Better Off Bowling

This is my first season with Better Off Bowling and I love it here! Lucky Strike is just a short walk from my place and the place is nice and clean. The league itself is fun and competitive without being over the top. Roughly $ 70 gets your league dues paid for the season and includes everything you need! They even have special beer prices for the league; about as cheap as you’ll find in DC.
If you feel like meeting some fun people and getting a little activity added to your life I highly recommend BOB. Sunday bowling has been a great way to relax away the end of the weekend with a few games and drinks. See you on the lanes!

I’m in my second season with BoB. I joined as a warm way to meet people, as I was new to the area. I was placed on a league of individual players, and we hit it right off! We created our own team for a second season and absolutely enjoy ourselves every time!
The venue is well prepared, the shoes are even out for us to select as we arrive. There are several wait staff assigned to a few teams at a time.
This is not intended to be competitive, however I admit I was excited when I received my badges for bowling well. All in all it’s a fun experience and I highly suggest you try it out!

I love the league, less than love the venue.
League is great, been doing it for four seasons now. Great way to spend a Sunday. There are almost always shoes out waiting for you to pick up, and you spend 1.5 hours bowling and hanging out. All the teams I’ve met are super nice. This is definitely a social thing. There are very few competitive bowlers (although there may be a few competitive drinkers).
The venue location is great. It’s right in Chinatown literally half a block from the metro. The alley is a little small for the crowd it gets (teams can be up to 10 people on each side of the lane), but what isn’t too small in DC. The service is really bad at the lanes, but you can always walk over to the bar.
The league is six weeks over an 8-​week period. For $ 70, if you go to all the games, it’s not a bad deal.

My boyfriend and I purchased a Capitol Deal to register for the Spring 2012 season of Better Off Bowling in DC for $ 39. I believe the regular price for registration is $ 78. We signed up as randoms on a team that ended up being a team of 10 bowlers. Each team gets 90 minutes to bowl on one lane, which will equate to just about 2 games if you have 5 bowlers and bowl quickly and barely 1 game if you have 10 bowlers. Scores for each team are compiled of the top 4 scores from a single game. The season lasts for 5 weeks and an additional week of playoffs.
The league is first and foremost a social league; most don’t bowl 100, and many that do are primarily in the 110 – 120 range. If you’re looking for something a little more competitive both in terms of your teammates (people showing up, paying attention to the game, displaying team spirit) and your competition, it would be best to look elsewhere.
The people I met were cool and friendly. However, because it is a social league, I definitely expected there to be a better showing at the bar and a little more interaction between the teams. I think I would have been a little more disenchanted had I not signed up with someone I already knew. Also, the beer specials weren’t exactly specials– $ 30 beer towers (= about 10 pints) and $ 6 White Russians at the alley and $ 3 Miller Lites at the bar (Irish Channel).
The alley is Lucky Strike in Chinatown. From what I hear, this alley is incredibly pricey for bowling, which made it all the more surprising when a lane would crap out during the middle of our game. And, while the alley seems prepared to accommodate the league in general, they occasionally cut our 90-​minute bowling time a few minutes short. They also rescheduled our playoff game at the last minute, rendering much of our team unable to attend (this issue was resolved with a rescheduling, though).
I definitely think that the league left me a little thirsty in both the social and competition aspects. I would maybe play again if A) it’s Winter season, and B) I get the $ 39 deal. Otherwise, I’d probably look for another way to show up hungover for work on Mondays.

I recently signed up for another season of BoB. It is a lot of fun with plenty of pre– and post-​drinking opportunities at the league’s sponsored bar (last time it was the Irish Channel nearby). The league goes on the whole day, so you can invest as much time as you want into the pints. Be careful about your team size. You only have a hour and a half to bowl and, when time expires, so does your game and, if you don’t finish, you are stuck with the score you got. This happened to our team one week when we didn’t even finish the first game. As someone who used to bowl competitively, it troubled my inner soul.
But then, you know what? I pulled another draft out of the huge beer tower and forgot about it.
Competitive or not, you’ll have a good time. The people in the league and the people who run it are great. Like people said, another excuse to get out on a Sunday. I’m just happy I can bowl in the District on a fun league. I’ll be back to try to beat my 20mph throw from last season and maybe string a few strikes together.

Get’s my vote of 5 stars because I LOVE this bowling league. It’s my fourth season in the league. I enjoy going to Lucky Strike and Chinatown. It really brings some life to my Sunday. The league is laid back and run very well. Would really love for them to come up with a real version of playoffs though.
I’ll be participating in my 5^th season soon.

Great Sunday activity with friends. You can be as competitive/​hardcore as you want to be, but in the end it’s just a fun excuse to drink and get a little rowdy. Well organized and teams definitely get into the spirit of things w jerseys, etc. Very recommended but limited space for teams so sign up early.

I’ve done Better Off Bowling for four seasons at the Lucky Strike in Chinatown and I will continue to do it as long as they have it.
It is as casual a bowling league as you will find. Made up mostly of young professionals, it’s an excuse to hangout with your friends on Sunday, have a few drinks, and bowl.
The league is run really smoothly, the people at Lucky Strike are really accommodating – it’s just a fun league.
I wish they had the league year round instead of just in the winter.