# Factual bowling question: Can a pin fall over & bounce back upright? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107 "2008-10-15T22:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/21 "2008-10-16T20:40:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Walter Sobchak would ensure that, once that pin went down, it _stayed_ down. No f\*\*kin’ doubt, man. Not on Shabbas, though. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/22 "2008-10-16T20:55:15Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > ABC and WIBC merged a few years back, creating the current USBC. And in the next year or so, they’ll be moving from my hometown down to somewhere in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/23 "2008-10-16T21:29:30Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > There’s a video of that online somewhere. I don’t have youtube access here at work, but you should be able to find it! [http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/923440/](http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/923440/) ---
**Author:** ![Staver808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Staver808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staver808)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/24 "2008-10-16T22:09:02Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > According to the US Bowling Congress rules: > > Pins that rebound and stand on the lane must be counted as standing pins. > > I saw something like this years ago when I bowled in a league. A pin hit the side wall and returned to the alley. It bounced off one pin knocking it over but that pin stayed upright. Due to it’s location, the pin setter could not drop down. An employee went out and placed the pin in the nearest open position and the pin was not counted for that throw. I had this happen to a friend of mine. We bowl for fun occationally, and have a bunch of additional house rules. For instance, if everyone strikes in a frame except one person, that person buys everyone a round. Well my friend Byron was last and everyone has a strike so far so he needed to strike or buy the next round, and he did. Every pin was knocked down and one of them bounced back up. It didn’t slide, wobble, or bounce into another pin and reset, but comepletely fell over and became horizontal and then bounced back up. When the pin setter dropped down though it knocked the pin over. Although we teased him about it we went back and counted it as a strike. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/25 "2008-11-02T08:13:19Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > ABC and WIBC merged a few years back, creating the current USBC. That merger never really mattered to me…until I finally beat by average by 100 (bowled my first 300 with a 199 average, thank you very much) a few weeks back. I was expecting the 100 over average watch, all I got was a stinkin’ patch. Come to find out, USBC did away with the watch. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/26 "2008-11-02T18:26:51Z")
OK, the baseball bat thing sure beats the heck out of the time I saw a flipped coin land on its edge. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/27 "2008-11-02T19:19:17Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Has that happened to you in Wii bowling? I’ve played a lot of that (damn 300 game still eludes me despite my mastery, I can only muster a 298 at best) and I haven’t seen it. I haven’t had a pin fall over and bounce back up, but several times I’ve had a pin get knocked sideways off it’s mark and remain standing. In real life I suppose it would be a similar situation to what **racer72** described where the pinsetter would be stuck, but in Wii bowling it just winds up back on it’s original spot for the second ball. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/28 "2008-11-02T21:47:13Z")
> [@King\_Friday](#): > > That merger never really mattered to me…until I finally beat by average by 100 (bowled my first 300 with a 199 average, thank you very much) a few weeks back. I was expecting the 100 over average watch, all I got was a stinkin’ patch. Come to find out, USBC did away with the watch. I got a watch from ABC about 10 years ago for a 279. It came with a dead battery. I never bothered to get a new battery for it. It wasn’t the highest quality watch to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/29 "2008-11-02T21:55:21Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Thanks for that, **Racer**. Especially your anecdotal observation. I’ll be interested in seeing if anyone else has similar tales to contribute. In 20+ years of bowling, I’ve only seen it happen one time. League play, the lanes next to mine. Guy blows 10 into the pit and a pin rebounds out and stays upright in the back row, close enough to the 8-pin position that the pinspotter processed it. The guy that rolled it thought someone was playing a practical joke on him and got really upset when it was determined what happened. As I recall, he was working on either 4 or 5 strikes in a row and it broke his string. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/30 "2008-11-02T22:00:27Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > In 20+ years of bowling, I’ve only seen it happen one time. League play, the lanes next to mine. Guy blows 10 into the pit and a pin rebounds out and stays upright in the back row, close enough to the 8-pin position that the pinspotter processed it. The guy that rolled it thought someone was playing a practical joke on him and got really upset when it was determined what happened. As I recall, he was working on either 4 or 5 strikes in a row and it broke his string. Thanks for the eyewitness account! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/31 "2008-11-03T00:29:32Z")
I saw a guy bury the ball in the pocket and a pin hit the 3 pin and knocked it about 3 feet in front of the rack. The rack could not pick it up. The rack came down and set 10 pins in back of it. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/32 "2008-11-03T01:12:01Z")
FYI: I recently read somewhere that a bowling pin will fall when it tilts 7.5 degrees off the verticle axis. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107/33 "2008-11-03T04:40:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I saw a guy bury the ball in the pocket and a pin hit the 3 pin and knocked it about 3 feet in front of the rack. The rack could not pick it up. The rack came down and set 10 pins in back of it. If that happens and you get a strike on the next throw, does it count as 11? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-bowling-question-can-a-pin-fall-over-bounce-back-upright/468107.md?page=1)