How to Play the Drinking Game Beer Pong

Beer Pong is an immensely popular drinking game played in thousands of college dorms across the country and in a number of slightly different variations. You can play the drinking game Beer Pong at your next get-together and you’ll be on the ground before you know it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ping-pong ball
• Beer or other alcohol
• About 12 to 20 cups
• Beer pong table

1. Choose your teams. Beer Pong is usually played as a tournament in which two teams of two individuals face off. A tournament bracket is often set up on a piece of paper.

2. Set up the playing field. You will need cups, a ping pong ball, and a table. Beer Pong can be played with two sets of six or ten cups.

3. Arrange the cups in a two triangles at opposite ends of the table. Ideally, the table would be about eight feet long. Cups are typically the 16 oz. Dixie or Solo brand cups popular at many “keggers.”

4. Fill each cup with beer. If you’re using the type of cups specified, filling each cup about ¼ of the way full will be the equivalent of two 12 oz. cans of beer for each team for the six cup set up, or about 3 ½ cans of beer for 10 cups. The challenging team is responsible for bringing the beer to the table.

5. Begin the game. The challenging team takes the first shot, then two consecutive shots are taken by the defending team, and then from this point each team alternates taking two consecutive shots, with each member of the team throwing once.

6. Defend the shot. Once the ball has touched the cup on the defending team’s side they may bat it away. If the defending team touches the ball before it touches a cup then it is ruled as goaltending and the shot is retaken. Various rules of punishment exist for repeated goaltending. Verbal distractions are also fair game and are an integral part of the fun.

7. Sink a cup. If a team throws the ball into the other team’s cup, it is said to be “sunk,” and the defending team must drink the contents of the cup. If the ball lands in the junction between three cups, all three are considered sunk. If both members of a team sink a cup in turn, they get to shoot again.

8. Win a game. There are a few different variations on how a team is supposed to win. The most common scenario occurs when one team sinks all of the opposing team’s cups. The losing team is allowed to shoot at the winning team’s cups until both members miss. If the losing team sinks all of the cups, the game goes into overtime. Overtime is usually played with the same rules except only three cups are used. The losing team is typically required to drink all of their opponent's remaining cups.

Tips & Warnings

• Have one of your more sober friends stand on the side lines to officiate the game. Using a third party to determine infractions of the rules can be a good idea.
• You can make your own Beer Pong table and personalize it to your liking. All you need is some ply wood, paint, and water proofing finish.
• If everyone at the party is getting past the point of functional drunkenness, it is a good idea to reduce the amount of beer placed into the cups. This changes the dynamic of the game however, because the cups are more susceptible to tipping, and the ball will bounce off the cups due to their increased elasticity.
• Don’t stack sunken cups. Dirt from the bottom of the cup can contaminate the cups for the next game. Instead, set them somewhere safe away from the table.
• If taunting is permitted, be cautious about what you says especially when in the home of an unfamiliar person. Alcohol can cause people to do some pretty stupid things.