“Russian” bowling was an interesting sport. The ball is smaller, and has no finger holes. 9 pins arranged in a diamond, so it is not a very good idea to aim directly for the lead pin. The best was to have the ball roll just to the left or right of the lead pin. A direct hit to the lead pin usually only knocks over 3 pins (the lead pin and the two directly behind it). A cable marked the foul line and could not be touched (no pins are counted on a throw that touches the cable).

There were two scoring methods, and we usually alternated between them each round. The first is 5 throws, each with a new set of 9 pins. The second is also 5 throws, but each throw is at the same 9 pins. With the second method, if all 9 pins fall before 5 balls are thrown, the pins are replaced and then the remaining balls are thrown. Both methods have a maximum score of 45 points per turn (each pin is worth 1 point), but usually about 20 points were scored each turn with the first method and 8 with the first.