Some people call it beirut, but either way it’s a terrible drinking game, unless there are exactly 2 or 4 people hanging out. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to finish an average game with people who don’t play very often. The beer gets warm by the time you’re done drinking it. The ball flies into bushes, bounces on the floor, and then into your cup, and you have to drink all of the beer it touches. You might get to shoot only once every minute so it’s hard to become more accurate quickly. Furthermore unless you’re drinking on the side, you are not likely to increase your level of inebriation. I won’t discuss bouncing for 2 cups, or blowing the ball out of a cup, both of which are stupid. The game’s main reward for hitting many cups is “On Fire” which means you get one extra shot – not a great reward when the shooting percentage is in the 15% range.
Amazingly the alternatives to beer pong are either not very exciting games or involve drinking so quickly that people don’t like them very much. There’s got to be a better team game where one side wins, and that can be played in faster than 15 minutes (and involve more people). There should be much more experimentation on the drinking game front.
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How have you missed something that millions of other people have missed? It’s a game that incorporates competition and drinking. It’s amazing.
dartmouth’s version of beer pong is great
I play a lot of beer pong with http://www.beerpongleagues.com and we have a lot of fun. Something different than poker to do on a Wednesday night.
Beer Pong is popular for the following reasons:
1) It’s something to do at a party: Until people get really drunk, they are usually way to awkward to socialize with strangers (this is natural). So, people prefer to huddle around a beer pong table with strangers, and play/watch a game that they have no interest in,rather than risk being awkward by talking to someone
2) It doesn’t require much conversation: This sort of goes along with #1, but, people who find conversation strenuous, or find themselves around “friends” they can’t carry on a decent conversation with, generally gravitate to the beer pong table, rather than sit down and enjoy a game of cards or pleasant conversation.
3) Lack of alternatives: You mentioned this in your post. Honestly, I think most college students really aren’t smart enough to come up with better, more engaging drinking games. Those that are smart enough, either don’t have the necessary social leverage to set a new trend in drinking games, or, the more likely case, they choose to spend creative energies on more fulfilling pursuits.
As of now, beer pong serves its purpose, that is, getting socially awkward college students drunk enough to have a decent time at a party…
Would I ever have it at one of my parties though? Probably not.