Beer pong is one of those drinking games that is very popular among college students. With most colleges out of session for the summer, there are more versions of this game popping up at cookouts and in towns that usually don’t see the game. Many college students enjoy this game as it can be played by individuals and teams, and it is very easy to set up. The one complaint heard about the game though is that it can get repetitive with the same rules and certain people tend to win all the time. Of course when this happens, one way to change the game is by adding different “house rules” variations to beer pong to change it just enough to make it new and interesting again. Here are a few of those variations.
Cups, Do They Stay Or Do They Go?
When your opponent lands the ping pong ball in your beer cup, you need a house rule to decide if it remains on the table as an empty cup after you drink the beer or if it is removed from the table. This is a house rule decision. There are reasons for doing it both ways. If you remove it, then it provides more playing area for the ball to bounce on. Yet, if you keep it there it could serve as a barrier that stops the ball from landing in a filled cup. Leaving the cup on the table increases the difficulty of the game.
Number Of Bounces
In the basic game of beer pong if the ball lands in a cup then the opposing team must just drink the beer from that cup. Yet, if it bounces and lands in a cup they must drink two cups. One house rule changes this a little and says that they must drink the same number of cups of beer as the number of bounces by the ball if it lands in a filled cup. This can be interested as with a little skill and luck you could actually eliminate an opponent or come very close to doing that in just one turn!
How To Deflect
This is always a debate. The rule state that after the ping pong ball bounces or hits off the rim of a cup the team at the opposite end of the playing area can deflect the ball. The method for deflection is up to house rules. Some will allow you to use both hands which makes it rather easy. There are other versions though that are more fun. Of course blowing on the ball as the method of deflection is extremely common and popular. Other ways include using just one finger, which increases the difficulty over using hands but still isn’t very hard. Another version that seems to be interesting is using a small pencil the size of one that you use when scoring in golf as the only way to deflect the ball. All of these variations change the game slightly and should be determined before playing. Of course changing them from game to game will make the game a little different each time.
The Empty Cup Rule
Remember the variations at the beginning of this article about whether you leave an empty cup on the table or not? Well, if you let it remain there are a couple house rules you can use to add to the game. One variation is if the ping pong ball lands in an empty cup, then the team that tossed the ping pong ball must drink one of their own cups of beer as a penalty. The other version is that the empty cup that the ping pong ball landed in can now be refilled with beer therefore penalizing the tossers as their opponent takes one step away from losing by filling it up again.
House Rules Are For Variety And Fun
Regardless of the house rules that you choose for your game of beer pong, the key is to have fun. One of the ways to have fun is by changing the game from time to time. This way it will help in eliminating the problem of certain people winning all the time. Also, variety is the spice of life, so by adding some variety to your beer pong game can never be a bad thing. Have fun, and a I’d love to hear your house rule versions of beer pong as well.
