Cornhole

For other uses, see Cornhole (disambiguation).

Typical cornhole board

Cornhole (bean bag toss, baggo or bags) is a lawn game in which players take turns throwing cornhole bags (cotton duck bags filled with feed corn) at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. These platforms are usually made with plywood or plastic and are often decorated. A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. Play continues until a player reaches the score of 21.

Rules

Gameplay

Cornhole matches are broken down into innings or frames of play. During each inning, every player throws four bags. A player may deliver the bag from either the left or right pitcher's box, but, in any one inning, all bags must be delivered from the same pitcher’s box. It is possible that both players can throw from the same pitcher's box. Also, the player gets a three foot box to throw in. Each player must deliver the bag within twenty seconds. The time starts when the player steps onto the pitcher’s box with the intention of pitching. The player who scored in the preceding inning pitches first in the next inning. If neither pitcher scores, the contestant or team who pitched last in the preceding inning pitches first in the next inning.

Cornhole can be played as either doubles or singles. In doubles play, four players split into two teams. One member from each team pitches from one cornhole platform and the other members pitch from the other. The first side of players alternate pitching bags until both players have thrown all four of their bags, then the players pitching from the opposing cornhole board continue to alternate in the same manner until all four of their bags are delivered and the inning or frame is completed. In singles play, two players play against each other. Delivery is handled in the same manner as doubles play. Both contestants pitch from the same cornhole platform and alternate their pitches until all of their bags have been pitched, completing the inning or frame.

Scoring

In order to score, the bags must either be tossed into the hole or land on the board. A bag that falls through the hole is worth a value of three points. The bag can be tossed directly into the hole, slide into the hole, or be knocked into the hole by another bag. A bag that lands on the board and is still on the board at the end of the inning is worth one point. If a bag touches the ground and comes to rest on the board, it is removed from the board prior to continuation of play and not worth any points. Usually, cancellation scoring is used. In cancellation scoring, bags that fall in the hole and bags that land on the board that are pitched by opponents during a frame cancel each other out. That is, if one player scores four points and the other player scores three points, the first player receives one point for the inning. In case of a tie, the team who ties the game, must go first.

A cornhole match is played until the first player or team reaches or exceeds twenty-one points at the completion of an inning. However, many play by the rule that states if a player or team goes over twenty-one, they go back to the amount they started with at the beginning of the last round. The match usually can not end in the middle of an inning. Thus, if a team that pitches first reaches or exceeds twenty-one points, the game does not end until the other side is allowed to pitch all of their bags and the inning is completed. Also, close games must be won by 2 points. For example, if at the end of an inning one team is winning 21-20, the match must continue until one of the two teams ends an inning up by at least 2 points in the score (the match would end, for example, if one team ended the inning winning by a score of 23-21, but not by a score of 21-20).

Terminology

The following is a list of terms commonly used in a cornhole game:

Ace or cow pie

A bag lands on the board, which is worth one point.

Airmail

A bag that lands directly in the hole without making any contact with other areas of the board. Sometimes referred to as "swishing".

Back door

A cornhole that goes over the top of a blocker and into the hole.

Backstop

A bag that lands past the cornhole but remains on the board creating a backboard for a slider to knock into without going off the board.

Blocker

An ace that lands in front of the hole, essentially blocking the hole from sliders.

Chances Double

Players call out "Chances double," when an opposing player achieves a cornhole, alluding to the impression that the next player often throws a cornhole in response to the challenge. "Chances Double" is a form of Gambler's fallacy.

Cornfusion

When players or teams cannot agree on the scoring of a given inning.

Cornhole or Drāno

A bag falls in the hole, which is worth three points. The alternative name is a reference to a trademark, that of a sink clog clearing product.

Dirty bag

A bag that is on the ground or is hanging off the board touching the ground.

Dirty roll up

A point scored when the bag hits the ground before landing on the board.

Frame

A frame consists of both players throwing their 4 bags. After each player has thrown 4 bags, the score is calculated and a new frame begins. Sometimes referred to as "corn row".

Galbraith

When a player makes all four bags into the hole during his or her turn. Can also be deemed in fractions : quarter Galbraith, half Galbraith, and three quarter Galbraith.

Gusher or double deuce or Catorce

Four cornholes by a single player in a single round.

Hammond

When a Slider or Swish is executed and then your opponent immediately evens the score by doing the same thing. Also known as a One-Upper.

Hanger or Shook

An ace on the lip of the hole ready to drop.

Honors

The team who tosses first, resulting from the team scoring last.

Hooker

A bag hitting the board and hooking or curving around a blocker and going in the hole.

Jumper

A bag that strikes another bag on the board causing it to jump up into the cornhole.

Leprechaun

When a player attains all four bags onto the board without getting any into the hole.

Police

The cornhole referee.

Power Wash

A round in which all four bags from each opposing player land on the board, causing the round score to be zero, a wash.

Pressure Cooker

When both players on one end continually negate each others scores thus creating a very tense situation.

Sally

A toss that is thrown too weakly and lands on the ground before reaching the board.

Shucker

When a player pitches a bag and it strikes an opposing players bag knocking it off the board.

Skunk or whitewash, shutout

A game that, by some rules, ends in an 11-0 score.

Slider

A cornhole that slides into the hole.

Swish

A bag that goes directly in the hole without touching the board. Sometimes this is also referred to as "air-mail".

Wash or Laundry

When the scores of a single round amount to zero, the round is called a wash.

Woody

A bag that lands on the surface of the board, which is worth 1 point. Sometimes referred to as "ace" or "cow pie".

History

The true history of the game is mostly unknown, though stories abound. One story claims that the game was first played during the 14th century in Germany, then rediscovered in Kentucky within the last century. Many American scholars confirm that a game of very similar nature was played amongst Native Americans in Midwest America, who filled pigs' bladders with dried beans and competitively tossed them for entertainment, notably, the Black Hawk tribe in Illinois. Despite debate about whether the game was actually created in the Kentucky farmland, Champaign, IL or the West Side of Cincinnati, some sources credit the invention to western Cincinnati, but by whom or when is unknown. Popularity of the game began to increase in the late 1990s in Cincinnati area universities, particularly Miami University where cornhole became a mainstay at parties and as a casual drinking game. Helped along by the advent of commercial cornhole bags and boards under the trademark Baggo, cornhole is now a popular game in the Midwestern and Southern United States, especially in college towns.

The origin of Cornhole took place on Cincinnati's west-side during the 1950s. It is here where the game of Cornhole defined itself through traditions, materials, and rules.

References in the media

During his February 6, 2007, episode of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert mentioned a cornhole tournament that takes place each year in Ohio's 18th Congressional District, with the District and its Representative Zack Space being the focus of the segment. Colbert described the game as a "cross between horseshoes and sodomy," jokingly referring to an alternate meaning of "cornhole", the anus.

The music video for the 2005 Korn single "Twisted Transistor" references cornhole. The video is made in a Spinal Tap-esque manner, stating near the end that lead singer Jonathan Davis went down in music history after writing, directing and starring in a rock opera, known as "Korn Hole".

In 2010, Amalgam Studio Publishing released the original book on the game of Cornhole, titled Cornhole: Throwing Bags in a Hole by author Mark Rogers. The book was the first to document the growing gaming movement covering such topics as history, social impact, strategy, lingo, sporting emergence and biographies of some of cornhole's top professionals. The book also includes how-to for tournament play, pitching and board making.

See also

• Horseshoes, a game similar to cornhole.
• Ladder Toss, another lawn game.
• Washers, a game similar to cornhole.
• Lawn game, a list of lawn games.
• American Cornhole Organization

External links

• Board construction construction of simple cornhole toss game board from jcopro.net

References

I saw it! It was CRAZY!!