Toad in the hole is a

pub game A pub game is one which is traditionally played inside or outside a pub. Most pub games date back centuries and are rooted in village culture. Many derive from older outdoor sports. Pub games can be loosely grouped into throwing games, dice ...

, involving throwing brass coins at a lead-topped table with a hole in the middle. The game is a more refined version of the coin-throwing game pitch penny. The game itself involves throwing four brass coins or "toads" from the same distance as a dart board, to a square toad table, made of wooden legs and with a lead surface. If a toad goes down the hole it scores two points, or if it lands on the top it scores one point. If it hits the back of the table or falls off, the throw is void it scores nothing. A maximum of eight points can be scored each turn, and scoring is recorded in

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

fashion, playing from 31 down. The first competitor throws two toads, with their opponent then throwing three, and from then on they throw all four, until they reach scores of less than four, wherein only the number of toads equal to the required finishing score may be thrown. Like darts, players must finish exactly - scoring more results in the player being "bust". At tournament level, participants play best of three, and best of five in the final. The original league in the United Kingdom is based in East Sussex, and has three divisions, involving roughly 21 teams based in pubs around the county. There is also a major "international competition", run by the

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

and held in that town every year. More recently, a Brighton & Hove league was set up in 2021, involving local pubs and venues.

International competition winners

*1995 Lewes Arms *1996 Lewes Arms *1997 Brack Mount *1998 Lewes Arms *1999 Lewes Working Men's Club *2000 CSBS *2001 Lewes Arms *2002 Swan Cygnets *2003 The Laughing Fish *2004 The Laughing Fish *2005 The Laughing Fish *2006 Old Azurians *2007 King's Head *2008 The Laughing Fish A *2009 The Laughing Fish B *2010 DCC *2011 DCC *2012 The Chalk Pit *2013 Old Azurians *2014 The Leek'y Boys *2015 The Brewers Arms *2016 Rodmell Toad Club *2017 Rodmell Toad Club *2018 Black Horse *2019 Rodmell Toad Club *2020 ''Hiatus, no contest held'' *2021 ''Hiatus, no contest held'' *2022 Black Horse *2023 Rodmell Toad Club *2024 The Round Georges

Variants in other countries

Variants of this English game are played both wider afield in Europe, for example

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

where it is known as ''juego de la rana'', the Basque Country where it is known as igel jokoa or the ''jeu de la grenouille'' in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Outside Europe, it is widely played in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

where it is variously known as ''juego de la rana'' in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, ''juego del sapo'' in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, ''tiro al sapo'' in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

. The game is also played in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

where it is also referred to as simply rana. A similar American game is washer pitching.

References

* Finn, Timothy: ''Pub Games of England'' (Oleander Press) ;Notes

External links

Toad in the hole in the Online guide to traditional games

El juego de la rana (Spanish)
{{Sussex Pub games Precision sports