The game of Cornhole is similar in concept to Horseshoes or Lawn Darts. However, instead of pitching heavy iron horse shoes or throwing sharp pointed darts, you toss corn-filled bags into a hole.  Nevermind the name! This game is fun and addicting. Here are some typical rules of the game.  Rules in your area (especially tournament rules) may vary.


Number of Players

• Doubles: 4 players; 2 per team or
• Singles: 2 opposing players

Cornhole game dimensions

• 2 Cornhole boards
• 24" x 48" top surface
• 12" rear height
• 4" front height
• 6" hole; hole center is 9" from top of board
• 2 sets of 4 Cornhole bags
• 6" square
• Each filled with approx. 1lb whole corn

Game Court

• The boards are placed 27 feet apart, front-to-front or 33 feet apart, hole-to-hole.
• The front of both boards serve as foul lines.
• Each side of the board behind the foul line makes up a player area (pitcher's box).
• One member of each team plays on one end of the court, one player on each side of the board.

Rounds/Innings

• A coin-toss or some other mutually agreed upon method decides which team tosses the first bag.
• After the first bag is tossed, the players on the same end of the court alternate tossing until each player has tossed all 4 of his/her corn bags.
• When both players of one side of the court have tossed their bags (a round ends), the other side of the court tosses. An inning ends after all players on both teams have thrown their corn bags.
• Although there are 4 player areas in the court, a player may throw from either side of the board, but must throw from the same side during any one inning.
• Each player must toss the corn bag within 20 seconds after he/she steps into the player area.
• Scores are tallied after all bags on one side of the court have been thrown.

Toss Rotation

The player of the team who scored highest in the preceeding tally or round tosses first.


Points and Scoring
The team that scores 21 points after a complete inning wins. The game is played to 21 unless one team skunks its opponnent -- scores 7 or more unanswered points during an inning.

• In-the-Hole: 3 points. A corn bag is considered In-the-Hole if:
• It is thrown directly into the hole ("a ringer")
• It strikes the board surface and slides into the hole."
• It lands on the board, and is knocked into the hole by any bag."
• On-the-Board: 1 point. A corn bag is considered On-the-Board if it comes to rest on the board surface without first touching the ground. A bag that touches the ground before coming to rest on the board surface is considerd a foul and must be removed from the board surface before the next bag is thrown.
• Out-of-Play: 0 point. A corn bag is Out-of-Play if it is neither In-the-Hole nor On-the_Board. A bag may be knocked Out-of-Play by any subsequently thrown bag.

Point Cancellation

• In-the-Hole cancels an opponent's 3 points
• On-the-Board cancels an opponent's 1 point
• 3 On-the-Board cancel an opposing In-the-Hole or 3 points.
• ... and so on.

Feel free to use the content of this page, but please link directly to this page by using the the following code: