If you've spent any time in a bowling alley, you've heard someone shout about a turkey. It's one of those bowling terms that transcends the sport — even people who have never bowled know that a turkey is three strikes in a row, even if they couldn't tell you why it's called that. The word "turkey" in the context of bowling carries a mixture of genuine achievement and joyful absurdity that makes it one of the sport's most beloved pieces of vocabulary.
This article covers everything: where the term came from, exactly how much a turkey scores, what comes next after a turkey on the streak ladder, and the practical techniques that give you the best chance of bowling one.
What Exactly Is a Turkey?
A turkey is three consecutive strikes in a single game of bowling. Strike in frame 4, strike in frame 5, strike in frame 6 — turkey. The three strikes must be in the same game and they must be consecutive — no spares or open frames between them.
The frames don't have to start at any particular point in the game. A turkey in frames 1–3 is a turkey. A turkey in frames 8–10 (finishing the game with three strikes, called "striking out") is also a turkey. A turkey in frames 4–6 is a turkey. The only requirement is three strikes in a row, anywhere in the game.
(30 for each of the three strike frames)
How Much Is a Turkey Worth?
The score from a turkey depends entirely on where in the game it occurs and what comes before and after it. Here's the precise calculation:
When you bowl three consecutive strikes in frames 1–8, each of those strike frames scores 30 — the maximum possible for a single frame (10 + the next 10 + the following 10). So three frames × 30 = 90 points for the turkey itself, out of a possible 300 game total.
But here's where it gets nuanced: the last strike in your turkey is also adding bonus points to the frame before your turkey started. If you bowled a spare in frame 3 and then struck frames 4, 5, and 6 (turkey), that spare frame earns a bonus equal to your frame 4 strike — worth 10 extra. The cascading nature of bowling scoring means a turkey's value extends in both directions on the scorecard.
The Origin: Live Turkeys and Thanksgiving Tournaments
The term "turkey" dates to the 19th century when bowling alley proprietors regularly held special tournaments around Thanksgiving. The practice at these events was to award a live turkey — a real bird — to any bowler who achieved three strikes in a row during the competition.
At the time, scoring was considerably more difficult than it is today. Lane conditions were inconsistent, ball technology was primitive, and the average bowler struck far less frequently than modern bowlers do. Three consecutive strikes was a genuinely rare achievement — exceptional enough to warrant a prize that people would remember.
The tradition of giving away actual turkeys faded as bowling modernized in the early 20th century, but the name stuck. By the time modern ten-pin bowling was standardized, "turkey" was already so embedded in the sport's vocabulary that no one considered replacing it. A turkey became, permanently, three strikes in a row — a linguistic artifact of an era when that achievement was rare enough to earn dinner.
The Bowling Streak Name Ladder
Bowling has always loved naming consecutive strikes. The turkey sits in the middle of a full hierarchy of streak names, some formal and widely used, some informal and regional:
| Consecutive Strikes | Name | Origin / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Double | Standard term, used universally |
| 3 | Turkey | 19th century Thanksgiving prize tradition |
| 4 | Hambone | Coined by ESPN's Rob Stone in 2010; now widely adopted |
| 5 | Five-bagger / Brat | "Brat" = bratwurst (a pack of five). Regional, informal. |
| 6 | Six-pack / Wild Turkey | Both terms used; "Wild Turkey" extends the bird theme |
| 7 | Seven-bagger | The "bagger" suffix is used from five onwards |
| 9 | Golden Turkey | Informal; nine strikes in a row |
| 12 | Perfect game | All twelve possible strikes in a game; score of 300 |
The "Hambone" deserves special mention. Rob Stone, ESPN's bowling analyst, coined the term live on air during a PBA telecast in 2010 when he spontaneously announced "HAMBONE!" after a bowler hit his fourth consecutive strike. The term spread immediately, was enthusiastically adopted by bowling centers nationwide, and is now nearly as universal as "turkey." Bowling has a gift for this kind of organic vocabulary creation.
How to Bowl a Turkey: The Practical Guide
Three strikes in a row sounds simple — hit the pocket three times. But the pocket changes between deliveries, and maintaining consistency while the lane transitions is what makes turkeys elusive for recreational bowlers.
Find the pocket reliably first. You can't bowl a turkey until you can bowl a strike. The pocket is the 1-3 pin area for right-handers (1-2 for left-handers). Entry angle matters enormously — a ball entering the pocket at 4–6 degrees of angle will carry pins dramatically better than a straight-on hit. If you're bowling straight, the hardest part of getting a turkey is generating enough pin action from a low entry angle.
Repeat your line exactly. A strike is information about your delivery. If you struck on the second arrow (board 10) with your feet on board 20 and your ball hooking from the 10th board through the pocket, write that down mentally. Your second and third strike attempts use exactly the same foot position and target. Changing your line between strike attempts is the most common way to leave a 10-pin on the second ball when the first was a strike.
Don't change anything between strikes. The urge to adjust after a strike is almost irresistible — you're watching your ball's path and second-guessing everything. Resist. If the ball struck, the ball struck. The most common turkey-killer is a subtle unconscious adjustment after the first strike that moves the ball offline for the second attempt.
Account for lane transition after your first strike. As you bowl, the oil pattern changes. The track area dries out; the ball hooks earlier. After two or three strikes in a row, experienced bowlers often need to move a board or two left with their feet (for right-handers) to account for the ball hooking earlier than it did on strike one. The adjustment is subtle — one or two boards maximum — but it keeps the ball hitting the same pocket entry as the lane changes.
Manage the mental game. The hardest part of bowling a turkey for most recreational bowlers isn't technique — it's the mental pressure that accumulates after two strikes. The awareness of "I could have a turkey here" creates exactly the kind of conscious overthinking that disrupts an otherwise automatic delivery. Experienced bowlers train themselves to focus on their target (the arrows, not the pins) and their delivery process (consistent approach, smooth swing) rather than the result. The result follows from the process. If you're thinking about turkeys, you're not thinking about your shot.