How To Play the Beer Pong Drinking Game

Beer Pong is a drinking game with a varied set of rules.  It is most commonly played in college and in fraternities, but can also be found at tailgate parties near sports venues and in some bars.  The overall object of the game is to throw a ping-pong ball into each of your opposing team's cups filled with beer before they can do the same to you. Here's how to play:

Equipment.

• A flat rectangular table, such as a ping-pong table
• Two ping-pong balls. (It's a good idea to have extras as well.)
• 12-31 16oz plastic cups
• Lots of beer (traditionally something light and cheap)

Setup.

• Each game consists of two teams of one or two people.
• Each team takes 6, 10, or 15 cups depending on how long a game you feel like playing.  If you've got more people that want to play, you can play with six cups and take turns.  The cups should be arranged in a triangle fashion with one cup in front, two behind it, three behind that, and all the cups touching.
• Fill each cup about halfway with beer.

Play.

1. Flip a coin to see who goes first.
2. Each team takes turns throwing two ping-pong balls at the opposing teams cups. If you have two people teams, each person will throw one ball.
3. When a ball lands in a cup the team whose cup it is has to drink it.
4. When the cups remaining drop to a prearranged number they are reformed and moved back together to fill in any holes left by removing cups.  This usually occurs at ten, six, four and three.
5. Once all the cups are gone, that team loses and has to finish all the beer remaining in the winning team's cups.
6. Optional Redemption Rule: After the final cup is hit the losing team gets one chance to tie the game.  If they can get the ball into all the remaining cups without missing the game results in a tie.

Common Variations.

• Instead of forming the triangle with the cups touching, you can leave spaces between them.
• If the ball bounces or hits a cup before landing in the cup, the team is allowed to try to bat it away.
• You could play with one ball instead of two, and alternate between teams if you have two players.
• If the team sinks a shot with both balls, they get them back for another turn.