Play! Hoboken and Tristate Cornhole Tournament Rules and Format
FORMAT OF TOURNAMENT
— Each team is guaranteed 3 matches in a round robin format. After these matches,
teams will be seeded and placed into a one-game, single elimination bracket.
Bracket games will continue until a winner is determined.
TIME OF TOURNAMENT GAMES
— Round robin games will take place at 10:00AM, 10:45AM and 11:30AM. After the
round robin games are complete, a 1-hour lunch recess will commence while the
bracket is being compiled.
— Bracket games will begin at 12:30PM and continue every 30-45 minutes until a
winner is determined.
SEEDING OF TEAMS AFTER ROUND ROBIN GAMES
— Teams will be seeded according to the number of games won. If there is a tie
amongst teams with the same number of games won, bag differential (difference
between collective scores of round robin matches) will be used to break the tie. The
team with the higher bag differential will be declared the higher seed. In the event
that bag differential is also tied, a coin flip will determine the higher seed.
TEAM DEFINITION
— A team consists of exactly two players.
COURT DIMENSIONS AND EQUIPMENT
— Each court will be set up prior to the match. Boards are set 27 feet apart from one
another, as measured from the front of each board.
— If a board becomes dislodged from its original position, the board may be
realigned if all players of the game agree on the realignment. If not, players are to
summon the tournament director for realignment of the board.
— Players may bring their own bags to each match, provided that they are AOC
approved and approved by the staff. Players may also elect to use bags provided by
TSC. These must be returned at the end of the match.
GAME PLAY
— Teammates are to be positioned on opposite boards.
— A coin flip determines who will throw the first bag of the first inning. For each
inning following, the first bag is thrown by the winning team of the previous inning. A
bag is considered thrown if the bag leaves the player’s hand and completely falls
beyond the foul line. If a bag is dropped but does not fall beyond the foul line, it may
be rethrown.
— Opponents alternate throwing bags until each team has thrown all 4 of their bags.
Scores are then calculated and recorded. Other than the first throw of the first game,
the team who score points in the last inning is to throw first in the subsequent inning.
If neither team has scored in a particular inning, the team who scored most recently
is to throw first.
GAME SCORING
— Each game is played to a score of 21 points. The winner of the game must have
scored (or exceeded) 21 points and must have exceeded the opposing team’s score
by more than one point (“win by two”).
— A bag that lies on the board at the conclusion of the 8 bags thrown is worth 1
point. A bag that is determined to be touching or have touched the ground prior to
being on the board is ineligible for scoring. A bag that has completely fallen through
the hole is worth 3 points.
— The score of each inning (every 8 bags tossed, 4 from each team) is determined
by the net gain of the team with the higher score.
For example…
If Team A has 5 points after tossing their four bags while Team B has 3 points after
tossing their four bags then the score of the inning will be recorded as Team A
earning 2 points and Team B earning 0 points.. Points are added to the team’s
overall score appropriately.
END OF GAMES
— At the conclusion of each game, it is the responsibility of the winning team to
report the score to the scorer’s booth or a TSC official. Scores must be reported
after each game before starting the next game.
DISCREPANCIES AND PROTESTS
— Any disagreement between opponents must be brought to a TSC official’s
attention. The TSC official will determine the solution. There is no protest against the
TSC official’s decision.
— One of the more common discrepancies in cornhole is determining whether a bag
is on the front of the board or touching the ground. It is recommended that players
call a TSC official over to make the determination if one cannot be reached by the
players without touching the board or bag.
