Amateur Cornhole Rules
Official Bag Toss/Cornhole Rules and Regulations
Below you will find the CPA’s Basic Rules for the game of Cornhole. These are just basic rules that you can use until you’re ready to move up a level and play the way the pro’s do. You can view the full rules that the pro’s use by clicking here!
Equipment:
Two (2) Cornhole Boards measuring 24” x 48” with a 6” diameter hole that is centered 9” from the top of the board and 12” from each side of the board.
The front of the board should be 3-4” high from the top of the playing surface to the ground.
The back of the board should be 12” from the top of the playing surface to the ground.
8 cornhole bags – 4 for each team and each team is a different color. Each bag should measure 6” x 6” and weigh between 15-16 oz. They will be filled with whole corn or resin pellets and made with material such as canvas, duck cloth, twill, or synthetic suede.
Layout:
Cornhole Court
The boards should be spaced 27’ apart from front edge to front edge for Competitive/Pro play and spaced 24’ apart from front edge to front edge for Junior, Social, Amateur & Seniors.
Each pitcher has a 4’ x 3’ area on either side of the board to pitch from (4 total). The front of the board is the foul line and may not be crossed at anytime during pitching.
*Note: Do not hesitate to move the boards closer for people with disabilities, social events, and recreational events. The goal is to encourage more enjoyment of the game and keep them coming back to your events.
Cornhole Scoring:
The first team/player who reaches or exceeds 21 points is the winner of the game.
A frame is defined as a player/team pitching all their bags to the opposite end of the court. Players must pitch all their bags from the same pitching area during a frame and cannot change sides.
Any Cornhole bag that is pitched and remains on the board playing surface of the Cornhole board will count as one point.
Any Cornhole bag that is pitched and passes through the target hole will count as 3 points.
Any Cornhole bag that is pitched and does not land on the Cornhole board playing surface or in the target hole is a foul bag and does not count any points.
Cancellation scoring is the approved method of scoring. Each team/player’s points cancel out the other team’s/player’s points. For example, Team A/Player A throws all their bags and one lands on the playing surface and one goes into the target hole, which is a total of 4 points. Team B/Player B throws all their bags and gets one bag on the playing surface, which is a total of 1 point. Team A/Player A would have a final score of 3 points at the end of that frame leaving Team B/Player B with zero points.
Options for Playing the Game:
Singles Play –
Player A competes against Player B.
Players will walk from one board to the other without crossing to the other side and play on that side only. Which side a player is playing on is determined at the beginning of the game by a coin flip. The winner of the coin flip gets to choose which side they will play on.
Players start the game at the headboard and will alternate pitching bags until each player has pitched all four of their bags.
Once all 4 bags are pitched the score is taken and the bags are then raked. Whoever scored the most in that frame shall be the first to pitch in the next frame.
Doubles Play-
Team A competes against Team B – each team is made up of two people.
Players from each team will take their position along side of the board and straight across from their teammate that is on the opposite end. Which side a team is playing on is determined at the beginning of the game by a coin flip. The winner of the coin flip gets to choose which side they will play on.
The team that starts the game will alternate pitching all of their bags until each player has pitched four of their bags. Then the second Team will alternate pitching all of their bags until each player of that team has pitched all four of their bags.
Pitching: Players alternate pitching bags, one player at a time, until each player has pitched all four of their bags from their designated pitchers box. Both feet must remain in the designated pitchers box at all times while pitching and a player may not cross the foul line with their feet before the bag has landed. Whoever scores the most in the preceding frame shall be the first to pitch in the following frame.
Raking: If bags become piled up inside the target hole of the board and can interfere or obstruct the next pitch or if there is a question whether a Cornhole bag would have naturally fallen through the target hole, a player may request the bags be raked from inside the target hole.
Important Note: During raking, all efforts should be made to leave bags on the playing surface of the Cornhole board undisrupted and in their natural state. All efforts should be made to keep bags from falling inside the target hole unnaturally. If, in the event, a bag is resting on a piled bag and unavoidably falls into the target hole as a result of raking, then it shall be counted as 3 points.