Beer Pong Rules, Beirut Rules and Regulations

Rules and Regulations

If you want to Challenge the Champ for big money you'll have to play by my rules:

10 cups/2 balls
The first game of a series will begin with either a coin toss or an eye-to-eye shootout to determine who gets the first shot. Whoever loses starts the game by shooting one ball, the winner comes back with two balls and the game is on. Future games will start with the loser of the previous game bringing one ball.
Replace empty cups until there are four remaining. If you hit an empty, you pick one of your own full cups to drink.
Once a side is down to four cups, you clear out the empties and arrange the remaining cups in a 1-2-1 diamond formation. Some people play with exception rules to breaking down, (not mid-turn, not after a bring-back, etc.) not here. Four cups, you always break it down.
Three cups, you rerack to a triangle. Two cups, you rerack to a straight vertical line.
Any time you hit two shots in a row you get both balls back. This is called a bringback. If you hit two in a row to end the game, the balls come back and the game is over. Your opponent gets no chance to rebut.
If you make the last cup with your first ball, you have the option of shooting the second ball to end the game or witholding it and leaving your opponent with only one rebuttal opportunity.
Rebuttal rules: Very simple. Make a single shot and the game goes on with your opponent returning fire with either one or both of the balls in his possession.
If a ball knocks over a cup and the cup makes contact with the table it counts as a make. It doesn't matter if there's beer left in it, if it touches table it's out. It's a bonafide made shot (even on the last cup, get some beer in there!) and normal bringback rules apply.
If a person knocks over one of their cups accidentally with their clothing or a bodypart that cup is out. It doesn't, however, count as a make for bringback purposes. The exception to this rule is the last cup, you simple refill and play as if it didn't happen.
In a best of seven series, either player/team can request a sideswitch after Games 2 and 5. When I'm up 2-0 on you, I strongly suggest you request one. I'm not going to remind anyone on the table anymore though.
Girls are allowed to blow.
No fluky automatic game-enders like hitting a cup with undrunk beer.
If a ball lands on top of the center of three cups, it's considered a make on all three. If any of the three are empty you have to drink for them just as you would any other empty cup. If this happens with only three cups remaining, the last cup is considered made, and standard rebuttal rules apply.
If you bounce a ball into a cup it counts for two shots. The exception is if there are only two cups remaining, then it only counts as one. Any ball that bounces can be swatted away by the defense.
You can fill your cups with any liquid you want and you won't be pressured to drink it. Nor will you ever complain about the rate of my consumption. I like to play 20-25 games a night and obviously two beers a pop isn't going to cut it. Trust me I'll have consumed more than both our share by the end of the night.

Now to me most Beirut rules are created about equal. In general, the better player is going to win the most games no matter what the rules but there are few things I really like about our rules. I like replacing empties, it takes skill to avoid them. The ease of rebuttals also greatly helps the skilled player. This may seem counter-intuitive, but the reality is any joker can get hot and throw in a last cup. When you have difficult rebuttal rules that force you to hit every remaining cup, more often than not he wins the game. Maybe he deserved it, but I like the fact our rules often make players hit the last cup several times. That's what great players do.

If you Challenge the Champ I doubt you'll have any difficulty with the rules. I can't necessarily say the same thing about the regulations, in particular the cups.

The Champ plays with RK12oz cups by produced by FabriKal and SportCraft 1-Star Ping Pong Balls. These cups are significantly smaller than the big red Solo Cups many people are accustomed to playing with. Quite frankly, Solo Cups are for amateur nights and if you're a line drive shooter you'll likely struggle to adjust. The RK12s are softer than the Solos though, you'll get some rolls if you have a delicate touch. Ping pong balls, you may not have known, come in many different sizes. Some are gigantic and terrible for Beruit. I'll play with any ball that's the same size as the Sportcrafts.

I will also play on any table, anytime, anywhere... assuming the table is three feet high and eight feet long that is. Nothing will ruin your mechanics faster than playing on a non-regulation table. While the standard width is four feet, it's not important. Challenge the Champ and you'll be playing the match of your life on one of my two half-width compact tables complete with retractable legs for living room storage in the winter.