Cornhole Rules

The rules and regulations for the game of Cornhole are not difficult and they are easy to understand and follow.  All you need to get started is your complete Cornhole Sets and a pad of paper to keep score!

The game of Cornhole consists of two innings of play.  Each contestant pitches or tosses four Cornhole Bags during each inning.  This is true for singles play as well as for doubles.

If you are able to achieve a cornbag-in-the-hole you will receive 3 points.  This is not as easy at it may sound because to score 3 points you must pitch your corn bag so that in ends up in the hole in the corn- hole platform.  Your corn bag could also land in the hole in the platform when it is knocked in by another player.

The corn-bag-in-the-count is worth 1 point.  This happens when your corn bag or any portion of it comes to rest on the corn hole platform.  Your corn bag can not touch the ground or any other part of the court before it lands on the Cornhole Board. If it does touch the court or the ground before coming to rest on the corn hole platform it becomes foul and has to be removed from the corn hole platform before play can continue.  There are no points awarded for this unfortunate turn of events.

Corn-bag-out-of-the-count is what occurs when the corn bag lands anywhere except in-the-count or in-the-hole. The corn bag is then declared foul, no points are awarded and it must be removed from the corn hole surface before the game can continue.

The value and scoring of the corn bags was explained in the first part of this article and now we will move on to the proper delivery of the  bags.

There is a designated way to deliver the corn bags in the game of Cornhole.  If you are playing doubles the first side of contestants take turns pitching the corn bags until all four have been tossed at the boards.

The remaining contestants pitch from the other corn hole platform and continues to take turns in the same way until all four corn bags are pitched and the inning is completed.  During singles play the idea is the same but only one platform is needed and each of the two players alternate their pitching of the corn bags until all four have been tossed.  At this point, the inning is over.

The contestants have the choice of delivering the corn bags from either the right or the left pitcher’s box.  However, in one inning all four corn bags must be pitched from the same pitcher’s box.  Unless there is a medical emergency, a contestant must use the same hand or arm during an entire tournament.

A contestant has 20 seconds to deliver the corn bag.  The 20 second time begins when the contestant steps into the pitcher’s box, intending to pitch.

The player who scored in the preceding inning pitches first in the next inning.  If no one scored in the previous inning, the player who pitched last in the preceding inning will go first in the next inning.

The Cornhole match is played until a team reaches or exceeds 21 points at the end of an inning.  The winning team does not have to win by two or more points.

These Cornhole rules and regulations will help you understand the game.