Beer Pong (also called Beirut) is a drinking game that involves either two or four people separated into either one- or two-man teams. Some variations (often specifically referred to as Beer Pong as opposed to Beirut) involve hitting the ball with ping-pong paddles, but this article describes the game as played with hand-thrown balls. The game is extremely popular in the American college subculture, especially with fraternities and sororities.
Rules
Each team has six or ten cups of beer placed in a pyramid on their end of the table. The initial pyramid has a three cup base at the edge of the table, then two cups placed in a row just on the other side of the base, and finally one cup just beyond the two cup row and closer to the other team.
Each team fills each cup to a predeterminded level, typically four or six ounces. This will require either four or six beers per game.
The game is played with the same number of ping pong balls as there are players per team, either one or two. Each team is allowed to throw their ping pong ball(s) unimpeded directly into the other team's cups, one at a time. If the ball is not flying directly into a cup (i.e. it is bounced off the table), the defending team is allowed to obstruct the ball from entering a cup, either by swatting it or by blowing it away. If the ball goes into a cup, the other team must consume that cup of beer and remove the cup.
Generally, a "re-rack" occurs when a team reaches certain increments of cups. Popular counts for re-racks are 6 (triangle), 4 (diamond), 3 (triangle), 2 (horizontal or vertical) and 1 (recenter), although various rules will omit some or all of these racks. Some rules do not allow a re-rack in the middle of the team's throwing turn, and sometimes the re-rack is not automatic and must be called for by an opposing team.
The game is won when one team clears their opponents cups. The losing team must immediately drink the winning team's remaining beer.
Many variations allow "rebuttal" or "redemption," in which the team whose cups are cleared first are allowed to shoot indefinitely until they miss a cup. If the rebuttal is successful (all the non-rebutting team's cups are cleared without a missed shot), an overtime shootout period shall begin in which one cup is played on each side. In matches between highly skilled teams, overtimes and rebuttals can extend the length of the game significantly.
Note that there are thousands of house variations of the game. This article describes the rules which are inherently common to the game. An aspiring player would do well to observe a few games of beer pong at the venue before participating (which is often necessary anyway due to the popularity of the game versus the number of tables usually availible at any given location).
Miscellaneous gameplay factors
There is often a "wash cup" on each team's side of the table, another plastic cup filled with water to cleanse ping pong balls with should they accidentally hit the floor, table, etc. It is good etiquette to wash on any throw that does not land in a cup, although the game is not known to promote good hygiene.
Over the course of several games, water and beer may accumulate on the table, drastically altering the characteristics of the cups. Cups on wet surface may shift across the table due to table movement or unlevelness of the table. Such motion is referred to as "act of god" and the players may or may not be responsible for correcting this depending on house rules.
Technique
The most common throwing technique is to grasp the ping pong ball with the tips of the thumb and forefinger of the player's good hand, and hold the arm at a right angle with the ball upwards, then throw by using gentle elbow motion, holding the upper arm parallel with the table. Wrist movement is not usually necessary, although a good player may push off with the knees as they throw to create an upward arcing motion. Since ball deflection is illegal on a non-bounce shot, the ball does not need to be thrown with a lot of force. A player should strive to perfect a good arclike motion on their throw.
Some players prefer or occasionally use a "fastball" style throw (named for its speed, it is not thrown like a baseball!) which uses more of a hard chopping motion to send the ball in a more direct line to the intended target cup. Caution must however be used if a "no elbows over the table" rule is in use, as it is much easier to violate that guideline with a less controlled throw. Fastballs are also much more likely to knock down a cup, which may have positive or negative consequences depending on house rules.
Bounce shots are much harder to accurately throw. The best time to use a bounce is when the opposing team is not paying attention to the game, as the risk of deflection is zero. The current rack must be taken into consideration as well - there is obviously a much higher chance of sinking a bounce on an unspoiled ten cup rack than on an inconsistent rack which has floated all over the table by Act of God. Serious defenders should also always keep one player on alert for bounce shots to their cups.
External links
- http://beirut-guide.com/
- http://www.nbpl.net/
- http://www.beerpong.com/
Last updated: 05-03-2005 02:30:17
