The Face-Off Cup:

An Alternative Way to Begin Beer Pong Matches

Historically, the beginnings of beer pong matches have been the most poorly organized and executed part of the game. At many parties and various establishments, the most popular way to determine first possession is to have a representative from each team stare each other in the eyes and throw a ball at each other’s cups on the count of three, with the person making it in winning first possession for his team. The challenge is that neither player is supposed to be able to see the cups they are shooting at.

This method can be problematic because many players will always try to cheat by sneaking a peak at the cups before shooting and it is difficult to catch them. Another problem is that both shooters may have such poor aim that they are consistently unable to hit the cups without looking at them. This results in the determination of first possession taking much longer than it should.

Some establishments get around this by either flipping a coin to determine first possession or simply giving first possession to whomever is running the table or whomever lost the last game, depending on the situation. However, these solutions continue to leave many players unsatisfied.

With that in mind, we are proud to present a new way to determine first possession in beer pong matches that we believe eliminates the problems of the other methods mentioned above, while adding a great deal of excitement to the game. We call it the “Face-Off Cup”. Here’s how it works:

1.) The Face-Off Cup is a normal-sized beer pong cup that is placed in the center of the table and filled with the same amount of alcohol contained in each team’s drinking cups (usually about 1/3 of the way filled).

2.) A representative from each team holds one ball in his or her hand, prepared to shoot at the face-off cup. They are allowed to focus on the cup.

3.) A designated referee will count to three, at which point, both competitors will attempt to sink their ball in the face-off cup.

4.) If both players miss the face-off cup, it becomes a free-for-all affair where both competitors must attempt to retrieve the balls that were thrown.

5.) The first competitor to sink a ball in the face-off cup wins first possession for his or her team. The losing competitor must drink the alcohol contained in the face-off cup.