Cornhole Rules: A Beginner’s Guide to Playing

Cornhole is a fun game you can play outside, at parties, or when hanging out with friends. The goal is to be the first team to get 21 points by the end of a round. The team that gets 21 points first wins, so it’s important to know the cornhole rules to play fair.

What You Need to Play Cornhole

Before start playing cornhole, let’s cover the basic cornhole equipment:

  • Cornhole Boards: Cornhole boards are rectangular and measure 24 inches wide and 48 inches long. One end of the board is raised, with the far end 12 inches off the ground. The board has a 6-inch hole placed 9 inches from the back edge.
Cornhole Court and Bags
  • Cornhole Bags: Each team has 4 bags of different colors, and each bag is 6×6 inches in size, weighing about 1 pound (14-16 ounces). The bags are filled with corn kernels or a similar material, and players throw them during the game.
  • Cornhole Court: The boards should be set 27 feet apart for adult play, or 12-15 feet apart for children or those with physical impairments.
Cornhole Court and Bags 1

How to Play Cornhole: The Rules

1. Objective of the Game

The objective of cornhole is to be the first team to reach or exceed 21 points at the end of an inning of play. The first team to do so wins.

2. The Game’s Format

  • Coin Toss: Players conduct a coin toss to decide which team goes first or second, or chooses which side of the board to play on.
  • Teams: Cornhole is usually played with two teams, each consisting of either one player (singles) or two players (doubles).
  • Turns: Players alternate tossing their cornhole bags toward the opposite board. After each team throws four bags, they take score and resume pitching from the opposite board.

3. Scoring in Cornhole

Scoring in cornhole is straightforward but uses cancellation scoring. Only one team can score in each inning:

  • Bag in the Hole (Cornhole): A bag that lands completely in the hole is worth 3 points.
  • Bag on the Board (Woody): A bag that stays on the board is worth 1 point.
  • Foul Bags: Bags that land on the ground or bounce onto the board are worth 0 points.
Cancellation Scoring After each round, the points scored by the opponent cancel out your points. For example, if Team A scores 5 points and Team B scores 2 points, Team A will earn 3 points for that inning.

4. Winning the Game

The first team to reach exactly 21 points wins. If a team goes over 21, their score goes back to 15 points. Players keep taking turns throwing their bags, and after all eight bags are thrown, the round ends and scores are counted. The next round starts with the team that had the lower score in the previous round.

Detailed Breakdown of Scoring

Understanding the scoring system is critical in cornhole. The most common scoring rule is cancellation scoring, which makes the game more competitive.

Cancellation Scoring

This is the method used to score the game, where each team’s points are compared at the end of a round. The points are “canceled out” and only the difference is counted. For example:

  • Team A scores 5 points (2 bags in the hole, 1 on the board).
  • Team B scores 3 points (1 bag in the hole, 1 on the board).

In this case, the score for the round would be 2 points in favor of Team A (5 points – 3 points).