In 3v3 beer pong, all three players on a team shoot once per turn, and the team gets balls back only if all three make it. It uses the same 10 cups and two re-racks. Want something faster and messier? Play Civil War, the no-turns 3v3 version.
Standard 3v3 rules
Cups: 10 per side in a 4-3-2-1 triangle.
Balls: three, one per player.
Shots: each player shoots once per turn. Pick an order and stick to it.
Balls back: only if all three players make their shot. (Two out of three is just a good turn.)
Three players and one table? You’ve got three good options: play 1v1 and rotate with winner stays on, play 2-on-1 with a handicap for the solo player, or play cutthroat, where everyone has their own rack and it’s every player for themselves. Here’s how each one works and when to pick it.
1. Winner stays on
The simplest option. Two players go 1v1, the winner stays at the table, and the third player takes them on.
Best for: a long night, or when one player’s on fire and everyone wants to take them down.
House rule: three wins in a row and you have to sit one out. Nobody likes a table hog.
2. Two-on-one
A team of two plays against one player, under regular rules with a few handicaps so the solo player has a chance:
The solo player shoots both balls every turn, like 1v1.
The solo player gets 2 re-racks; the team gets 1.
Balls back for the solo player when they make both shots.
Best for: when one player is way better than the other two. Still winning? Give the team a free bounce shot.
3. Cutthroat
Everyone for themselves. Each player sets up 6 cups in a 3-2-1 triangle: two racks at the ends of the table, one in the middle of a side, or around a round table.
Players take turns, one shot each, going around.
Shoot at either opponent’s cups. Make one and that player drinks.
Run out of cups and you’re out. You get one redemption chance at both opponents’ cups, one shot each.
The last player with cups wins.
Strategy: gang up on the leader. Alliances last exactly one turn.
Best for: chaos.
FAQ
Can you play beer pong with 3 people?
Yes. Play winner stays on, 2-on-1 with a handicap, or cutthroat with three racks.
What’s cutthroat beer pong?
Each player has their own rack of cups and can shoot at any opponent. The last player with cups left wins.
In 1v1 beer pong, each player takes both shots every turn, gets one re-rack per game instead of two, and earns balls back by making both of their own shots. Everything else is the regular game. No partner to blame, no partner to carry you. It’s the purest form of beer pong, and the fastest way to find out who’s actually good.
Setup
Cups: 10 per side in a 4-3-2-1 triangle, or 6 for a quick game (see 6 cup rules).
A regulation beer pong table is 8 feet long, 2 feet wide and 27.5 inches tall, and you can build one in a weekend from one sheet of plywood and a set of folding legs. The real work is the finish: paint your design, then seal it with enough clear coat that beer can’t get into the wood. Here’s the whole build, start to first game.
These are the World Series of Beer Pong numbers, and they match the table in our rules guide.
What you need
One 4 x 8 ft sheet of 3/4-inch plywood. Ripped in half lengthwise, it makes two 2 x 8 ft tops: one for you, one for your buddy who’s going to ask. Most home stores will make the cut for you.
Legs: a folding table leg kit (the easiest), or 2x4s for a fixed frame.
Optional: a piano hinge or two heavy hinges to fold the table in half for storage.
Finish: primer, paint or stain, painter’s tape, and a clear coat (water-based polyurethane or a pour-on epoxy).
Tools: drill, screws, sander with 120 and 220 grit, tape measure, safety glasses. A circular saw if you’re doing your own cuts or the fold.
How to build it
Get your top. Rip the plywood to 24 x 96 inches. Pick the smoother face as the top.
Sand it. 120 grit, then 220, and round over the edges a little so nobody slices a forearm on a lunge for a bounce shot.
Decide: fixed or folding. For a folding table, cut the top into two 48-inch halves and join them on the underside with a piano hinge. It’s half the size in the garage and fits in most trunks.
Attach the legs. Screw the folding leg kit to the underside about 6 inches in from each end, or build a 2×4 apron and legs. Measure so the finished top sits at 27.5 inches.
Prime and paint. Prime the whole top, edges and underside (wood swells when beer gets in). Then paint your base color.
Add your design. Tape off stripes, paint team colors, or mark out the cup triangles at each end (see below). Stencils and vinyl decals work great here.
Seal it. At least three coats of polyurethane, sanding lightly between coats, or one pour of tabletop epoxy for that glossy bar-top look. Let it cure fully before game one, usually several days. Read the can.
Test it. Ten cups, a rack and a ball. Check that it’s level and doesn’t wobble when someone leans on it. They will.
Marking the cup triangles
Painting the cup spots at each end makes every game start even, and it looks legit.
Use a real 16 oz party cup as your template and trace around the rim.
Center the back row of four on the table, right at the end edge, then stack rows of 3, 2 and 1 toward the middle, cups touching.
Do both ends, measuring from the same edges so they match.
Your house rules painted (or stenciled) along the side. Build them first with the house rules builder.
Epoxy inlays: bottle caps, playing cards or old ticket stubs under a clear epoxy pour.
Glow paint for night games. Pair it with an LED beer pong sign on the wall.
Common mistakes
Skipping the clear coat. Bare or painted wood soaks up spills and warps. Seal it, including the edges.
Building it short. A 6-foot table feels fine until everyone’s sinking 8 in a row.
Too much texture. A bumpy finish ruins bounce shots. Sand smooth between coats.
Wobbly legs. Tighten everything again after the first game night.
Safety
Wear safety glasses for cutting and sanding, and finish in a well-ventilated space. Some finishes have strong fumes, so follow the label on drying and curing times.
FAQ
What size is a beer pong table?
Regulation is 8 feet long, 2 feet wide and 27.5 inches tall.
What’s the best wood for a beer pong table?
3/4-inch plywood. It’s flat, strong enough to lean on, and one 4 x 8 sheet makes two tops.
How do you waterproof a beer pong table?
Prime and seal every surface, including the edges and underside, with several coats of polyurethane or a tabletop epoxy.
Can you make a folding beer pong table?
Yes. Cut the top into two 4-foot halves, join them with a piano hinge underneath, and use folding legs.
Beer pong and Beirut are the same game: throw a ping pong ball into the other team’s cups. “Beirut” is mostly a Northeast and New England name. “Beer pong” is what the rest of the country calls it. The one real exception is Dartmouth, where “pong” means the original game played with paddles, and the throwing game is the one they call Beirut.
We’ve watched this argument derail more parties than the elbow rule. Here’s the short version, so you can win it.
The quick answer
Name
What it means
Where you’ll hear it
Beer pong
The throwing game: 10 cups, two teams, no paddles
Most of the US, and anywhere online
Beirut (or “ruit”)
The same throwing game
The Northeast, especially Pennsylvania and New England colleges
Pong (Dartmouth)
The original game, hit with paddles over a net
Dartmouth and a few Ivy and New England schools
Where “pong” came from: paddles
The game started as actual ping pong. Most histories trace it to Dartmouth fraternities in the 1950s, where players used paddles and a net and hit the ball toward cups of beer on the other side. Dartmouth still plays it that way, with handle-free paddles and its own cup setups, and Dartmouth students will tell you that’s the real “pong.”
Where “Beirut” came from: throwing
Sometime around the early 1980s, students in Pennsylvania ditched the paddles and started throwing the ball. Bucknell and Lehigh both claim it. Bucknell says its Delta Upsilon brothers were playing “throw pong” first. Lehigh’s Theta Delta Chi says it named the game.
The name lines up with the news of the time: the Lebanese Civil War, and the 1983 bombing that killed US Marines in Beirut. A former Lehigh Theta Delta Chi president told the Dartmouth Independent in 2004 that the name was meant to reflect respect for the US losses there. Other accounts say students compared the ball going back and forth to talk at the time about US strikes on the city. Either way, the name stuck in the Northeast.
Why most people say “beer pong”
It spread past the Northeast. Once the throwing game went national, nobody in Ohio or California had a reason to call it Beirut.
It’s what tournaments call it. The World Series of Beer Pong put “beer pong” on the biggest stage in the sport.
It’s what the name says. Beer, and a ping pong ball. No history lesson needed.
Some people just don’t like the other name. Given where it came from, a few campuses have pushed to retire “Beirut,” including a 2015 column in Lehigh’s own student paper.
So which one is right?
Call it what your house calls it. That’s rule #1. The house makes the rules, and that includes the name. Around here we call it beer pong, because that’s what everybody knows and it’s what the rules say on the sign.
The rules don’t change with the name: 10 cups, re-racks, bounce shots, redemption. It’s all in our rules of beer pong, and you can build and print your own in the house rules builder.
FAQ
Is Beirut the same as beer pong?
Yes. Both names mean the throwing game with 10 cups per side. The only exception is at Dartmouth, where “pong” means the paddle game.
Why is it called Beirut?
The name started at Pennsylvania colleges (Lehigh or Bucknell) in the early 1980s, during the Lebanese Civil War. Accounts differ on exactly why, but the name came from the news at the time.
Where do people call beer pong Beirut?
Mostly in the Northeast: Pennsylvania, New England and New York colleges. Most of the rest of the country says beer pong.
Who invented beer pong?
The paddle version is traced to Dartmouth in the 1950s. The throwing version most people play started at Bucknell or Lehigh around the early 1980s.
More beer pong terms, from island to Bermuda triangle: see our beer pong glossary.
The best Thanksgiving drinking games follow the day: football drink cards while the turkey cooks, a “Turkey Bowl” beer pong bracket before dinner, low-energy table games during the food coma, and flip cup once everyone can move again. It works for Friendsgiving or the real thing. Just read the room if Grandma’s at the table.
Thanksgiving always lands on the fourth Thursday of November (November 26 in 2026). Friendsgiving can be any night you want.
Afternoon: football drink cards
Thanksgiving means football all day, and every year the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys host a game. Hand out index cards and drink when yours happens on screen. Swap cards every quarter.
Nobody’s standing up for at least an hour, so play at the table.
Thankful Kings: play Circle of Death, but when you draw a King, pour into the King’s Cup like normal and say one thing you’re thankful for about the person on your left. Anyone who laughs drinks. (Here’s the Kings Cup rules sheet.)
Quarters: one quarter, one glass, zero standing up.
Chandeliers: clear the plates and use the dinner table. The round table at Grandma’s was made for this.
Leftovers rule: whoever loses a round has to take the next plate of leftovers to go. Worst prize, best punishment.
Evening: flip cup
Second wind? Line up the house across the dinner table for flip cup.
Cooks vs. eaters: the people who spent all day in the kitchen finally get their revenge.
Hosts vs. guests: the losing side packs up the leftovers.
Short on players? A boat race works with any number.
Family edition: read the room
Thanksgiving isn’t a frat party, and your aunt didn’t come for Rage Cage. If the whole family’s there:
Water cups for pong. Everybody can play, and nobody has to drink to win the Turkey Bowl.
Save the drinking games for after the kids are in bed or for Friendsgiving.
Food out all day, water on the table, and figure out who’s driving before the pie comes out.
Set up the house
One long table works for pong in the afternoon and flip cup at night. No table? See our best beer pong tables.
Post the house rules on a House Rules sign. Thanksgiving has enough family arguments already.
The best Super Bowl drinking games run on the game clock: a beer pong bracket before kickoff, a “drink when…” card for every quarter, flip cup at halftime, and a team-vs-team showdown for the fourth quarter. It’s a long game, so this plan keeps the party going without anyone tapping out before the trophy comes out.
Pregame is when people actually want to play, so run a quick bracket. Name your teams after the two squads playing, take sign-ups as people arrive, and play 6-cup games so it’s done by kickoff.
Pick your side: every team plays for one of the two Super Bowl teams. The winning side’s fans pick the snacks for halftime.
Got a crowd? Switch to Civil War, three per side, no turns.
Halftime is long, and only half the room cares about the show. Line both fan bases up across the pong table for flip cup, best of three.
Winner’s side picks what’s on the TV for the rest of halftime.
Not enough people? Run a boat race instead, or a quick round of Rage Cage around the snack table.
Fourth quarter: fan pong
Close game? Put one player from each fan base on the pong table and play Baseball Pong, one inning per possession. Blowout? Play regular beer pong with the losing fan base on the trophy rack.
Two-minute warning rule: any cup made during the two-minute warning counts double.
Overtime in the game means overtime on the table: three cups, sudden death.
Game-day setup
Put the table where you can see the TV. Nobody wants to miss the big play.
Rules on the wall: hang a House Rules sign so the pong table isn’t another penalty review.
The best New Year’s Eve drinking games build to midnight: start with a beer pong bracket while people show up, switch to big-group games like flip cup when the house fills, and finish with a Power Hour that ends exactly at the ball drop. Here’s the whole night, hour by hour, plus the house rules that make each game feel like New Year’s.
Don’t want the full schedule? Pick any one of these. They all work alone.
8 PM: the beer pong bracket
Early in the night, people are showing up in twos and threes, which is perfect for a bracket. Post a sign-up sheet by the table, take teams as they arrive, and play single-elimination until 10.
Keep games short: play 6 cups instead of 10 so the bracket moves.
New Year’s house rule: sink the last cup before 10 PM and your team picks the next song. Small stakes, big trash talk.
Champion gets bragging rights until next year, or something to hang over the table. See our tournament guide for free printable brackets.
King = resolution. Draw a King, pour into the King’s Cup like normal, then announce a New Year’s resolution for someone else in the circle. They have to say whether they’ll keep it, and the group votes on whether they’re lying.
The fourth King still drinks the King’s Cup. Keep that cup small. You’ve got two hours left.
Queen = question master, but every question has to be about last year.
This is why Power Hour was made for New Year’s. Start the 60-song playlist at exactly 11:00:00 and song 60 ends right as the ball drops.
Sync it: pull up the countdown on the TV and hit play when the clock reads 11:00.
Do the quick math first: 60 shot glasses of beer is about 7.5 beers in an hour. On top of everything else tonight, that’s a lot. Go with sips, every other song, or light beer.
Song 60 should be the one everybody screams along to. Pick it ahead of time.
At midnight, swap the shot glass for the toast.
Set up the house
One long table does double duty for pong and flip cup. No table? See our best beer pong tables.
Rules on the wall: hang a House Rules sign by the table and you’ll skip the 11:45 argument about bounce shots.
Light it up: an LED beer pong sign makes the pong corner look like a bar.
Water and food on every table, and figure out everyone’s ride home before the ball drops, when rideshare prices go through the roof.
FAQ
What are good drinking games for New Year’s Eve?
Beer pong for the early crowd, Kings Cup and flip cup once the house fills up, and a Power Hour timed to end at midnight.
How do you time a Power Hour for midnight?
Start the 60-song, one-minute-per-song playlist at exactly 11:00 PM. The last song ends at 12:00.
What’s a good New Year’s drinking game for a small group?
You don’t get clutch at parties. You get clutch in the garage. Set up some water cups, shoot the same throw over and over, keep score so you know your make rate, then add some pressure so it holds up when the whole room is watching. These seven drills take 10 to 20 minutes each, solo or with a partner.
Ten cups filled with water, racked in a 4-3-2-1 triangle with a cup rack.
A handful of ping pong balls so you’re not chasing one after every shot.
A notepad or your phone to keep score.
Practice with water. You’ll get way more reps in, and your throw won’t fall apart by shot 40.
The 7 drills
1. One-cup reps
Set a single cup at the center of the far end. Take 50 arc shots and count your makes. That number, out of 50, is your baseline; do this drill every session and watch it climb.
2. Around the world
Rack all 10. Make the cups in order: left to right across the front, then the next row, all the way to the back. Miss and you stay on that cup. Time yourself or count your shots.
3. Re-rack ladder
Run through every common shape from our rack formations guide: full rack, six cup, diamond, three-cup triangle, two-cup line, last cup. Make three cups from each shape before moving on.
4. Pressure redemption
Three cups on the table. You have to make all three without missing, or you start over. It’s the closest thing to a real redemption round you can practice alone.
5. Bounce reps
Take 20 bounce shots at a full rack. Mark where each one bounces. You’re looking for a spot close to the cups where your soft bounce drops in, so you can find it in a game. Have a partner try to swat for the second set.
6. Off-angle shots
Shoot 10 cups from each side of your end of the table, not just the middle. Games rarely leave cups straight in front of you.
7. Scored game simulation
Play a full 10-cup game against yourself or a partner, two shots per turn, with re-racks. For tournament prep, give yourself 45 seconds per turn, the World Series of Beer Pong shot clock. Write down how many turns it takes you to clear the rack.
Track your progress
Drill
What to record
Good target
One-cup reps
Makes out of 50
Beat last session
Around the world
Total shots for 10 cups
Fewer than 30
Pressure redemption
Attempts to finish
Under 5
Game simulation
Turns to clear 10 cups
Under 10
The targets are our suggestions for house-party players, not official numbers. The point is to beat your own last session.
Most beer pong games aren’t won by the best shooter. They’re won by the team that wastes fewer chances. Shoot at the middle of the rack early, call your re-racks when the cups get scattered, save the bounce shot for when the other team is busy talking, and play the defense your house allows. Here’s the full playbook.
A bounce counts for two cups in most houses, but it can be swatted. Use it when the defense is distracted, refilling, or arguing a call.
Let your partner shoot a normal arc while you bounce. The defense can’t watch both.
Late in a close game, a successful bounce can end it. Early on, a swatted bounce is just a lost shot.
4. Defense that’s actually legal
Swat bounces, never shots in the air. Under our defense rule, blocking a ball before it bounces counts as a made cup.
Get spinning balls out. If your house allows fingering and blowing, a ball spinning on the rim or inside a cup can be fished out before it hits the drink. Tournaments don’t allow it.
Distract without touching. Talking, keeping a running count of their misses, and moving behind your end of the table are fair game. Shaking the table, crossing over the table, or touching the shooter usually aren’t.
Stay ready. Hands up and eyes on the ball for every shot, so no bounce gets through.
5. Playing as a team
Put your more consistent shooter second. The second shot of a turn decides balls back.
Talk about re-racks before your turn, so you call the right one in time.
One of you watches for bounces on every opposing shot, every time.
Keep track of how many re-racks each side has left.
6. Winning the end game
The last cup: it can always be pulled back to the center. Use a soft arc; nobody makes the last cup with a fastball.
Redemption: when you’re on the wrong end of it, redemption means each player shoots until they miss. Slow down, reset your stance, and shoot one cup at a time.
Overtime: three cups, no re-racks. Aim for the middle of the triangle.
House rules vs. tournament play
Everything above assumes house rules. In a tournament following the World Series of Beer Pong rules, re-racks happen automatically at 6, 3 and 1 cups, there’s no fingering or blowing, and there’s a 45-second shot clock. Our rules guide has a side-by-side table, and here’s how to host your own tournament.
FAQ
What cup should you aim for first in beer pong?
The middle of the rack, so a near miss can still drop in a neighboring cup. If your house plays ring of fire, take the front cup first.
When should you call a re-rack?
When the remaining cups are spread out or awkward to shoot at. Pull them into a tight triangle, a diamond, or a straight line.
Is blowing the ball out legal?
In many houses, yes, as long as the ball hasn’t touched the drink. Official tournament rules don’t allow it.
How do you get better at beer pong fast?
Pick one throw, shoot it the same way every time, and practice with water cups. Our practice drills give you a plan.