A great game to play while tailgating

by Chris Folmer of Cornhole - Bag Toss ( 12-Oct-2009 )

If you've ever been to a football, baseball, basketball, or any sporting event really, then you've noticed that many people like to tailgate. Tailgating, for those who aren't familiar, is a social event that takes place usually in a parking lot of a stadium or arena before a sporting event. Most tailgates involve a group of people drinking, grilling, and sometimes playing unusual games. I would like to discuss one of those games today. Ever walk through a tailgate and wonder why people are throwing bags at boards 25-30 feet away from them? This is actually a game that was conceived a long time ago and many believe it came to the states through Ohio. The game is called Cornhole. Cornhole, also known as bean bag toss, corn toss, soft horseshoes, and many other names is one of the fastest growing tailgate games in the nation. It involves 8 bean bags, two cornhole boards (I'll describe what a cornhole board consists of later on), and 4 players. Here is a summary on how the game is played: There are two teams needed for this game. 1 player from each team will stand across from each other at opposite ends. All 8 cornhole bags will start on one side (make sure there are two different colors of bags so you can separate who through which bag). The object of the game is to get the bags in the hole cutout in the cornhole board across from them (usually 25-30 ft away). Team A will start by throwing the first bag. You will alternate shots meaning Team B will throw the next bag and so on until all 8 bags are thrown. Score is kept by: If a cornhole bag lands on the board it is considerd 1 point. If a cornhole bag lands on the board and goes in the hole it is 3 points. All points are tallied at the end of one round of throwing and the difference between the total is added to the team that got more points.  For example if Team A scored 4 points and Team B scored 7, then Team B would get 3 points for that round. Which ever team gets to 21 first wins. This is a rapidly growing game and only getting more popular by the day. I recommend the next next time you are at a tailgate try this game out. Who knows, you could be the next cornhole champ!