could hit the marble defending the hole, and ride up to the next hole. This will give you another shot letting you get even closer to your desired hole. This is why players defending a hole are more likely to be a couple feet away. It reduces the risk of giving an advantage and extra turn if the marble is hit. 
 

About spanning, you do not have to shoot. The “span” is a hands length in a circle around your marble. Anywhere in that circle you can place your marble without shooting. 
 

The key rings are a great idea. I might have to start using that one when teaching Rolley Hole in a couple weeks. That would be better than string loops and better than quarters. 
 

Hopefully that wasn’t confusing. I’ll also point out that the term “lay” is used usually when a player decides to not take a turn. As in they’ll say “I’ll lay”. 
 

Another thing is the shooting order. When you lay, you are not giving the next turn to your teammate, you are giving it to your opponent. Now different yards might have different orders, but at standing stone is:

A1

B1

A2

B2

 

Some places do: 

A1

A2

B1

B2

 

But when I talk about rules and whatnot, I only talk about Standing Stone since it is a “standardized” tournament. 

[Marble_Go_Team]

22 minutes ago, RolleyHoleMan said:

So yes, a player can make a hole and decide to “lay” in that hole as defense. This has mixed results since players are usually darn good at knocking those marbles back out of the hole. Staying in the hole is also dangerous because if a player is for that hole, they can lightly hit the marble defending the hole, and lean their marble against it, making that hole. Once they lean against and “make” that hole, they’ll usually blast the opponents marble out of the hole. 
 

Pt2 of that. You could hit the marble defending the hole, and ride up to the next hole. This will give you another shot letting you get even closer to your desired hole. This is why players defending a hole are more likely to be a couple feet away. It reduces the risk of giving an advantage and extra turn if the marble is hit. 
 

About spanning, you do not have to shoot. The “span” is a hands length in a circle around your marble. Anywhere in that circle you can place your marble without shooting. 
 

The key rings are a great idea. I might have to start using that one when teaching Rolley Hole in a couple weeks. That would be better than string loops and better than quarters. 
 

Hopefully that wasn’t confusing. I’ll also point out that the term “lay” is used usually when a player decides to not take a turn. As in they’ll say “I’ll lay”. 
 

Another thing is the shooting order. When you lay, you are not giving the next turn to your teammate, you are giving it to your opponent. Now different yards might have different orders, but at standing stone is:

A1

B1

A2

B2

 

Some places do: 

A1

A2

B1

B2

 

But when I talk about rules and whatnot, I only talk about Standing Stone since it is a “standardized” tournament. 

Okay I now see that detail in your rules (Sec IV, p.3) that I haven't found before about that laying in a hole. Not only can a player click on the marble, they can span in [leaning against it] with their extra shot. I didn't realize multiple players can technically be "in" a hole at the same time (the one laying in, and the one spanning in). Thanks!!

How deep are the holes at Standing Stone?

[RolleyHoleMan]

23 hours ago, Marble_Go_Team said:

Okay I now see that detail in your rules (Sec IV, p.3) that I haven't found before about that laying in a hole. Not only can a player click on the marble, they can span in [leaning against it] with their extra shot. I didn't realize multiple players can technically be "in" a hole at the same time (the one laying in, and the one spanning in). Thanks!!

How deep are the holes at Standing Stone?

Now the thing about holes is no matter how you get them, it’s not to everyone’s preference. Some holes have more wiggle room and different depths from yard to yard. 
 

What I was taught was wet the area you want a hole, and push your marble into it until it’s half way in. From there you can smooth down the sharp edge made. 
 

A fresh hole may make it harder to knock a marble out of. Once the edges are worn it’s a bit better. Depth can of course cause issues as well. 
 

But as Bobby would say, it’s as fair to one as it is to the other. 

[RolleyHoleMan]

Hey Folks, after 3 years I finally found the full song "Rolley Hole Man" on an unopened cassette in the archives. I was trying to move a box that was above my head, and since it had some weight to it I just popped the lid, felt around, and pulled out the first thing I could get a grip on. 

It was a sealed copy of this tape, followed by over 20 others. Here is the link:

Rolley Hole Man