The three pub standards on one page: cricket scoreboards with proper mark columns, 501 subtraction ladders, and a killer lives tracker — with each game’s rules printed small enough to fit and big enough to end arguments.
| P1 marks | # | P2 marks |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | ||
| 19 | ||
| 18 | ||
| 17 | ||
| 16 | ||
| 15 | ||
| BULL | ||
| POINTS |
| P1 marks | # | P2 marks |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | ||
| 19 | ||
| 18 | ||
| 17 | ||
| 16 | ||
| 15 | ||
| BULL | ||
| POINTS |
| Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|
| 501 | 501 |
| Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|
| 501 | 501 |
| Player | Number | Killer? | Lives |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ | |||
| ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ | |||
| ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ | |||
| ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ |
Cricket is the thinking player's pub game: only 15 through 20 and the bull exist, and each must be closed with three marks. The wrinkle is scoring — hit a number you've closed before your opponent has, and its face value piles onto your score. The whole strategy question is one line: close fast, or farm points on the number they can't stop?
Every turn subtracts from 501, and the game is really about the last 170: you must finish exactly, on a double. Overshoot — or land on 1, from which no double exists — and the whole turn is a bust. The subtraction column is the game's memory: write the remainder after every turn, and the outs suggest themselves (32 left says double 16 the way 40 says double top).
Everyone throws for a random number, then throws to hit their own double — becoming a killer — then hunts everyone else's doubles, stripping a life per hit. It's elimination, it's personal, and its rules vary by postcode, which is why the tracker keeps it to what every version shares: numbers, killer status, five boxes to cross off.
Can you score on the bull in cricket? Yes — it closes with three like any number (outer counts one, inner counts two in most play) and scores 25/50 once closed.
What's a good 501 handicap? Start the weaker player at 401 or 301 in the same column — the ladders don't care where they begin.