subject: Beer Pong Rules For Beginners [print this page] One of the most enjoyable parts of beer pong, is that it doesn't necessarily have any rules. However, it does have some guiding principles to adhere by.
Generally, you will have two teams comprised of two individuals and ten cups (around 16 ounces). Place these cups in a triangle shape at both ends of the table. Placing four in the back row, three in the next, two in front of that and finally one at the end. Use beer to fill the cups any level (sometimes you can use varying amounts to make it more interesting). As a rule of thumb, the challengers are responsible for getting and filling the cups with beer. Don't worry, if you're the winners someone else will be lugging the beer to you next round.
A good tip is to keep a cup of water on either side of the table to clean off the floor since drunk people have a tendency to make a mess.
You will need two ping-pong balls to play this game so it is important to get at least these, however, it would be wise to get a couple more as things do have a tendency to disappear. The object of the game is to get one of these balls into the ten cups on the opposite side of where you're standing. Although this sounds easier enough, after a few missed shots, you could potentially be floored - in a drunken stupor kind of way.
The table should be about eight feet long, ideally. Make sure the height is decent and that it comes to at least your hip in order to optimize your playing. When players are getting ready to throw their ping-pong balls, a general rule is to have their elbows not cross the edge of the table and that they stand at least one to two feet from the edge. It's beneficial to have a type of "referee" to dictate the rules but someone who isn't seeing double.
Since there are two team members, drinking is usually rotated. In other cases, if drinking doesn't seem like a good idea anymore, one of the individuals can stand in and consume the alcohol for you. This can be detrimental also, however, as it's possible for both to be at maximum capacity and the outcome is generally not pleasant.
The object of the game is to sink your ping-pong ball into your opponent's cup. Once this is accomplished, they must consume the beer and repeat if the game continues in this direction. To avoid having to over drink (although the majority of people don't mind) distractions can be in order. Once six cups remain, they will need to be rearranged into a smaller triangle. If someone is lucky enough to get a ball on the edge of three cups, this is considered a trifecta and all three cups must be consumed consecutively.
Once either team sinks the last cup, they are deemed the winner unless you allow the defending team one last attempt at victory. You can allow them to try and sink all your remaining cups with one last shot - obviously this is nearly impossible but it does show sportsmanship.
Thus, the rules of beer pong are pretty malleable and can be quite fun. Just be sure to drink responsibly!
