These Cornhole rules are meant to be easy to understand. There are some rules out there that are pages and pages that basically say the same thing you see below. Cornhole is a pretty simple game. These rules are both simple and complete. They are also the most common “official” rules of the game. We figure there’s no reason to complicate things. Enjoy!
Getting Started
- Set up boxes 30 ft apart from center of hole to hole.
- To play the game you will need two teams.
- Teams can be made up of either one or two people each.
- For singles play (1 per team), opponents start and play from the same end.
- For doubles play (2 per team), teamates should line up next to opposite boxes and on opposite sides.
- Start with all bags (8) at one end.
How to Play
- Previous game winner or coin toss should determine which team throws the first bag.
- Alternate throws between teams until all bags are thrown.
- The foul line is made by the front of the boxes and all throws must be made from behind the foul line.
- If a player breaks the foul line or throws out of turn, the player will lose a turn.
- The team that scores the most points in a round, starts the throwing for the next round.
- If the round is tied the last team to win a round throws first.
- Any bag that touches the ground during a throw should be removed from the board and not counted.
Points
- 1 point for any bag thrown that is on the board but not touching the ground.
- 3 points for any bag in the hole
- Any bag that touches the ground during the throw or while hanging from the board does not count.
Tallying the Score
- For each throwing round, the team with the most points wins the round and subtracts the other team’s points from theirs.
- The difference is added to the team’s score that won the round.
- The first team to 21 wins.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Andy // May 15, 2007 at 2:33 pm
For some fun and to keep the game a little more balance for teams that are not as good, we like to change up the scoring.
The only difference is we make it so that you have to hit 21 points on the nose to win. If you go over 21, then you move back to 17 points.
This takes some strategy for each team sometime throwing off the board. It lets the team that is behind also have a better chance of catching up.
2 Phil // Jun 4, 2007 at 12:59 am
We play NBA jam rules where if a player throws a double deuce, they are “on fire” and they keep tossing until they fail to get a cornhole.
3 Wayne // Jul 15, 2007 at 12:13 am
if you go over 21 do all palyers throw in all the bags?? and then the turm is over ??
please reply.
thanks
4 Eric // Jul 16, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Hello Wayne,
Most do not play bust. I you do play bust and you cannot go over 21 without going back to 15, then you would just throw away your bags once you hit 21. This is of course unless your competor makes a point. Then you need to make another to keep your 21.
If yo do not play bust, you would play out the round even if you hit 21. If your competetor has bags left, they may cancel out some points and keep you from winning.
5 Cody // Jul 18, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Is a round after 1 player from each team throws each of their 4 bags or is a round after both players from both teams throw (which would be a total of 16 bags thrown, 8 from each team)?
6 Eric // Jul 18, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Cody,
A round is after 8 bags are thrown, 1 player from each team, from the same side. Great question!
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