How many different ways can you score a 289 in bowling?

Answer 1

There are two general ways of Bowling a 289 game:

1) Start with 10 strikes, then 9 count, and pick up the spare

2) Start with a spare, then 10 strikes, then a 9 on your last ball.

Within those general ways, there are many variations.

In the first, there are theoretically 10 different ways to get a 9-count on the 11th ball.

In the second, there are theoretically 1,023 ways to get a spare in the first frame, and 10 different ways to get a 9-count on the last ball.