Beer Pong is a Great Game for Parties

Beirut or beer pong game has continued to gain popularity in the United States. You can find it anywhere from college fraternity houses to tailgate parties. This game is believed to originated in the 1950's at Dartmouth College and more closely mirroring ping pong than it does now.

Beer pong, as a title, is normally saved for the game that is still played with paddles, however, beirut was born in the 1980's as the title for the paddle free game.

Setting up the game itself is simple. Two teams, usually consisting of two player each, start at either end of a long table. Normally, this is a ping pong table, however it is becoming less and less the norm. Either six, ten or fifteen cups are then set up at both ends of the table, these cups are filled partially with different beverages.

As the name implies many people opt for beer. Light beers are the best, because of the speed and quantity of beer that can be consumed. Dartmouth College actually banned beer pong.

Rules can vary from house to house because it is not an official game. These variations include the number of cups used, types of shots allowed and the strategies employed.

Some places require you to bounce the balls into the cup, while others do not.

Most house rules require that when a cup is hit, the opposing team must drink the beer and then rearrange the cups. The game ends when one team forces the other team to drink all of their cups. However, some house rules include a final showdown called redemption or death cup where the losing team tries to stay in the game with a successful double hit on one cup.

Regardless of the rules or the nomenclature used for the game, beer pong has become a popular drinking game all across the United States. Keep in mind that any game with alcohol involved should have some safety precautions taken. Fortunately, if players are responsible, then beer pong can elevate any party to rock star status. Bragging rights as a local beer pong champion can make a big man on campus out of anyone.

Danny Fitzgerald loves everything about beer and writes articles on several different subjects like the Beverage-Air BM-23 Keg Refrigerator, homebrew kegging systems and cleaning beer lines.