Cornhole
Sports · Throwing games
Also Bean bag toss, Bags, Corn toss
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Summary — 2–4 players
Cornhole is a lawn game for two players or two pairs, who throw four bean bags each at a raised board with a hole in it. A bag in the hole is three and a bag on the board is one, and only the side ahead in an inning scores, by the difference. First to twenty-one wins, and the sheet keeps the score.
- Scored by
- first to twenty-one, or the line the host sets; only the side ahead in an inning scores, by the difference; the app counts games won
- Origin
- A Midwestern American lawn game; the Cincinnati origin story is the one most told.
Rules
How to play
Players and equipment
Two players, or two pairs, four bean bags a side, and two boards with a hole near the top, set 27 feet apart front edge to front edge. Ten feet or so does for a garden. A board is two feet by four, raised at the back so that it slopes towards the thrower, with a six-inch hole nine inches from the top edge; the bags are six inches square, one colour a side.
SquareScores keeps the score: a row on the sheet is an inning, a column is a player or a pair, and the line is twenty-one unless the host moves it.
The deal
Toss for the first throw, then the side that scored last throws first. In singles both players throw from the same board, alternating bags; in doubles partners stand at opposite boards, and each end throws in turn. Throw from beside the board, and do not step past its front edge, which is the foul line; a bag thrown from over the line does not count and is taken off the board.
Play
Throw your four bags at the far board, alternating with your opponent. A bag in the hole is three; a bag on the board is one; a bag on the ground, or one that touched the ground before landing on the board, is nothing and is removed. You may knock your opponent's bags off the board or into the hole, and your own too; whatever is on the board or through the hole when the last bag lands is what counts.
Scoring is cancellation: after all eight bags are thrown, only the side with the higher total scores, and it scores the difference.
An example inning
- You
- 7
- Two in the hole, one on the board
- Them
- 5
- One in the hole, two on the board
- Entered
- 2
- The difference, in your column
Scoring
Scoring
- In the hole
- 3
- Through the hole, or knocked in
- On the board
- 1
- Resting on the board, not touching the ground
- Off
- 0
- On the ground, or on the board after touching the ground
- Inning
- One row
- The higher side scores the difference
The side that did not score enters 0 for the inning, and so does everybody when the two totals are equal: a 0 is an inning played, and it keeps the two columns level on the sheet. The most a side can score in one inning is twelve, four bags in the hole against nothing.
A worked game
Alice plays Ben in singles. Each row is an inning, with both sides' bags, who scored it, and the running total.
- Inning one
- Alice 2, running 2 to 0
- Alice two in the hole and one on, 7; Ben one in and two on, 5
- Inning two
- Ben 3, running 2 to 3
- Alice one in and two on, 5; Ben two in and two on, 8
- Inning three
- Alice 1, running 3 to 3
- Alice three in and one on, 10; Ben three in, 9
- Inning four
- Nobody, 0 and 0, running 3 to 3
- Both sides four on the board, 4 each
- Inning five
- Alice 8, running 11 to 3
- Alice four in the hole, 12; Ben one in and one on, 4
Take the second inning. Alice's bags are worth five and Ben's eight, so Ben scores the inning, and he scores three, not eight: the five cancel. In the third, ten against nine is one point to Alice, although she put three bags through the hole; a side that matches its opponent bag for bag scores nothing, however well it threw. The fourth inning is a wash, four points each, and both sides enter 0. The fifth is the other extreme, four in the hole against a bag and a board, and Alice takes eight in one go. She leads eleven to three, and the caption on her column says ten left.
Ending
The first side to twenty-one wins. Some tables require exactly twenty-one and send a side that goes over back to fifteen; the sheet only counts up, so if you play that, keep the bust in your heads and enter the inning that lands the side on twenty-one. Tap End match to bank the game, and the leaderboard counts games won.
Strategy
The slide
The ordinary throw is a flat one: the bag leaves the hand spinning gently like a frisbee, lands on the front half of the board and slides up towards the hole. A bag that lands flat slides; a bag that lands on its edge stops or bounces off. Get the slide right before trying anything cleverer, because everything else in the game is built on being able to put a bag on the board four times out of four.
The block
A bag that stops just short of the hole is not a failure. It sits in the path of the slide, so your opponent's flat throws run into it and stop, and it can be pushed through later. A blocker is worth one point as it lies and is often worth three by the end of the inning, and when you are ahead it is the safest bag on the board, because it makes your opponent throw over it.
The airmail
The answer to a block is a bag thrown high, with more arc, so that it drops straight through the hole without touching the board. It is the hardest throw in the game and the one that wins innings that were lost: thrown when a blocker has closed the slide, or when the board is so cluttered that a slide would carry an opponent's bag in with it. A side that cannot airmail can be blocked out of a game.
The push
A blocker is sitting a few inches short of the hole. A bag thrown a little harder and flat behind it pushes it through and often follows it in. Pushing your own bag is three points and a place on the board for the pusher; pushing an opponent's is three for them, which is why a blocker is left alone when it is not yours.
When to play safe
The score decides the throw. Well ahead, put every bag on the board and let the opponent take the risks, because a point on the board cancels a point of theirs. Behind, and especially behind late, the board is not enough: throw for the hole, because a side that needs eight points cannot get them one at a time. With the last bag in your hand, count both sides before you throw; if a bag on the board wins the inning, throw for the board.
Variations
The league game
Under the American Cornhole League rules the boards are 27 feet apart front to front, bags weigh about a pound, and the first side to twenty-one or more at the end of an inning has won: no need to win by two, and no bust. A foot over the front edge of the board is a foul and the bag comes off. Everything above is that game.
Exactly twenty-one, or bust
The garden rule. A side has to land on twenty-one exactly, and a side that goes over is sent back to fifteen, or in some gardens to eleven. It makes the end of a game a matter of throwing for the board and not the hole, since a side on twenty needs one point and a bag in the hole is three. The sheet only counts up, so keep the bust in your heads and enter the inning that lands the side on twenty-one.
A short game
To eleven or to fifteen instead of twenty-one, for a quick game or a crowd waiting to play. The host moves the line on the sheet and nothing else changes.
Sets
A match as the best of three games to twenty-one, or the best of five. Each game is a match on the sheet, and the leaderboard counts games won across the session.
The skunk
A house rule that ends a game early: a side that reaches eleven while the other is still on nothing has won. Some gardens set it at seven to nothing. It saves a hopeless side from a long game and is never played under league rules.
FAQs
How do you score in cornhole?
A bag through the hole is three points and a bag resting on the board is one; a bag on the ground scores nothing. After all eight bags are thrown the two sides' totals are compared, and only the side with more scores, by the difference. So seven against five is two points to the side with seven, and equal totals score nobody anything. The first side to twenty-one wins.
How far apart are cornhole boards?
Twenty-seven feet from the front edge of one board to the front edge of the other, under league rules, about eight metres. In a garden, ten feet or so is a fair game for children and beginners, and fifteen or twenty for adults who are not playing seriously.
Do you have to get exactly 21 in cornhole?
Not under league rules: the first side to twenty-one or more at the end of an inning wins, and going over does not matter. Many gardens play that you have to land on twenty-one exactly and that a side going over drops back to fifteen. Agree which you are playing before the first bag.
What happens if both sides score the same in an inning?
Nobody scores. Cornhole uses cancellation, so equal totals cancel each other out entirely, and the inning is entered as nothing for both sides. The side that scored last still throws first in the next inning; if nobody scored, the order stays as it was.
Can you knock the other team's bags off the board?
Yes, and it is a normal part of the game. A bag that knocks an opponent's bag off the board removes their point; one that knocks it into the hole gives them three, which is the risk of throwing hard at a cluttered board. Whatever is on the board or through the hole when the last bag has landed is what counts.
Why is it called cornhole?
Because the bags were filled with dried corn, and the object is to get them through the hole. Plastic pellets are the modern filling, because they do not get damp, but the name stayed. Bags, bean bag toss and corn toss are the other names for the same game.
What is a foul in cornhole?
Stepping past the front edge of the board while throwing, or throwing out of turn. The bag does not count and is removed, and anything it moved is put back as best the players can agree. Under league rules the foul line is the front edge of the board you are throwing from; in a garden it is wherever the players say.