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Beer pong is, by far, one of the most popular drinking games of our time. Some have even taken it as far as calling it the next competitive team sport. Whether you play for fun, to pass the time, or to claim the glory of defeating your opponent, when it comes to playing  beer pong games, you’ll need to know how to properly set up your beer pong table.

How Many Cups for Beer Pong?

Although there are many variations of beer pong rules, they all require either 6, 10, or 15 cups per team. An additional 2 cups of water kept off to the side to rinse the balls between play. Therefore, depending on preference, players arrange either 6, 10, or 15 standard 16 oz plastic cups in the shape of a pyramid at each end of the table, with the top of the pyramid pointing towards the opposing team.

Each cup is then filled between a quarter to halfway full of beer or other type of alcoholic beverage, based on the players’ preference. Many post-covid players prefer to fill the cups with water then drink from their own beer can or bottle each time a ball lands in a cup, to prevent the potential spread of germs.

How Many Balls for Beer Pong?

Traditional beer pong is played by players from each team throwing 2 ping pong balls per round per team until someone misses. The person throwing can aim directly for the cup or use a bounce shot. When bouncing the ball, it can only bounce once before landing in the cup. Some variations of the game use 3 or more balls. It all comes down to the preference of the players. But since this is a drinking game, it never hurts to have some extra balls lying around just in case some get lost during play.

Re-Racking & Formations

Teams are allowed to ask for a “re-rack” at the end of their turn. This allows them to rearrange the remaining cups on the table to maintain a compact shape. Each team is only allowed 2 re-racks per game. However, there are multiple formations that can be created, depending on the number of cups left on the table. Some of the formations include:

6 Cup Formations

• The Triangle or Pyramid
• The Marching Formation (2 rows of 3 cups)

4 Cup Formations

• The Square
• The Diamond

3 Cup Formations

• The Traffic Light (Single row of 3 cups)
• The Triangle or Pyramid

2 Cup Formations

• The Double (single row of 2 cups)

Design Your Own Beer Pong Table

The only thing better than playing a game of beer pong with your friends is playing on a custom created table that you designed yourself. C5 Beer Pong has been crafting the highest quality beer pong tables for restaurants, celebrities, and average Joes since 2011. And we plan on continuing to build the future of beer pong for all aficionados of the game. Give us a call at 708-420-3291 to discuss your dream table or use our online table configurator to design your very own beer pong table today.