Rules of the Game

As you've probably noticed from pictures, one of our favorite tailgating games is Cornhole. 

For those of you who haven't heard of the game, I thought I would break it down.

The rules below have been taken from the American Cornhole Association's Official Website.  I will use the rules as they relate to doubles play since that is normally the way we play at tailgate.

First, you need two cornhole boards (preferably garnet and black in color) and 8 bags filled with corn.

One member of each team pitches from one cornhole platform and the other members pitch from the opposite cornhole platform.

Values Of The Corn Bag:

1. In-The-Hole - A corn bag in-the-hole is a corn bag which is thrown through the hole.  If another player knocks a bag in-the-hole, it counts. A corn bag in-the-hole has a value of three points.

2. In-The-Count - A corn bag that is not in-the-hole but lands with any portion of the corn bag resting on the platform is in-the-count (we refer to this as on-the-board). A corn bag on-the-board has a value of one point.

3. Out-Of-The-Count (also known as off-the-board) - A corn bag which comes to rest anywhere except in-the-count or in-the-hole is out-of-the-count and has no scoring value.

To Begin Play:

1. The first side of contestants alternates tossing corn bags until they have thrown all four corn bags, then the opposite players continue to alternate in the same manner until all four corn bags are tossed.

2. A contestant may toss the bag from either the left or right side of the board.

3. Each individual contestant has to toss the corn bag within 20 seconds. The time shall start when the player steps onto the pitcher’s box with the intention of tossing.  We don't play by this rule...we might have problems if we have to follow it!

Length Of The Game:

The game is played until the first team reaches (or exceeds) 21 points

Cancellation Scoring:

In cancellation scoring, corn bags in-the-hole and corn bags in-the-count pitched by opponents during an inning (singles play) or half of an inning (doubles play) cancel each other out. Only non canceled corn bags are counted in the score for the inning.

1. Corn Bags In-The-Hole cancel each other. A corn bag in-the-hole of one contestant shall cancel a corn bag in-the-hole of his competitor and those corn bags shall not score any points.

2. Corn bags in-the-count cancel each other. Any non canceled corn bags in-the-count score one point each.

Cancellation scoring may be easily calculated as follows:

The points of both contestants are calculated for hole-ins and in-the-count corn bags.  The points of the lowest scoring contestant are subtracted from the points of the highest scoring contestant. The result is the score for the highest scoring contestant. The score for the lowest scoring contestant is zero.

Have fun!