Beer pong

For the similar drinking game involving table tennis paddles, seeBeer pong (paddle game).

Beer pong

Drinking Game
Other names	Beirut,Six-Cup, 10-Cups
Players	Two teams of two players each
Setup time	Minimal
Playing time	15–30 minutes
Skills	Accuracy, hand–eye coordination
Materials required	Table,plastic cups,ping pong balls
Alcohol used	Beer

Beer pong,also known asBeirut,is adrinking gamein which players throw aping pongball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup ofbeeron the other end. The game typically consists of opposing teams of two or more players per side with 6 or 10 cups set up in a triangle formation on each side.Each team then takes turns attempting to throw ping-pong balls into the opponent's cups. If the team "makes" a cup - that is, the ball lands in it, and stays in it - the contents of the cup are consumed by the other team and the cup is removed from the table. The first team to eliminate all of the opponent's cups is the winner.

Venues

A game played in an informal setting

Beer pong is played at parties, bars, and at colleges and universities,along with other venues such astailgatingat sporting events.

Origin and name

Members ofDelta Upsilonplaying Throw Pong atBucknell Universityduring the House Party weekend of 1980

The game was originally believed to have evolved from the originalbeer pong played with paddleswhich is generally regarded to have had its origins within the fraternities ofDartmouth Collegein the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s, where it has since become part of the social culture of the campus. The original version resembled an actualping ponggame with a net and one or more cups of beer on each side of the table.Eventually, a version withoutpaddleswas invented and the namesBeer PongandBeirutwere adopted in some areas of the United States sometime in the 1980s.In some places,Beer Pongrefers to the version of the game with paddles, andBeirutto the version without.

Bucknell University's student-run newspaper,The Bucknellian,claimsDelta Upsilonfraternity members at Bucknell created "Throw Pong", a game very similar to beer pong, during the 1970s,and that "Throw Pong" was then brought toLehigh Universityby fraternity brothers who visited Bucknell and this led to the creation of the version of beer pong that is played today.

The origin of the name "Beirut" is disputed. A 2004 op-ed article inThe Daily Princetonian,the student newspaper atPrinceton University,suggested that the name was possibly coined at Bucknell or Lehigh University around the time of theLebanese Civil War.Beirut,the capital ofLebanon,was the scene of much fighting during the war, particularlymortarfire.

Setup

A standard set up for a game of beer pong

Teams

Beer pong is usually played with two teams of two to four players each. Each team begins the game by standing at either end of the table behind their rack of cups.

Playing field

Although the game is typically played on either a ping pong table or a folding banquet table, enthusiasts may create a personalized table for use by friends and visitors. In general, this will be aplywoodboard cut to proper size, sometimes painted with sports, school, or fraternity symbols and given a liquid-proof coating.Some companies sell tables, including portable and inflatable tables.However, the game can be played on any flat surface.

Equipment

Red plastic cups are used in beer pong and other drinking games

The most common cups used are 18-US-fluid-ounce (530 ml)disposableplastic cups(such as redSolo cups) with ridge-lines which can be used precisely to measure the amount of beer to be poured into the cup. On each side of the table, teams assemble equilateral triangles with a convergence point focusing on the other team.Games typically use ten cups.Each team usually also has a separate cup of water used to rinse off the ball.

Alcohol

An inexpensivepale lagerorlight beerof 3.2–5%ABVis sometimes preferred because of the large quantities consumed during the course of several games.Sometimes under house rules, there might be cups of other liquors used during the game. For non-drinkers, the game may be played without beer, as is done atUtah State University,where alcohol is not allowed on campus;root beeris used instead.For sanitary reasons, the game may also be played with cups of water that players do not drink from, instead drinking from a separate cup of beer or alcohol.

Game play

Possible beer pong re-racks

Traditionally, the game of beer pong has been played by countless variations of rule sets. In recent years, organizations such as The World Series of Beer Pong have put forth "official" rules. Typically, players abide by a uniform set of "house rules" which are often consistent within one university or region of the country (e.g. "West Coast rules" ) or may vary on a "house-by-house" basis.Number of cups, bouncing, re-racking, amount of alcohol, distance shots must be taken from, etc. may all vary. All house rules should be posted or verbally stated and understood by both teams before the game starts.

The order of play varies - both players on one team can shoot, followed by both players on the other team, or players on opposite teams can alternate back and forth.A cup that is made must immediately have its contents drunk and be removed from play. Some rule sets allow for "re-racking"(also known as"reforming","rearranging","consolidation",and other names), which is a rearrangement of a team's remaining cups after some have been removed. The formations, number of cups, when to rearrange and so on, depend on the rule set. For example, a team with three remaining cups may ask the other team to" re-rack "the cups into a single triangle formation.

Common house rules allow players to 'finger' or blow the ball out of the cup if the ball spins around the inner rim. Another common house rule states that if a team makes both shots during their turn, a 'rollback' occurs allowing each player on that team to shoot again.In the World Series of Beer Pong rules, only a single-ball 'rollback' occurs resulting in a three cup maximum that can be made per turn.

Before shooting, teams may dunk the ping pong balls into cups of water in order to wash off the balls. However, research has shown that the wash cups can still hold bacteria such asE. coli.As a result, players may put water in the cups instead of beer, keeping a separate beer on the side to drink from.

Shot techniques

The typical path for the different kinds of shots

The most common throwing technique is the arc shot, where one grasps the ping pong ball with the tips of the thumb and forefinger, holds the arm at an angle with the ball upwards, then throws using a gentle elbow motion holding the upper arm parallel with the table.

Some players throw "fastball" style which uses more of a hard chopping motion to send the ball in a more direct line toward the intended target cup.A fastball shot may be favorable if house rules dictate that a cup knocked over is removed from the table, in which case a fastball can eliminate multiple cups if thrown hard enough.

A bounce shot is performed by bouncing the ball towards the cups. Depending on house rules, if the other team has the opportunity to swat away a bounced ball, a bounce shot may be worth more than one cup.

Winning the game

If a team makes their last cup, the other team loses unless they can make all of their remaining cups; this is called a rebuttal or redemption.If the losing team can hit their redemption shots, then the game is forced into overtime where three cups are used instead of the normal ten cups.

Another 'house rule' can be stated before or during the game in the midst of ashutout.A shutout in beer pong occurs if one team makes all ten of their cups and the opposite team makes none of their cups. If the shutout does occur, the losing team must do whatever the two teams decided on, such as goingstreaking(naked lap) or drinking a large quantity of beer.

Also depending on 'house rules', there are other ways to end the game. Cups that were accidentally left in the rack after being made are known as death/kill cups. These cups will immediately end the game if made again.

Health effects

The game may have several associated health risks. As with any activity involving alcohol, beer pong may cause players to becomedrunkenor even intoxicated enough to sufferalcohol poisoning.Some writers have mentioned beer pong as contributing to "out of control" college drinking.

The supposed cleaning effects of the water "dunk" cup may be offset by bacteria in the cups.During theCOVID-19 pandemic,a group of young people in Denmark were thought to have contracted the virus as a result of playing a version of the game where they held the table tennis balls in their mouths and spat them into the cups.

Legal restrictions

FormerPittsburgh SteelerandPennsylvaniaGovernor candidateLynn Swannplays beer pong with tailgaters before a football game in 2006.

Some municipalities and states have attempted to ban beer pong from bars or in general because of the belief that it encouragesbinge drinking(seeHealth effectsabove). InOxford, Ohio,whereMiami Universityis located, the city council tried to ban the game from being played outdoors.InArlington, VirginiaandChampaign-Urbana, Illinois,bar owners were told to stop allowing the game to be played in their establishments. In the fall of 2007,Georgetown Universityofficially banned all beer pong paraphernalia such as custom-built tables and the possession of many ping-pong balls.

Timemagazineran an article on July 31, 2008, "The War Against Beer Pong", which noted legal restrictions and bans on the game in colleges and elsewhere.

In many states, players have taken to placing water in cups to hold organized beer pong tournaments legally in bars. Some examples can be found in Michigan, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Tournaments and leagues

Beer pong tournaments are held in the United States at the local, regional, and national levels.

TheWorld Series of Beer Pong(WSOBP) is the largest beer pong tournament in the world. WSOBP IV, held in January 2009 at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino inLas Vegas,Nevada,had a $50,000 grand prize and over 800 participants from the US and Canada.WSOBP V, held in January 2010, had over 1,000 participants including teams from Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Japan. The World Beer Pong Tour has stops in various cities and cash prizes as well.

A more common organization of beer pong games are leagues which operate on a local or regional level. Ordinarily, a group of pong enthusiasts will create teams (partnerships) and play weekly against each other. Sometimes, the leagues have websites, rankings and statistics,while others have been started by college students with the goal of intramural competition such as atUniversity of California, Santa Barbarawith the "Isla VistaBeer Pong League ",and atNew York University.

Media

The Wall Street Journal,Timeand other media outlets have reported on the increase in businesses selling beer pong paraphernalia, such as tables, mats, cups, or clothes.Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pongis a documentary which follows some competitive players as they prepare for the WSOBP II and ultimately compete against one another for the $20,000 grand prize. This documentary, directed by Dan Lindsay, premiered at theCineVegasfilm festival on June 13, 2008.Rick Reillywrote an entire column about The World Series of Beer Pong IV forESPN The Magazine.

TheAssociated Presscited the game and other drinking games as a factor in deaths of college students.

Timemagazine recently had an article on the popularity of beer pongand posted a video on their website.In both, players claimed beer pong was a sport, rather than a game—similar tobilliardsanddarts.

The game has been a recurring segment onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon,with host Fallon playing against female celebrity guests such asBetty White,Serena Williams,Anna Kournikova,Charlize TheronandJessica Alba.

The Colbert Reportfeatured a segment on the CDC study hoax.

Road Trip: Beer Pong,a sequel to the 2000 comedyRoad Trip,featured the game prominently.Agnes Scott College,where most of the movie was filmed, did not want to be listed in the credits after complaints from students.

Publishing

On August 29, 2009,Chronicle BookspublishedThe Book of Beer Pong,a 200-page fully illustrated guide to the game.

Bud pong

Bud pong was the branded version of beer pong that brewerAnheuser-Buschsaid involved the drinking of water, notBudweiseror any other beer. In the summer of 2005, the company began marketing "bud pong" kits to its distributors. Francine I. Katz, vice president for communications and consumer affairs, was reported inThe New York Timesas saying that bud pong was not intended for underage drinkers because promotions were held in bars, not on campuses. And it did not promote binge drinking, she said, because official rules call for water to be used, not beer.

The New York Timesquoted a bartender at a club nearClemson Universityas saying she had worked at several bud pong events and had "never seen anyone playing with water. It's always beer. It's just like any other beer pong."

Some expressed incredulity at Anheuser-Busch's public statements. Henry Wechsler, director of the College Alcohol Study at theHarvard School of Public Health,said: "Why would alcohol companies promote games that involve drinking water? It's preposterous,"while advertising news site Adjab opined that "someone playing bud pong with water is about as likely as a teenage kid using therolling paperhe bought at the convenience store to smoke tobacco. "

However, the practice of playing with water has become increasingly common on college campuses, due to the cost saving effects. Instead of drinking the beer from a glass each time a player sinks a shot, the player simply takes a shot of liquor or a sip from their own drink each time the opposing team scores. This is usually done when there isn't enough beer to accommodate a large number of games during the party.

Video games

TheBeer Pong Masterarcade machine

In July 2008,JV GamesInc. released a downloadable video game for theWiiconsole calledFrat Party Games: Beer Pong.TheESRBrated it suitable for ages 13 and up, but after this was questioned by Connecticut's attorney general, the game was renamedFrat Party Games: Pong Tossand all references to alcohol were removed.

In 2013, aBeer Pong Masterarcade machinewas launched byBay Tek Games,where players throw balls into empty plastic cups at the far end of the machine, attempting to extinguish their electric lights.The next year, Bay Tek released a family entertainment variant called Sink It, where it shares the same purpose, but awards tickets after the game session.

See also

• List of drinking games

External links

• Beer pongatCurlie