Beer Pong World Championship Las Vegas Style
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Beer Pong — sometimes called Beirut — is a game of ping-pong but with beer and no paddles and cousin to the better-known game of quarters. Two teams stand at opposite ends of an 8-foot long table, where 10 cups filled with about 2 ounces of beer are placed in a bowling-pin formation. Each team takes turns lobbing ping-pong balls at their opponent’s cups — when a ball lands in a cup, the cup is removed from the game (we’re just not saying how). The first team to eliminate its entire opponent’s cups wins.
Photo BPong
Typically played at house parties, the game has increasingly gained popularity to the point that the tournament has hit mainstream culture. So much so, that organizations and groups have emerged, including the World Series of Beer Pong (WSOBP) — the largest organized beer pong tournament in the US, created by BPONG.COM.
Photo Wall Street Journal
The top team at this year’s World Beer Pong Championship will take home a $50,000 Grand Prize, being held at the Las Vegas South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa from January 1st – 5th, 2008. It’s too late to participate but you can still watch the event while catching a brew.
Individual state bragging rights will be at stake, and if you’re signed up to play, you have access to bottomless pitchers until the last tournament game is played. At the WSOBP, 4 of the 10 cups in the formation are filled with water, but downing all those frothy beers could affect one’s aim.
The WSOBP III is hosted by BPONG.COM in association with Tight Rack — a Las Vegas beer pong-themed bar — and sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The $50,000 grand prize may leave you believing the event has been around for a long while, but Beer Pong is still in its infancy. This is the 3rd year of the tournament which had humble beginnings in Mesquite, Nevada with a $10,000 grand prize 2 years ago.
Photo BPong
More than 600 men and women are estimated to compete — mainly college students — in this year’s World Series of Beer Pong III, with even more international attendance from Canada and almost all states in the US.
Billy Gaines and Duncan Carroll — Carnegie Mellon University grads — developed the website bpong.com and a multiplayer online beer-pong game in 2004.
“Those who dislike parties, pong, music, girls, trash-talking, and gambling need not apply.” the tournament’s official Web site says. The tournament in Mesquite, Nev., attracted nearly 500 pongers for a 4-day tournament and $20,000 in prize money raised by charging $550 entry fees.
Billy Gaines, a Chicago lawyer, says he and graphic designer Duncan Carroll haven’t taken profits from the tournament yet, building their brand by buying tables, balls and cups and reselling them encrested with their tournament logo.
The World Series and local leagues and tournaments have helped increase the market for beer-pong gear. Since Penn State University grads Tom Schmidt and Matt Brady started Bing Bong 3 years ago, they estimate they have sold more than 10,000 beer-pong tables. The 7- or 8-foot aluminum tables are collapsible, folding up into a briefcase.
They claim to expect $1 million in revenue for 2007, mainly to college students, recent grads and bars, which “are now accepting the game.” Tim Schmidt says.
If you’re interested in participating next year or catching video, pictures and the excitement from this year’s tournament head on over to BPong.
Sources: Open Presswire, Review Journal, Wall Street Journal and BPong
Tags:Beer Pong Beirut game games sport sports World Beer Pong Championship
Oh my gosh! I didn’t know this even existed. I have to check to see if they have chapters or something in my state.
Sometimes people are really creative! What a fun game! *giggles*
I think I’ll adopt this, but swith the beer for Dom Perignon instead – make it more classy
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Sometimes peoples are really very creative and this is the example. My God!!
i didn’t know that this kind of game even existed. amazing creativity! seems it would be loads of fun playing it. Thank you for letting me know about this. cool post.
I’m with you Lifecruiser, I’ll take the chamaigne any day over the beer
Thanks for the invite, will head over as soon as I’m able 
Decorative, iPhone and Lost, it has become quite popular, there has to be something going for it
I’ll take the beer. Forget about the pong! –Durano, done!
Hahaha, that would be so much simpler, Durano
OMG this game looks fantastic! Is this game difficult?
I think the difficulty would be measured by the amount of beers you chugged back, Mario
This may possibly be something I could be a champion at!
Don’t forget the side benefits, Jeff
It amazes me how popular beer pong has become, especially in Las Vegas. I was walking through one of the smaller “Strip” casinos the other day and they had an entire section in the back set up with about a dozen beer pong tables. Only in Vegas!
everyone is going down
I met these guys at a Beer Pong Tournament in Westchester at a bar called the Thirsty Turtle. They are serious players, they were cleaning up over there on a regular basis. It was getting so bad the tournament director actually asked them not to come to the tournament anymore because people weren’t signing up. Smashing Time indeed.
Beer pong game is emerging day by day, its really a great fun if you won and more if you won 50,000$, Some interesting figures for me thanks for sharing.