Beer Pong
Beer Pong (also referred to as Beirut) is a game that involves drinking where the players of the game toss a small ball from one side of a table to the other trying to get the ball in one of several plastic cups filled with beer. Today, this game is being played at college parties, tailgate parties and sporting events. High school students are even playing this game even though those who are playing this game are under the age of 21, the legal drinking age in the United States.
It is thought that Beer Bong originated in the 1980s at Dartmouth University, though there are other universities that claim they created it. The game usually has two teams of two players each and several cups that are placed on each side of a table. The cups are place in the shape of a triangle. The Beer Pong table that the game is played on is long and narrow, usually 8 feet by 2 feet and 27 ½ inches tall. These measurements come from the regulations of the World Series of Beer Pong. There are 8’ regulation sized Beer Pong tables that are used throughout the country for tournaments.
Depending on the Beer Pong rules of the local area, each team as either 6 or 10 sixteen ounce cups. The cups are usually plastic, filled with 4 to 6 ounces of beer and placed on the table in a pattern of a pyramid. The point of this pyramid is facing the opposing team at the other end of the table.
Because there are no official Beer Pong rules to the game of Beer Pong, rules may vary wherever the game is being played. The game’s goal is the get rid of the other team’s cups before your own teams cups are eliminated. If a ball is tossed and it lands in a cup, that cup is eliminated and the other team must drink the beer within the cup. The losing team of the completed game has to drink all the beer that is remaining in the cups of the winning team. The order of which the players take turns may vary, one player shoots followed by a teammate from the other team. Turns are then taken back and forth for the entire game.
The longest and largest organized tournament of Beer Pong is The World Series of Beer Pong. This event was created by the players of Beer Pong and for Beer Pong players. Games are held on 8-foot BPONG tables and WSOBP rules control the game. The event held last year had almost 600 participants from 39 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. The largest payout in beer pong was $50,000.
