Beer Pong's Unwritten Rule: Loser Drinks Opponent's Beer

Beer pong is a drinking game that involves players throwing a ping pong ball across a table, aiming to land it in a cup of beer on the other end. The game is typically played in teams of two, but can also be played one-on-one. Each team has ten cups, and the objective is to eliminate all of the opponent's cups first. When a ball lands in a cup, 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 wins the game.

So, does the loser drink their opponent's beer? The answer is yes – when a ball lands in a cup, the losing team must drink the beer from that cup.

Bounce shots

The beer pong bounce shot rule allows players to get a bonus cup on their turn. This rule is a great way to speed up a comeback or shift the momentum in a game. A successful bounce shot is performed by bouncing the ball towards the cups, landing it in one of the opponent's cups. If a bounce shot is made, the opposing team must drink two cups instead of one. The defensive team then chooses the second cup to be removed from the game.

Both members of a team can attempt a bounce shot in the same turn. To increase the chances of a successful bounce shot, players can wait until their opponents are distracted or create their own distractions.

Re-racking

Beer pong is played with two teams, each arranging their cups in a triangle formation at their end of the table. Typically, there are 10 cups per side, but sometimes only six. The game begins with each team taking turns to throw a ping pong ball into the opponent's cups. When a ball lands in a cup, the cup is removed and the opponent must drink the contents.

Overtime rules

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.

In a three-cup overtime, arrange your cups into a triangle shape with two cups at the base and one cup at the point.

During overtime, teams compete in sudden death to determine the final winner.

Death cups

There are some variations to this rule. For example, some players consider a "death cup" to be when a pong ball is sunk into a drink that a player is holding and drinking from.

In another variation, if the death cup is hit during "redemption" shots, the game goes into overtime. In this scenario, each player on the losing team gets to throw until they miss after the other team has cleared all their cups. If the losing team hits all the remaining cups, the game goes into overtime.

Redemption shots

The rules of redemption state that only the losing team can try for redemption and that they must hit the remaining cup on their first try to stay in the game. If they miss their shot, the game is over. If they hit the cup, the game goes into overtime.

During redemption, if there are two or more cups remaining, the team gets one ball and it is returned until they miss. If they make all the cups, they enter overtime. Players must alternate these shots. If there is only one cup remaining, the team can take as many shots as it took the opposing team to make their final cup.

In overtime, there are three cups in a tight triangle formation, and the same rollback and redemption rules apply. If both teams sink the same number of cups during overtime, the game goes into "sudden death". Each team then takes turns taking one shot per round until one team hits and the other misses. The first team to hit wins the game.

Frequently asked questions