What is Cornhole?
Cornhole is a yard game in which players take turns tossing small bags (filled with corn) at a raised platform with a small hole. The object is to land your bag either on the playing board or to sink it through the hole to score points – a bag on the board is worth one point, while one in the hole is worth three points! The first player or team to 21 points wins!
The game bears resemblance to horseshoes, but cornhole has several advantages over horseshoes:
- Cornhole will not destroy your lawn.
- Cornhole boards are portable and easy to move out of the way when you’re not playing.
- You don’t have to be strong to play cornhole – if you can toss a 6 inch X 6 inch bag filled with corn, you can play!
- Cornhole is much safer (especially important if you have children!) – being hit with a cornhole bag is much less painful than being hit with a horseshoe!
Cornhole originated in Cincinnati but its popularity is beginning to spread to other areas, including Chicago, Michigan, and now Nashville! Cornhole provides a fun game for family activities (picnics, parties, and reunions), sporting events (tailgating and NASCAR races), and everyday get-togethers (backyard barbeques, college parties, and much more!).
What materials are necessary for cornhole?
All you need to play cornhole is a set of two cornhole boards and a set of eight cornhole bags (4 for each player or team). That’s it! All these materials are available for purchase from this site.
How do you play cornhole?
Setting Up
The boards should be place 27 feet apart (front of board to front of board). There should be sufficient room on each side of the board for players to throw.
Singles or Doubles
Cornhole can be a game for singles or doubles. When playing as singles, two opponents compete against one another in a head-to-head format. The two players stand together and toss bags at the same board.
When playing as doubles, two players are partners against another team of two players. One player from each team stands at and tosses from one cornhole platform, while the other teammates stand at and toss from the other cornhole platform. Each player will toss at a board against an opponent, just as in singles play.
Innings
A cornhole match is broken down into innings. A full inning means that each player has thrown four bags. In singles, this simply means that each of the two players throw four bags. In doubles, this means that each team member must throw four bags (in other words, an inning will consist of 16 throws – four players with four throws each).While there is no set number of innings in a cornhole match, a game cannot end in the middle of an inning; the inning must be complete for a match to be over and a winner to be declared.
Scoring – Points Values
In the Hole – A bag in the hole is a bag that is thrown and goes through the hole in the board. It does not matter whether the bag goes through the hole on the toss, is knocked in by another player, or slips through the hole in some other way. A bag in the hole is worth three points.
On the Board – A bag on the board (also known as “in the count”) is a bag that lands with any portion resting on the board. For a bag to be on the board, it must not touch the ground or any other portion of the court (trees, fence, etc.) before coming to rest on the board. A bag on the board is worth one point.
Out of Play – A bag that is out of play (or “out of the count”) is a bag that has landed anywhere besides on the board or through the hole. Additionally, if a bag touches the ground before coming to rest on the board, the bag is out of play and must be removed from the board before play continues.
Cancellation Scoring
There are two methods for calculating scores based on cancellation scoring. In the first method, the hole-ins are calculated separately from the boards. A bag in the hole of one player cancels a bag in the hole of the other player; any non-cancelled hole-in scores three points. Similarly, a bag on the board of one player cancels a bag on the board of the other player; any non-cancelled bag on the board scores one point. In this way, it is possible for each team to score points in a round. For example, team A gets two bags in the hole and no bags on the board, while team B gets one bag in the hole and one bag on the board; in this round, team A would score three points and team B would score one point.
In the second method, the scores are looked at as totals, rather than dividing the points between hole-ins and boards. Here, each team’s points for hole-ins and boards are totaled. Then the lower score is subtracted from the higher score, and the higher scoring team receives the difference in points. In this method, only one team scores each round. For example, team A gets one bag in the hole and one bag on the board, while team B gets two bags in the hole and no bags on the board; team A’s total of four points would be subtracted from team B’s total of six points, and thus, team B would score two points for the round.
Pitching Rotation
The player (or team) who scored in the previous toss pitches first. If neither player scores, the player (or team) who pitched last in the previous toss pitches first.
Winning the Game
A player or team wins the match by being the first to reach or exceed 21 points at the end of an inning. The winning team does not need to win by two or more points.
A match can never end in the middle of an inning. If the side that pitches first reaches or exceeds 21 points, the other side must be allowed to toss all of their corn bags and complete the inning, before the game can end. If a match is tied at 21 or more at the end of an inning, play continues until one team achieves a higher score at the end of an inning.