Every backyard has a house rule someone swears is official. After three seasons of running BeerPongCo tournaments — and refereeing more arguments than games — we wrote the version we now play by. Print it, tape it to the wall, stop arguing.
Setting the table
Ten cups per side, racked in a triangle with the point facing your opponent, back row flush with the table edge. Fill each cup to roughly a third — enough to keep the cup stable, not enough to make a re-rack a two-person job. One rinse cup per side, positioned off to the side, never on the playing surface.
On a regulation 8 ft table the distance does the work: a flat throw won't drop, so players learn arc naturally. Shorter tables reward the wrong technique, which is the real reason we don't sell them.
- Ten cups, one rack. Triangle points at the opponent, back row on the edge.
- Fill to a third. Stability over volume — nobody wants a knocked rack mid-game.
- Rinse cup off-surface. If it's on the table, it's in play. That's on you.
Re-racks: who calls, and when
Two re-racks per team, per game. Call it before either player has thrown, and name the shape — diamond, zipper, or wishbone. Your opponent racks it for you; you don't touch their cups. Ask for a third and the answer is no, no matter how gracious your opponent is feeling.
Bounce shots, blowing & the elbow rule
Bounces count double and can be swatted the instant the ball touches the table — that trade is the whole point. Blowing a spinning ball out of a cup is legal for one player only, before the ball settles, and only if it hasn't touched the liquid. Everything after that is a made cup, and arguing about it is a made cup too.
The elbow rule stays: elbow behind the table edge at release. Lean as far as you like, plant your feet where you like, but the elbow is the line. It's the one rule we enforce at every event without exception, because it's the only one that quietly decides games.
Winning, and the redemption round
Sink the last cup and the other team gets redemption: they shoot until they miss, and every cup they make sends the game to overtime with three cups a side. Overtime uses the same rules, minus re-racks. If you've made it that far, you've earned the right to argue about something new.