*Drinking Game of the Week:
Beer Pong

Katie McRae

I’m not going to tell you what you need for this game, and I’m not going to insult anyone’s party intelligence by typing out a detailed list of rules for the greatest of all drinking games.

Come on, we all know how to play beer pong. What I’m here to do today is to get everyone on the same page – or at least try. If you find a beer pong game, it’s almost certain you’ll hear a dispute before the night is over. But the arguments are usually based on a misunderstanding about the rules. The American Beer Pong Association of America (ABAA) has come up with a set of rules to create a standard way to play.

As quoted directly from the ABAA site, the “official” rules of beer pong are as follows:

ABAA Official Rules (Abbreviated)

• Six cup rack.
• One rerack during the game of shooting team’s choice at any time.
• Game starts with best of three rock, paper, scissors with the winning team electing to shoot one ball first, shoot the second two, or defend a particular end. The losing team then addresses the remaining option.
• Intentional bounces count as two cups (unintentional bounces count as one cup).
• Once the ball touches any surface it can be defended.
• Double sink, bring balls back.
• Babes blow.
• Cups are removed from play immediately after being made.
• If a cup is hit twice before removed from play, two cups are removed in addition to the first (three total).
• If a shot is interfered that is potentially going into a cup, warning first then one cup is removed as a penalty for second offense.
• If the game ends with both teammates making a cup in a single turn, the game is over with no redemption.
• In redemption, both players shoot till they miss.
• Double sink in redemption means redeemed team shoots first in overtime.
• 3 cup overtime, proceed as before.
• No reracks during overtime.

But of course, as with all rules, there are exceptions to be made. There are as many variations of the game as there are beer pong tables. The biggest difference between the ABAA’s rules and the unofficial MSU rules is that almost every game from Hagadorn to Harrison is played with 10 cups per side.

Some play with a money ball that is sent back to the shooter for a “shoot ‘til you miss” round. Many teams have rules against removing a made cup until the second shooter takes a turn. Two balls making it into the same cup results in immediate send backs and the removal of two cups, the made cup and another cup of the opposing team’s choosing. Two reracks instead of the ABAA-enforced one are also the norm at MSU.

But with all the rules and variations of the rules and variations of the variations, the most important rule of beer pong is to never talk about beer pong. No, wait, the most important element of any successful beer pong game is for the host to clearly post or inform all players of the house rules, and for the players to follow those rules. House rules always win.

But no matter what rules you follow, one thing is for certain about beer pong: It’s not important if you win or lose, but how drunk you get while playing the game.

*Remember, drinking age is 21.