There’s hundreds of ways to play beer pong/beirut, and
everyone has there own set of rules, but I figured I would compile a list of
some of the more popular variations of the game.No matter which one you choose, you’re
guaranteed to kick back and have a good time.Always remember to enjoy responsibly though.With that said here’s the list:
Virginia Style Beer
Pong
-Set up 6 cups in a triangle formation on both
sides of the table (one in front, two in the middle, three in the back) on your
favorite Red Cup Pong table
-Place a water cup on both sides of the table as
well to wash dirty balls during the game
-Divide yourself into teams of one or two
-Teams alternate shooting and in the case of two
person teams each player gets one shot per round
-Lob shots only
-If a ball bounces off the table or a cup rim,
then players on the opposing team may play defense to try and prevent the ball
from going in a cup
-In a two person game, players alternating
drinking sunk cups
-Before a player may shoot, they must drink any
cups made in the previous round
-Teams are typically allowed one re-rack of their
choice per game, usually done with 3 cups remaining
-After the last cup has been sunk, the opposing
team is allowed rebuttal shots. Each player is allowed to shoot until they miss
or until they have made all of the remaining cups.If a team successfully completes a rebuttal,
then each team sets up a three-cup triangle, and play continues.
-Once a champion has been crowned, that team is
allowed to stay on the table until they are defeated
10 and 21-Cup Beer
Pong
-Same rules as Virginia style, but with a couple
variations
-In 10-Cup there is a triangle set up with a base
of 4 cups, while in 21-Cup there is a triangle set up with a base of 5 cups
-Since there are more cups, it is often
recommended to have teams of 3 when playing 21-Cup
-For 10-Cup, teams are allowed two re-racks per
game, one at 6 cups and one at 3 cups remaining.
-For 21-Cup, teams are allowed three re-racks per
game, one at 10 cups, one at 6 cups, and one at three cups remaining
-In 21-Cup, it is common for players to match up
with a player on the opposing team, and each time one sinks a cup, they must
drink it.
Central Pennsylvania
Beer Pong
-Very similar to Virginia style with a couple of
added flairs
-Players may bounce, and if on a bounce the ball
lands in a cup, the opposing team must drink two cups of the shooting teams
choice.Like in Virginia style; however,
player may swat at a
-Shots can be taken off of the ceiling as well, and
a successful ceiling shot counts as four cups
-For those with a more powerful arm, if you can
throw the ball hard enough to knock a cup off of the table, then the opposing
team must drink another cup
-An additional rule for this game type is to have
a penalty cup.Whenever a player misses
a shot, he must chug the penalty cup, guaranteeing everyone is feeling good by
the end of the game
Traditional Paddle
Beer Pong
-Teams of two arrange two cups on each side of
the pong table, one cup in each corner.
-A single point is awarded if the pong ball hits
the opponent’s cup, and five points are awarded if a player sinks the ball into
the opposing teams cup or manages to knock it over.
-When you double fault, hit yourself, or hit your
opponent, you must take a drink, but this does not count as a point against
you.
-In the case of a hit, the opposing player must
take a drink.In the case of a sunken
cup or knocked over cup, the player must fill up their cup and chug.
-Players play to 21 as in normal ping pong, and
must win by 2 points
-A valid serve only occurs when the ball has
touched both sides. Following a drink, the team that drank serves the ball the
next round.
-Once the ball has been properly served, it is
game on.Players may play the ball off
of any surface: walls, ceilings, tables, counters, you name it.You may play the ball only once on your side
of the table, and play continues either until a player must drink or until a
team unsuccessfully returns the ball.
Battleship Pong
-Divide yourself into teams of four
-Set up a 10x10 grid of cups on both sides of the
table
-The name is just as it implies, so you are going
to be playing Battleship with beer and liquor.One team leaves the room, while the other team sets up their cups. Set
up your ships: aircraft carrier (5 cups), battleship (4 cups), destroyer (3
cups), submarine (3 cups), and patrol boat (2 cups).The ships must be in a straight line, but
other than that can be laid out in anyway within the 100-cup grid.
-Once you have placed all of your liquor cups
fill the rest with beer. Both liquor and beer cups should be filled fairly low,
otherwise you’ll be lucky to be standing by the end of the game.
-The other team sets up their cups, and then play
can commence
-All shots must be lob shots
-When a player hits a ship, the opposing team
must say that they have hit a ship, just like in the board game.If a shot is made, then the player who hit
the liquor cup is allowed to shoot again.
-Players only get the ball back when they hit a
liquor cup, not when they hit beer cups.
-A winner is crowned when all of an opposing
team’s ships have been sunk.
-This game is a ton of fun; just make sure
everyone is alternating drinking since it is quite a bit of alcohol. Two games
of this and you should be more than good to go.
I have also compiled a list of some other interesting rules
I have come across which you can use when determining the style of beer pong
you want to use in your own house tournaments.
Additional Rules:
-Blowing- if
there are guys at the table then players on each team are allowed to try and
blow the ball out of a cup as it rims around.Girls typically only use this technique.
-Fingering- if
there girls are on the table then players are allowed to try and finger the
ball out of a cup as it rims around.Typically used by guys, players must make sure the ball or their fingers
do not touch the beer otherwise it doesn’t count.
-Skunking- If a
team fails to make a single cup before the other team makes all of their cups,
then the losing team must strip off all of their clothes and run around the
party completely naked.
-Bouncing Only-
One variation of the game could be created in which players on each team are
ONLY allowed to use bounce shots.This
would be fairly difficult since most players are not very skilled at the bounce
shot.Although it is not a commonly
instituted rule, only allowing players to use bounce shots could be an
interesting spin on any home game
-Rollbacks-
Rollbacks are a critical part of any game when determining rules.I can’t even begin to tell you the number of
arguments I have seen over rollback rules.The most commonly allowed rollback is when a missed shot rolls back to
the shooting table while remaining on the table.If the shooting team recovers the ball, then
the person who shot the ball is allowed another shot.This shot must be either a behind the back or
opposite handed shot to make it more difficult to sink the cup.Another aspect of the rollback is when both
members of a team both make their shot in the same round. In this case they get
both the balls back and are allowed to continue shooting.If you decide you are going to allow
rollbacks make sure you lay down the guidelines early to avoid the inevitable
argument over house rules
-Calling Cups- In
some games I have seen additional cups awarded to players who call out their
shots.If the player successfully makes
a cup, this would count for two cups; however, if he makes a cup he didn’t call
or misses altogether, then it doesn’t count.
