The Riot is a great benchmark ball for any bowler’s arsenal.  I bowl in a PBA experience league and have had great success with this ball.  It is a very predictable ball and carries great.  I am a lower revs player and am happy with the power this ball hits the pocket with on some of the longer shots.  GREAT JOB ROTO GRIP!
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Rebekah Diers
2009 Clash of Champions
Amateur Roto Grip Staff

To start, I've been a huge fan of the Saturn and Pluto, so I was really excited about the new Riot. It did not disappoint!!! I started with it on a 39' house shot and the ball was awesome. I got to move right and play straight up the boards (using 5th and 6th boards as break point). The ball was extremely clean through the fronts with a strong and continuous backend movement. If I missed a little out it would recover and a little in and it just set up. I never lost the pocket with this ball. As they dried out, I just moved a little left and was able to open up the lane. I had them put out a heavier pattern and I could still get around the pocket but it didn't seem to like the extra oil. Although I'm not a big rev player, so some of you that are could more than likely make it work. I think this ball is a must for any bowler for a league or any tournament shot. Great job by everyone at Roto Grip.

The Riot should be named sleeper of the year given the amount of hook and performance for the price.  I left mine box and experimented with the layout.  45x4x25 which looks almost like a modified Rico.  I wasn't sure what to expect but I didn't expect this much recovery.  It's really all from the midlane with a hard gradual arc.  The Cell is one of my favorite solids but I do not get a chance to throw it much. I could polish it but I prefer it with surface. The Riot has been a blast to throw because I can throw it with surface and it doesn't hook early.  It pushes just enough and then picks up really hard in the midlane.  Since it pushes so well with surface, it has matched up to most of the wet/dry conditions I face as well as a few lighter volume house shots.

Great read and look on those long but lighter volume shots where you need surface but Cells and Nomads are just too strong up front.  Higher diff makes it extremely versatile.  Great budget piece by Roto.


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Anthony Chapman

Roto Grip Staff 2009/10
   Vise Grips Staff 2009/10

I experimented on my Riot and ended up putting the pin 2 inches below the thumb and cg near my center of grip. I also hit this ball with a 4000 abralon pad. I was hoping for a good midlane read and mellow backend reaction, i got the midlane but too much downlane hook for what i was looking for. The ball rolls good and carry is great. I will post another review after I drill another one more conventional.


David Tessman
Roto Grip regional staff.

Dark Star and Riot Review

I am reviewing these balls together because I feel the two balls are perfect companions for each other.  

I had a lot of success with the Illusion and Grand Illusion.  I felt they were both great control balls.  As soon as I saw the Dark Star and the Riot and the technical data on the balls I felt they would be the perfect replacement for them.  

I drilled the Dark Star 4 X 4 and the Riot 4 ½ X 4 ½. with the pin above the finger holes. When I started practising on our house shot with them I found the Dark Star to be a bit, what I call, flippy. It gave me an over/under reaction.  I have a low track and about a 60% axis tilt with medium/slow ball speed.  I find if I have too much shine on a ball that it can have a hard time reading the break point.  I took an 4000 abralon pad and went over the ball on the spinner to take a bit of the polish off of it.  The difference that made was amazing.  I went from having about a 1 board area to a 3 or 4 board margin of error, and when the ball hit, it hit.

The Riot, even though drilled to go a bit longer, had a tendency to roll a bit early and the end result as a weak pocket, leaving 10 pins and 7 pins with the box finish.  So back into the shop I went.  I didn't want to change the ball's characteristics, I just wanted to help it go a bit longer. This time I used a 2000 abralon pad.  It worked out really well too, giving it a little more length and a better finish.

I had a set idea of what I wanted the balls to do when I drilled them and it has turned out great.  I can use the two balls in similar lane conditions with usually just a 1 or 2 board adlustment.  I can go back and forth between them very easily.

I am not presently bowling in tournaments, the survival of my business taking most of my time.  I'm bowling a couple of times a week, one league, 3 games, the other 4.  I have struggled a bit as a result of no practise and the average was hovering at just over 200.  Since I drilled the Dark Star and the Riot I have had triples of 738, 721 and 720 and 4 game totals of 987 and 939.  In the month of March my average has jumped up to 208, not easy to do this late in the season.

In my opinion, for the price, these two balls are about the best value out there. I have already drilled a number of them for entry level customers and well as more experienced bowlers looking for a good control ball.

Last Saturday was awesome!

I won the Lenox IA BOWL-A-RAMA at Tiger Lanes. I won using the new Riot.

They are old wood lanes. They played tight so I needed to use a ball like the Riot to mellow out the lane but yet still give me a good recovery down lane to get the right angle to slap out the ten pin. I tried using the Dark Star as well as the old SD73 ball but the Dark Star was to skid flippy and a little over underish. As for the SD73 it rolled nice to the pocket, nice and even throughout but I had a hard time with it getting the ten pin out. I did however have good success with the Pearl Cell as well as the Riot. Proving so in the third game where I used the Riot on the left lane and the Pearl Cell on the right lane, I went on to shoot a 264, and after the 4th game I was then 6 over and in the top 5 of the four game qualifying.

This after watching the second and last qualifying squad would get me into the top 32, where we would bowl 3 additional games to determine the top eight.
I ended up in the eighth spot with 57 over all while using the Riot. This round was a bracket, if you win three matches your the champ. I won the first match 226-177. Then in the next I won 186-160. The first and second matches were both right handers and the final match was a lefty.
The final match would be against a lefty who shot 300 earlier on the championship pair we were to shoot on. Thankfully he was not striking very much and I was. I win the championship match 222-194.

The Riot I threw was a 3" pin and I drilled it without a hole. The pin got drilled out in my ring finger. I left it with about 7/8 side(no hole). My PAP is 5 5/8 over and 1/2 up.
I did try my Dark Star in the last three matches in practice but when it came down to it I was zoned in pretty good with the Riot.
Roto Grip IS King of Them All!
Not only can I use this ball for league I can use it in and win tournaments with it as well! SWEET!

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(AJ) Andrew Jensen
 Roto Grip Staffer

The Riot delivers a lot of ball for the dollar. For me, on the back ends it out hooks anything in the Rotogrip line. The 2000 abralon surface handles medium to heavy oil with ease. I really like how the shell maintains the dull look even after several games. It does not get the polished up look. With the 2000 surface you would think that it is difficult to get the ball down the lane, just the opposite, it saves most of its energy for the mid-lane and beyond. I have it drilled with a 4.5” pin just below the fingers and the CG kicked out 50 degrees and a weight hole about 2” below my PAP. This drilling pattern has a lot of flare for me. My flare spacing is about 5/16 between the rings of oil on the ball. This ball is a pleasant surprise from Rotogrip, great performance for a very small price.
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Tony Szeluga
Roto Grip Staffer.
Retired All Army Bowler

For the Riot. I wanted an even rolling ball that would read well on flatter patterns, which I believe this ball is well suited for. I took a pin out 3'' ball and put the pin beside the ring finger with the CG stacked right underneath the pin. To start I left the box surface on it. I haven't been bowling a lot lately just a local league with some serious wet/dry and over/under. This ball really gave me a great look which I haven't had in some time since the league started. I can just move inside to the heavy oil and keep it tight and the ball rolls great with exceptional carry. If I wheel one wide it goes to the dry and won't "burn up" as compared to some stronger covers. The Riot has actually become my first ball out of the bag on most nights.