43 Fun Facts About Cornhole

In cornhole, how many points is a bag that goes through the hole worth?

Three. The bag counts however it gets there: one knocked in by a later throw, even an opponent's, scores the same as a clean shot.

Under standard rules, a cornhole game is played until one side reaches or passes what score?

21. The total is only checked when an inning ends, and official rules ask for no two-point margin, so 21-20 is a win.

What is the diameter of the hole in a regulation cornhole board?

6 inches. A regulation bag also measures 6 inches across, so the hole gives it no room to spare.

What are the dimensions of a regulation cornhole board?

2 by 4 feet. The back edge sits 12 inches off the ground and the front about 3, and the hole is cut near the high end, so a sliding bag has to climb to it.

How far apart do the front edges of the two boards sit on a regulation cornhole court?

27 feet. Each board's front edge doubles as the foul line, so a thrower may not step past it until the bag has landed.

What scoring system does cornhole use, under which only one side can score in any inning?

Cancellation. Each inning the lower total is subtracted from the higher, so if both sides throw 12 points, nobody scores at all.

Heyliger de Windt's 1883 patent showed a board much like today's cornhole board, but with a hole of which shape?

Square. De Windt wanted a cheap, noiseless game for indoors, so his players tossed cloth bags of beans at a slanted board.

Which magazine ran a 1974 build-it-yourself project called 'bean-bag bull's-eye', a close cousin of cornhole?

Popular Mechanics. Its September 1974 issue offered the game among 'four projects you'll find fun and handy', decades before anyone played it for prize money on television.

Which city's west side is widely credited as the birthplace of the modern game of cornhole?

Cincinnati. Players there were calling it cornhole decades before the name spread, and its first rule-making bodies appeared only in the 2000s.

Which sausage maker put its name on American Cornhole League championships aired by ESPN?

Johnsonville. The exposure paid off for the players too: with ESPN airtime behind it, the league kept raising its prize money.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback lent his name to the ACO's Cornhole Classic of 2006, held in his NFL team's city?

Carson Palmer. The ACO's founder teamed up with the quarterback for the event, months before the body crowned its first national champion.

In which state is the American Cornhole Organization, founded in 2005, headquartered?

Ohio. The ACO calls itself the sport's governing body, though another sanctioning body, the American Cornhole Association, had been formed two years earlier.

The ACL cornhole world championships have been a showpiece of ESPN's 'The Ocho', a channel idea borrowed from which comedy film?

Dodgeball. The 2004 film joked about an ESPN8 for contests that are 'almost a sport'; ESPN made the gag real in 2017, and cornhole became one of its mainstays.

Under ACL rules, roughly how much does a regulation cornhole bag weigh?

One pound. The ACL's window is 15.5 to 16.5 ounces, and players may not restitch or refill a bag once it leaves the maker.

Tournament cornhole bags are now filled with what, so they keep their weight and shape?

Plastic resin. Corn-filled bags, usually said to have given the game its name, break down with use, so both major rulebooks now expect resin instead.

In cornhole, what is a bag called that rests partly on the board while also touching the ground?

Dirt bag. Also called a dirty bag, it scores nothing, and neither does a bag that hits the ground first and bounces up onto the board.

What do cornhole players call a bag that drops straight into the hole without touching the board?

Airmail. Because it never touches the board, it is the usual way past an opponent's blocker, and some players call it a swish.

In cornhole, a bag that stays on the board at the end of an inning, scoring one point, is called what?

Woody. It only counts if it is still on the board when the inning ends, so an opponent can wipe out the point by knocking it off.

In cornhole, what is a 'four-bagger'?

Sinking every bag in a single round is the most one side can score in an inning; players also call it a gusher or a double deuce.

In cornhole, a shutout in which the losing side never scores is known by which name?

Skunk. Many house rules don't make the losers play it out: once the score reaches 11-0, the game is simply called.

In cornhole, an inning in which both sides score exactly the same is called what?

A wash. Rulebooks also call it a push, and since nobody's total moves, the same side keeps the first throw for the next inning.

In cornhole slang, what is 'cornfusion'?

A dispute over an inning's score. To head it off, the rules bar anyone from moving a bag before the count is settled.

In cornhole slang, a bag in the hole is sometimes nicknamed after which drain-clearing product?

Drano. Enough of them and the hole can back up: when bags pile up underneath, a player may ask for them to be raked clear before the next throw.

In cornhole, which side throws first in a new inning?

Whoever scored last time leads off, so a side on a hot streak keeps throwing first until the other side wins an inning.

In cornhole slang, what is a 'Sally'?

A throw that falls short. Glossaries also call it a corn patty; either way the bag never reaches the board, so it scores nothing.

In cornhole doubles, where does a player's partner stand?

Directly opposite, at the other board. Partners face each other down one lane, so each spends the game duelling the opponent standing beside them.

Which comedy duo posted a music video called 'The Cornhole Song' on YouTube in the late 2000s?

Rhett & Link. The North Carolina pair sang the game's praises years before they became the hosts of Good Mythical Morning.

The ACL created a national governing body, USA Cornhole, to pursue which long-term goal for the sport?

A place in the Olympics. The world body shares the aim and is building the kind of federation the International Olympic Committee requires before it recognises a sport.

In cornhole slang, who are 'the police'?

The referees. In official play they are the ones called to a court to rule on a close call or watch for foot fouls.

What do cornhole players call a bag that comes to rest on the board just beyond the hole?

A backstop. An overshoot is not wasted: later sliders can run into it and stay on the board instead of sliding off the far end.

The 1883 patent behind cornhole proposed suspending what near the board, costing a thrower ten points if struck?

A bell. The inventor's scoring punished wild throws: a bag that missed the board lost a point, and one that rang the bell lost ten.

In cornhole strategy, what is a 'blocker'?

A bag left in front of the hole forces the next thrower to choose: push through it, curl around it or go over the top.

What does a cornhole 'bully bag' do?

Shoves a rival's bag sideways off the line to the hole while the thrower's own bag stays on it, so one throw both clears a threat and sets up a score.

Why do most competition cornhole bags have a different fabric on each side?

One slides, the other sticks. A player flips the bag to suit the shot: the slick weave to run up the board, the suede to stop a bag where it lands.

What happens to a cornhole bag thrown from past the foul line?

It is removed and cannot be retaken. The damage is undone too: under ACL rules any points the foul bag won are deducted and any it cost the opponent are restored.

What do cornhole players call a bag perched on the lip of the hole, close to dropping in?

Hanger. It scores just one point, like any bag on the board, unless it drops through before the inning is scored.

Under one house rule, what happens when a cornhole team overshoots the exact winning total?

They 'bust' and drop back down to a lower score. The ACL and ACA both spell out that official play has no such rule, so there a side can sail past the target and still win.

Cornhole's 1883 patent presented the new game as a parlor version of which old ring-tossing pastime?

Quoits. Its players throw heavy rings at a spike; the patent kept the name and the aiming but swapped the iron for soft bags that were safe to throw indoors.

In cornhole slang, what is a bag thrown with no spin at all called?

A flop. Most players do the opposite and spin the bag flat, because a bag with no rotation tends to land unpredictably.

What do cornhole players call a bag that climbs over the top of a blocker and still drops in the hole?

A back door. The blocker it beats is not wasted, though: left on the board, that bag still scores a point for the side that threw it.

In cornhole slang, what is a 'hooker'?

A bag that curves round a blocker still finds the hole, so it scores in full: the bag in its way has cost the thrower nothing but a harder shot.

How does the American Cornhole League's tagline end: 'Anyone can play, anyone can ...'?

Win. In 2021 an 11-year-old was playing on the pro circuit, and one investor said a child has as fair a shot at a title as a 70-year-old.

What do cornhole players call the customary warm-up of one practice round thrown at each board?

A down and back. ACL rules call it customary before every game, and ACO rules let a player throw an opponent's bags down and back once to inspect them.