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PENNY BLACK
OVERVIEW
The most widely played penny game of all

THE EQUIPMENT
THE RULES

Introduction
Animation
Photographs of the Equipment

Introduction

This is the most popular of the five penny games and should be learned first.

You must knock pennies off a board, one at a time and in the right order. The shooter doesn't have to hit the penny which is to come off next so being able to play a cannon is very important.

It isn't snooker. Only the shooter can ever be respotted


"I didn't make a board to begin with. Well, I didn't know if she'd like the game, see. So I bought some coloured stickers off the web and made a set of pennies. I had some pieces of old chipboard furniture lying around in the garage so we used a piece of that for the board. Quick spray, you know.

"We all play with her now. Play each other, too. Made an eighteen inch board at first. Now we've got a two footer. Square."

A Penny Black KO Final at Menzies High School

"I learned to play Penny Black at school. Once, I had a detention on club night and I got my mom to write me a letter asking for the detention to be given on another day so it wouldn't clash. My teacher agreed, too. Unbelievable! "

"My dad learned to play when he was at Hill Top High. He says it's a housing estate now. He says he was a mean player, back in the day. He always says 'back in the day'.

"My old man said he'd not got the time, the skills, or the inclination to make me a board. He only went and bought a round table top instead. Solid wood it is. He made me sand and varnish the bottom so it wouldn't snag on the carpet."

 

  
  
Animation

All the animations on this site were made for PCs. Apologies. Unfortunately, I have lost all my .fla files so can't copy and adapt them for small screens. I will have to make more from scratch.

Click here for the animation
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Photographs of the Equipment

   

All you need is nineteen pennies and a flat waxed board. Square boards are popular because they are easy to make or get hold of, give you more playing surface area for your money, and marginally increase the skill level required of players. Traditional hexagonal boards mirror the shape pennies make at the start of a game, and for many people these are the only true Penny Black boards. Round boards are also used.
Above is the oldest photograph I have of a Penny Black final, and the legend, Dazza Baggott. Over one hundred pupils and staff watched this one.

"I love this game. I can pracitise for hours and hours on my own. When I get a Platinum Guy I get really excited. Never done it in a proper match though. If I ever do that then I can die happy."