Playing the Game

Official Standards and Rules for the game of Cornhole

3 The Setup
3.1 Two boxes shall be set up such that their fronts face each other and their hole centers are 30 feet apart.
3.2 There exists an imaginary line that continues in either direction from the front of the playing surface, termed the foot foul line.

4 Game Play
4.1 Two teams of two people, termed partners, shall play. Partners shall stand at opposite 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.
4.2 Each team shall have 4 bags of one color.
4.3 All 8 bags begin at one end.
4.4 A coin flip shall determine who has honors in round one.
4.5 One of the partners on the team who has honors shall begin play by throwing a bag at the opposite box.
4.6 A player may throw from anywhere behind the foot foul line.
4.7 Game continues by alternating throws between the two opponent players until all 8 bags have been thrown.
4.8 If a bag hits the ground then bounces up onto the board, that bag shall be taken off the playing surface.
4.9 Refer to section 6 for scoring and honors.
4.10 The next round starts when the other player on the team, which has honors, throws their first bag.
4.11 The game continues until one team reaches 21 or more points.

5 Fouls
5.1 A foul occurs when any of the following happens.
5.1.1 A players foot goes past the foot foul line, termed a foot foul.
5.1.2 A player goes out of turn.
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.

6 Scoring
6.1 The score shall be taken after all bags have been thrown for a round.
6.2 Points shall be given as follows.
6.2.1 Three points for a bag that goes through the hole.
6.2.2 One point for a bag that is on the playing surface.
6.2.3 One point for a bag that is hanging into the hole.
6.2.4 One point for a bag that is hanging off the edge but not touching the ground.
6.2.5 Zero points for a bag that is on the playing surface, but also touching the ground.
6.2.6 Zero points for a bag that is hanging off the front edge and is resting on a bag that is on the ground, unless the bag on the ground can be removed without making the hanging bag fall to the ground, then one point is given.
6.3 Each team is given a round score according to section 6.2. The team with the highest round score, adds the difference of the two scores to their game score.
6.4 The team who wins the round is given honors to throw first in the next round.
6.5 If both 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.
6.6 The following is a possible scoring turn:
1st throw: Team A throws and it lands on the ramp, team B throws and it goes through the hole.
2nd throw: A goes through hole, B lands on ramp.
3rd throw: A lands on ramp knocking team B's 2nd throw into hole, B lands on the ground. 4th throw: A lands on ramp, B lands on ramp knocking A's 1st throw onto ground. A gets 5 pts and B gets 7 for the round, so B adds
7-5 = 2 pts to their game score and has honors for the next round.

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