OFFICIAL DBC RULES

Standard Donk

  1. Players buttocks must be in contact with the bench during the entire motion of donking.
  2. Players must have their feet on the ledge or on the floor.
  3. Players must agree the number of ends to be bowled and agree the ‘entry fee’.
  4. Players must remain seated in the same order for the whole game.
  5. Players should not leave the donk arena during a game unless all players have agreed a ‘Drinks or Comfort! Break’.
  6. The donk ball must be; a) Rolled from a touching position on the floor. b) Released from in the air to bounce then roll towards the donk wall (NB This style is adopted by Mart 'El Gringo' Stanton and explains his professional pseudonym ‘Bouncing Donker’). c) No overarm.
  7. Snooker tables must be placed adjacent to the donk lane. Should the donk ball strike one of the legs, the ball is still in play unless it goes on to strike the donk wall. However, the player making such a shot must be derided with comments such as, ‘He’s legged it!’ or ‘Looks like a legger!’
  8. The first player shall be the winner of the previous game. If this cannot be determined the player seated on the extreme left when looking from the donk wall will go first.
  9. The order of play will pass as with port, with players playing 'in-turn' once the previous players shot is fully complete with all balls stationary; any breach results in 'disqualification' from that end.
  10. Once the donker has released his ball he should be encouraged by the other players with comments such as, ‘That will wake up the neighbours!’ or ‘ Half way for Ladies’ etc or general laughter!
  11. The player who donks first follows his donk ball to the wall to become the official ‘adjudicator’.
  12. A player may knock other balls in to the wall or use other balls to get closer to the wall.
  13. The adjudicator should give guidance on the distance of the nearest ball from the wall.
  14. If all players have donked, the last player must bowl his ball onto the grey in order to claim the end. Failure to do so will result in a replay of the end.
  15. The winning donk is the ball nearest to the donk wall that has not touched the wall or is not touching a ball that is in contact with the wall.
  16. In the event of two balls appearing equidistant the adjudicator will take a measure using a snooker cue. (Please note Yorkshire, that if the adjudicator’s ball is not the closest the cue should not be hurled towards the Long Donk wall!)
  17. As a matter of etiquette players should congratulate the winner with suitable plaudits eg ‘Jammy Bastard!’
  18. The 'Bones Amendment': Practice of any kind is strictly forbidden and 'if breached' is punishable by a mandatory £1 donation for each offence to the current Sussex Stragglers charity.
  19. The 'Durden Clause': In the unlikely event that a ball is deflected, moved or stopped during play, all balls must be replaced as closely as possible to their original positions, with any 'live' shot then be replayed - under no penalty.
  20. A minimum of 4 players are required in order for the results to be officially recorded in the annual donk league; which is played late on a Friday night post snooker.

Long Donk

Rules as above, but the ball is bowled from a standing position and the donk wall alternates from one end to the other.

Foot Long Donk

As Long Donk except the ball is placed on the floor in line with the snooker table leg of the table furthest from the donk wall and struck with the foot.

Tin Can Donk

Most of the standard rules apply but the objective of the game is to get the donk ball inside the can and for it to remain there.