BEER PONG
OFFICIAL GAME RULES

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GAME SETUP

• 10 cups per team
  • Cups are placed in a triangle formation with the tip of the triangle facing forwards
• 1 water cup per team (for washing balls)
• 2 ping-pong balls
• 4 drinks per team
  • Drinks are poured evenly into all the cups.
  • Different drink types, e.g., beer and cider, do not need to be mixed.

BEGINNING

• To choose the starting team (get to throw first), players from both teams faceoff one-on-one making EYECONTACT while trying to throw the ball in a cup.
• The first team to successfully make a throw is awarded both balls and gets to start the game.
• If both players make a successful throw the starting throws continue with the next players.
• NOTHING is drunk in this beginning phase.
• A coin toss or "rock, paper, scissors" can also be used to determine the starting team. Basically this method is used in larger tournaments to save time.

BASIC RULES

• Objective
  • To throw ping-pong balls into the cups of the opposing team until they have no cups left. When a ball flies into a cup, the cup is removed from the table and its content drunk.
• Throwing
  • A team has two balls for each turn and they can be thrown at anytime after the last ball has left the hand of the opposing player.
    • One player CANNOT throw both balls.
    • If the ball is thrown before the opponent has thrown both of their balls (it is not your turn), the throw is not counted and the ball is lost
  • The cups must NOT be touched until both balls have been thrown
  • If both players successfully throw a ball into a cup, the cups are left untouched and the throwing team gets another turn (both balls).
    • If both balls fly into the same cup, an extra cup is selected to be removed by the throwing team.
  • If a ball is thrown into the cup by bouncing (hits any surface, e.g., table, wall, ceiling, another player...) TWO cups are removed.
    • The maximum amount of cups removed is always two, regardless of how many bounces the ball makes.
    • If the ball hits a cup on the table, only one cup is removed.
    • The throwing team chooses the extra cup to be removed.
  • If a player makes three successful throws consecutively, the player is then allowed to keep on throwing until he or she misses.
  • If a ball flies into the water cup, a new throw is given to the thrower.
  • When throwing, the elbow of the player must be behind the cups at all times.
  • If a player accidentally drops a ball into one of the player's own cups:
    • The cup is drunk and the ball remains with the team if it is the opponent's turn.
    • The cup is drunk and the ball is given to the opposing team if the ball is dropped during the player's turn.
    • If the ball bounces into a cup, the same as above, but two cups are drunk.
• Blocking
  • If a ball is bounced, the defending team is allowed to block or catch the ball after it has hit a surface.
  • If a throw that did not bounce is blocked, it is count as successful throw.
    • Therefore penalty cup can be part of streak or award a new turn
    • If the direct throw is accidentally blocked while trying to block a bounced shot or while washing a ball, instead of removing a cup, a new throw is given to the throwing player.
    • If the ball is clearly outside of the table, it can be captured
    • The referee decides in unclear situations
• Re-rack
  • The cups must be rearranged into a triangle formation when there are 6, 3, and 1 cups remaining (with one cup, the cup is placed in the middle of the back of the triangle).
  • The re-rack is formed AFTER the opposing team has ended their turn.
  • The re-rack is always formed from the back row first and from the left.
• Interference
  • All kinds of interference is allowed to distract the opponent, as long as body parts and other physical objects do not at any point block the area near the cups.
• Drinking
  • Players take turns drinking, so that each player drinks the same amount (2 alcohol drinks per game).
    • The starting player is usually selected with "rock, paper, scissors".
• A player is allowed to pour his or her drinks into one single cup.
• Referees
  • Official games are played with referees
  • Referees are usually part of the ABP organization (administration, actives, committees)
  • Referees are humans and doing volunteer work
    • Be sure that the referee is actually following the game
    • If you think that the referee is too drunk or acting inappropriately, you can ask for another referee
    • Poor-mouthing and other non-gentlemanlike behaviour might work against you
  • You can ask another opinion if you think that the referee is interpreting the rules wrong
  • You can’t ask another opinion about situations that only the referee has seen
  • Be gentleman, the referees word is final

ADVANCED RULES

• Death cup
  • If a ball is thrown into a cup a player is drinking, the team of that player automatically loses the whole game.
    • Also applies to dropping the ball into the player's own cup (they are drinking).
    • When a player has finished drinking from the cup, the player must announce that the cup is empty or put it away, otherwise it is still a death cup, even when empty.
• Rebound
  • If the ball bounces back from the opposing side after a throw and does not at any point cross the edges of the table, an extra throw is awarded to throwing team.
  • The ball must be thrown with the weaker hand or from behind the back.
  • The player to catch the rebound is the only one allowed to throw the extra throw.
  • The player is not allowed to rebound if he was not behind the cups during the throw
  • Rebound throw is count as normal throw so it can end streak or award new turn if both players throw into cups.
• The island rule
  • If a single cup doesn’t touch rest of the rack, you can attempt to throw lonely cup by saying ”Island”. If you hit the single cup, the trow counts as 2. Bounce rules apply normally. Otherwise the throw counts as 0, even it hits the main rack.
• Spilling cups
  • If a cup spills (falls onto its side), it is considered the same as making a successful throw, and is thus removed from the table.
  • Trying to intentionally spill cups is not illegal, but is generally frowned upon (leaves a mess).
• Blowing
  • If the ball spins inside the cup, the defending team is allowed to try and blow the ball out before it touches the liquid inside.
  • If the ball is blown into another cup, that cup and the original cup or cups are removed.
  • If the ball hits blowers face and goes back to the cup, it is counted as bounce
• Redemption
  • When a team has no cups left, they still have one turn to try to continue the game.
  • Both players must make a successful throw for the game to continue.
  • After a succesful redemption, all but one cup is removed and the balls are given to the opponent
    • Example: Opponent throws all 10 in the first turn. You and your partner succeed in the redemption. The game continues from 10-1 situation.
  • One bounce is NOT enough to continue the game.
  • A death cup would win the game.

Rules are based on ABP rules.