Last Cup Standing

In this variation of Beer Pong, America’s national past time meets its most popular drinking game.  Baseball is a great way to get a large group of people playing at one time.  To ramp up interest, this game also adds elements of Flip Cup to the mix.  It’s fun for the whole Party.

What You’ll Need:

12 cups (2 for water)
At least one Ping Pong Ball
4 or more players


The Set Up

Set up four cups in a straight line, perpendicular to the edge of the table at each end of the table.  It will look like the ultimate ‘power I’ formation.  Then, pick a side of the table. Each team gets another cup on that side, positioned at a third of the length of the table.  Next, the teams will need to be decided.  Unlike standard Beer Pong, four people is only the minimum.  Teams can be as large as you want, and they do not have to be even, although it is preferred.  Teams can be either predetermined or selected in an old-school style school-yard draft, where the person who picks second chooses to be either the home team or away team.  After teams and batting orders are decided and the optional national anthem is played, it is time to play ball!

The Game Play

Like baseball, each player will ‘bat’ during their turn in the lineup.  The batter will shoot at the four cups trying to get a hit.  The cups value in order from closest to furthest.  The first is a single, the second is a double, the third is a triple, and the fourth is a Home Run.  Failing to sink a cup is an out.  You might think that would make the game go too quickly, but with nine innings to play it works great.  Runners can either be forced to advance or auto advance, depending on the house rules.  Under forced rules, each runner must be forced from their base by another base runner. Under auto advance, every runner advances the number of bases the hitter gains.
Now you might be wondering about that extra cup sitting on the side.  This is where Flip Cup comes into play. It adds an extra dimension to the game. 
when there is a runner on base, the offensive player on deck is positioned at the extra cup.  He is taking the place of the base-runner.  Any player on the fielding team may take up the defensive cup, and act as the catcher.  At any time before or after the batter has shot, the person on deck can choose to ’steal.’  This is done by chugging the cup in front of them and trying to flip it over flip-cup-style.  As soon as the base-runner picks the cup up, the catcher can do the same and it is a race to see whether the runner is safe or is tagged out.  The person on deck cannot touch the steal cup unless they are going to steal.  They can fake going for it, but can not touch it.  Only the trail runner will advance, and under standard rules there are no double steals.  For example, runners on first and third will become second and third while runners on first and second will become first and third.  Whether or not a runner can steal home is up to the house to decide.  I like to think they can.

The Drinking

The amount of beer poured into each cup is up to the table to decide, but you will need a few extra beers lying around to keep refilling the cups.  When a person gets a hit, that cup, as well as every cup that is before it is drank by the fielding team and then refilled for the next batter.  So if a person sinks a double, the double and single cup must be drank.  If a person hits a home run, all four cups must be drank.  The steal cups is also refilled after every steal attempt. There is a limit of one steal per batter on deck.

This is a great version of Beer Pong, and I encourage you all to try it.  More players are involved, and trust me, it is just as competitive.  Nothing really shoves it in the other teams gloating faces like a grand slam in the ninth with two outs for a walk-off victory.  Please put your cups down during post-game celebrations.  The grounds crew works hard to keep the field clean.