Official Cornhole Rules from Cornhole Worldwide

Cornhole is making waves in the world of sports. 2018’s American Cornhole League Pro Invitational was watched by an astounding half a million people — the most ever. Its ‘shot of the year,’ shared by Barstool Sports, got a whopping 1.2 million views in eight hours. Are you wondering how to play cornhole?

If not, maybe you should be. Cody Henderson, the top-ranked player in the American Cornhole League (ACL), brought home almost $25,000 in prize money last year. It’s safe to say this game isn’t only for tailgating parties anymore.

Regardless of your intent — making money or just collecting some bragging rights — it’s a fun time. Here are the rules of the game.

Cornhole Game Equipment

The Cornhole Boards

• Should be placed on a flat surface 27 feet apart (front to front).
• The cornhole board surface should be 2′ x 4′.

The Cornhole Bags

• There should be 8 bags, 4 bags of each color. Consisting of 2 teams.
• Each bag should be 6 inches by 6 inches and have 1 pound of corn inserted into each cornhole bag.

There’s where that name comes from!

Cornhole Game Play

1. Two teams of two people, termed partners, shall play. Partners shall stand at opposite cornhole boxes on the same side, from the perspective of a third person, and face each other, so there is no advantage given to one team.
2. Each cornhole team shall have 4 bags of one color.
3. All 8 cornhole bags begin at one end.
4. A coin flip shall determine which cornhole team has honors in round one.
5. One of the partners on the team who has honors shall begin play by throwing a cornhole bag at the opposite cornhole box.
6. A cornhole player may throw from anywhere behind the front of the cornhole box they are throwing from.
7. Game continues by alternating throws between the two opponent players until all 8 cornhole bags have been thrown.
8. If a cornhole bag hits the ground then bounces up onto the board, that bag shall be taken off the playing surface.
9. The next round starts when the other cornhole player on the team, which has honors, throws their first cornhole bag.
10. The cornhole game continues until one team reaches 21 or more points.

Cornhole Game Scoring

1. The score shall be taken after all cornhole bags have been thrown for a round.
2. Points shall be given as follows.
   • 3 points for a cornhole bag that goes through the hole.
   • 1 point for a cornhole bag that is on the playing surface.
   • 1 point for a cornhole bag that is hanging into the hole.
   • 1 point for a cornhole bag that is hanging off the edge but not touching the ground.
   • 0 points for a cornhole bag that is on the playing surface, but also touching the ground.
   • 0 points for a cornhole bag that is hanging off the front edge and is resting on a cornhole bag that is on the ground (unless the cornhole bag on the ground can be removed without making the hanging bag fall to the ground, then one point is given).
3. The cornhole team with the highest round score, adds the difference of the two scores to their game score.
4. The cornhole team who wins the round is given honors to throw first in the next round.
5. If both cornhole teams have the same round score then the game score stays the same and honors stays with the team who had it the previous round.

Cornhole Game Fouls

1. A foul occurs when any of the following happens.
2. A cornhole players foot goes past the foot foul line, termed a foot foul.
3. A player goes out of turn.
4. The player who caused the foul loses the throw when the foul occurred and the bag shall be removed if it landed on the playing surface.

Get Out And Play

You may be thinking that the rules for Cornhole seem pretty simple and that’s because they are! For the most part, you can have your own fun with the game as long as you follow the general guidelines of the game. Some people like to play with a rule that a team must reach 21 points exactly in order to win and any team that goes over has their score reduced to 11 before play resumes. Some people like to play with a rule that you must have a lead of two or more points in order to win. Like we said, each person plays Cornhole in their own unique way and own set of “house rules,” but you should never be intimidated to join in on a game of Cornhole. You may not be the best player right from the get go, but luckily there are ways to throw off your opponent’s game and increase your chances of victory. Get out there and have some fun this summer!