Download Article
Download Article
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Finn Kobler. Finn Kobler graduated from USC in 2022 with a BFA in Writing for Screen/Television. He is a two-time California State Champion and record holder in Original Prose/Poetry, a 2018 finalist for the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, and he's written micro-budget films that have been screened in over 150 theaters nationwide. Growing up, Finn spent every summer helping his family's nonprofit arts program, Showdown Stage Company, empower people through accessible media. He hopes to continue that mission with his writing at wikiHow.
There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
This article has been viewed 2,111,289 times.
Learn more...
Few party games are as well-known and well-liked as beer pong. While technically a drinking game, beer pong requires a great deal of skill and a little bit of luck. And it can be enjoyed by just about anybody of legal age (or younger, if you fill the cups with root beer)! This article will go over the basic rules of beer pong and fun rule variations that you can add to spice up your game play. Happy pong-ing!
Beer Pong Set Up and Rules
- The objective of beer pong is to eliminate all your opponents’ cups first. Toss ping pong balls into their cups directly or by bouncing the balls on the table.
- Each team is given ten 16 oz (450 g) plastic cups. When your opponent makes a ball into your cup, drink the beer in that cup.
- Beer pong can be played 1-on-1 or in teams of 2. In teams of 2, both players take turns shooting the ball (or, in some variations, each are given their own ball).
Steps
-
Play 1-on-1 or with teams of 2. Gather the players for your beer pong game and separate to opposite sides of your beer pong table. Sides can include 1 or 2 players each. If you’re playing in teams of 2, take turns throwing the ball each time you get a turn.[1]
- Beer pong can be played on a table of any size, but if you want to make your own, tables are traditionally 8 feet (2.4 m) long x 4 feet (1.2 m) wide.
-
Fill twenty 16 oz (450 g) plastic cups halfway with beer or water. Place ten 16 oz (450 g) cups on each side of the table. Then, pour beer into the cups until each one has been filled about halfway. To drink more responsibly and avoid spreading germs, consider filling each cup up with water instead. Then, take a drink from your own beer can each time a shot is made.[2]
-
Fill a bucket with clean water to rinse balls before throwing. While sanitation isn't exactly the cornerstone of beer pong, nobody wants to drink a tainted cup of beer. Have a bucket of clean water handy so players can rinse their balls before throwing and keep paper towels nearby to soak up spills.[3]
- You can also designate 2 additional 16 oz (450 g) cups as “water cups” and keep one on either side of the table. But label the water cups clearly so players don’t accidentally sip them after they’ve had a bit to drink.
-
Arrange the plastic cups into a 10-cup triangle at each end of the table. Assemble the triangles so each top point is facing the opposing team. There will be 1 cup in the first row, 2 in the second row, 3 in the third row, and the base of the triangle will have 4 cups. Pack the cups cups closely together so they’re all touching. Do not tilt the cups.[4]
- The base of each triangle should start about 1 in (2.5 cm) from each edge of the table.
- You can play with 6 cups or 15 cups instead, depending on how long you want the game to last.
-
Determine who goes first. Many games are started by a member of each team playing rock, paper, scissors. Winners go first. Another variation to choose who goes first is playing “eye-to-eye.” To do this, try to make a cup while maintaining eye contact with your opponent. The first player to land a cup goes first. You can also flip a coin.[5]
-
Take turns throwing the balls into cups. Each team gets to throw one ball per turn. The goal is to throw the ball into a cup of the opposing team. Throw the ball directly into a cup or bounce a ball off of the table into a cup. Just keep your elbows behind the table when you throw, otherwise the point won’t count![6]
- Try to arc the ball when you throw. It is more likely to land in a cup.
- Aim for a cluster of cups as opposed to the edges of the triangle.
- Try throwing underhand or overhand and see which works best for you.
-
Drink according to where the ball lands. When the ball lands in a cup, drink the beer in that cup. If you’re playing in teams of two, alternate the drinking between you and your partner—if you drink the first cup, let your partner drink the second. Set the cup aside once you drink it.[7]
- Do not throw again until a player has finished all the beer in their cup and removed it from play.
-
"Re-rack” the cups into a diamond when 4 only cups remain. Once 6 cups of beer have been drunk on your side of the table, restack the remaining 4 into a diamond shape. This process, called “re-racking,” will make shooting easier for everyone.
- Only re-rack if your side has lost the appropriate amount of cups. Re-racks often occur at different turns for each side, depending on how many balls have been sunk by each player.
- Some players include an additional re-rack each game. The re-rack may be when there are 6 cups remaining (with a triangle in a 3-2-1 formation) or in whatever shape the player requests. Check with your game’s players beforehand to determine what works for you.[8]
-
Re-rack the last 2 cups into a single file line. Once 8 cups have been drunk on either side, arrange the last 2 cups into a vertical line, with the back cup approximately 1 in (2.5 cm) from the edge of the table.
- This re-racking style is sometimes referred to as “Gentlemen’s” or “Power Eye.”[9]
-
Keep playing until one team has no cups remaining. Continue tossing the ball, one side at a time, until one player or team has sunk a ball into all of their opponent’s cups. The first player or side to do this wins the game.[10]
- Sometimes, players will offer a “redemption” after a team makes a winning shot. In “redemption,” the losing team is allowed to toss once more. If they land the ball into a cup, the winning team’s toss is canceled and the game resumes. A redemption is different from a “rebuttal,” which is another rule variation.
-
Throw 2 balls per round if you’re playing in teams. Beer pong can be played with many rule variations. In this version, throw 2 balls per round per team until there is a miss. After the turn is completed, the opposite team throws at the first team's cups, and the process repeats.[11]
- If both your team’s balls land in the same cup, remove an extra cup from your opponent’s side.
-
Call out which cup you are going to hit before you throw. This is one of the most common variations on beer pong. If you hit the cup you called, your opponent drinks that cup. If you miss your target and it goes in the wrong cup, it counts as a miss, and that cup remains on the table.[12]
- Another variation on this style, called “Island,” allows players to call 1 cup per game. If you make the cup you call, remove 1 extra cup from your opponent’s side. If you miss, do nothing. [13]
-
Give the losing team 1 last turn after a team has won. In this variation, give the opposing team 1 last turn; this turn is called a “rebuttal.” The opposing team keeps shooting until they miss, at which time the game is over. If the opposing team makes the ball into all of the winning teams’ cups in their last turn, then a 3-cup overtime is played. Now, the teams compete in sudden death to figure out the final winner.[14]
- In a 3-cup overtime, arrange your 3 cups into a triangle shape with 2 cups at the base and 1 cup at the point.
-
Make a bounce shot count for 2 cups. In this variation, a bounce shot counts as 2 cups. If you land your beer pong ball into a cup by bouncing it, choose which additional cup you would like to be removed.[15]
- A lot of players use this rule variation, with the additional rule that players are allowed to swat the ball away after it has bounced on the table.
- Some rule variations count each bounce as an additional cup to be removed. Therefore, if your ball bounced twice before landing in a cup, you would select 2 cups to be removed. If it bounced 3 times, you would select 3, and so on.
Community Q&A
-
QuestionDo both teams drink, regardless of who sinks the shot?
Community AnswerThe only one to drink is the person whose cup has been shot into by the opposing player. -
QuestionWhat is the distance between the 2 sets of cups?
Tom De BackerTop AnswererIt depends on the table. However, feel free to experiment. You can set up each triangle on a different table across the room, or move each triangle as close together as you like. This will increase and decrease the level of difficulty, respectively. -
QuestionDo I have to use beer or can I use cider or some other drink?
Community AnswerYou can use whatever drink you want, just make sure to change the name according to the drink, for example "milk pong."
Video
Tips
-
For all-ages fun or to avoid drinking too much alcohol, replace the beer with a non-alcoholic beverage. Apple cider is a good alternative, as its taste is somewhat similar to wine.Thanks
-
Your hand should not just release the ball into the air, but follow it through all the way into the cup that you're aiming at.Thanks
-
Always aim for a specific cup.Thanks
Tips from our Readers 
- You can also play beer pong with 3 people (or any uneven number) if you modify your setup slightly. Just use a round table or set up another table next to the first one and lay out another set of cups.
Warnings
- To reduce the risk of germ infection and "pong flu" from contaminated beer, use water instead of beer in the game cups, and drink clean beer stored separately when you lose points.Thanks
- Do not drink if you plan to drive.Thanks
- Always drink responsibly.Thanks
Things You'll Need
- 16 ounces (450 g) plastic cups
- Beer (at least one 12 pack)
- Standard ping pong balls
- Long Table
References
- ↑ https://youtu.be/8oIZ9bZoi3c?t=41
- ↑ https://www.tabletennisspot.com/learning-beer-pong-rules-the-right-way/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/8oIZ9bZoi3c?t=33
- ↑ http://www.bpong.com/tournament-rules/
- ↑ https://www.tabletennisspot.com/learning-beer-pong-rules-the-right-way/
- ↑ https://justbeerapp.com/article/beer-pong-drinking-game-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-rules
- ↑ https://youtu.be/8oIZ9bZoi3c?t=49
- ↑ https://www.tabletennisspot.com/learning-beer-pong-rules-the-right-way/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/9q20FlpDpD4?t=60
- ↑ http://www.rulesofsport.com/sports/beer-pong.html
- ↑ https://youtu.be/9hqoS85m9xo?t=8
- ↑ https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Beer%20Pong
- ↑ https://www.tabletennisspot.com/learning-beer-pong-rules-the-right-way/
- ↑ https://www.rulesofsport.com/sports/beer-pong.html
- ↑ https://www.tabletennisspot.com/learning-beer-pong-rules-the-right-way/
About This Article
Beer Pong is a fun drinking game where players try to land ping pong balls in another team’s cups to clear them. The team that clears all of their opponents’ cups first wins. Beer pong is usually played with two teams of two, but it can also be played one-on-one. Each team fills 10 cups one-third full with beer and arranges the cups in a 4-3-2-1 triangle at their end of a long table. To determine who goes first, one player from each team tries to make a cup while maintaining eye contact with their opponent. This is called eye-to-eye. Players continue to shoot like this until someone makes a cup, and the team that makes a cup goes first. On a team’s turn, the team’s two players each get one shot at making a ball into one of their opponent’s cups at the opposite end of the table. If a player lands a ball in one of their opponents’ cups, a member of the other team has to drink the beer in that cup. If both players make their shot, they each get to throw the ball again. If a player bounces the ball on the table before landing it in one of the other team’s cups, two cups are cleared instead of one, but the other team can knock the ball away as soon as it hits the table. If you like, you can play so that teams leave their cleared cups on the table until the end of the shooting round, instead of drinking beer out of them immediately. In this variation, if both players make their shot into the same cup, the opposite team removes three cups and the shooting team receives the balls back. After the first team takes their turn, it’s the second team’s turn, and play continues back and forth. Once there are only 4 cups left at either end of the table, the team aiming for those cups can ask for them to be rearranged into a diamond at the beginning of their turn. Once there are only 2 cups left, the team aiming for those cups can ask for them to be rearranged into a single file line. When a team clears all of the other team’s cups, their opponents’ get one last turn, called a “rebuttal.” During a rebuttal, the losing team keeps shooting until they miss, at which point they lose. If they’re able to clear all of the other team’s cups, the game goes into overtime and each team gets 3 more cups. To learn about different game rules you can try, read on!
