Dartmouth pong

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Dartmouth pong is a drinking game played at Dartmouth College that is loosely based on ping pong. A recent survey conducted by Dartmouth College researcher John Pryor and reported on in The Dartmouth found that 80% of Dartmouth students had played the game. [1]

At Dartmouth, the game is known simply as pong.

Contents

[edit] History and culture

As of spring 2006, various newspaper reports have attributed the origin of beer pong to Dartmouth College: "Legend has it that the game, which can be played with paddles and is also known for some reason as Beirut, started years ago at a Dartmouth College fraternity party." [2] [3] The version of beer pong played at Dartmouth College, however, differs from that played at many colleges and universities in the U.S. Standard "beer pong," the game known to Dartmouth students as Beirut, in which ping pong balls are thrown by hand at an opponent's cups, is rarely played at Dartmouth, where play with paddles and back-and-forth volleys is the norm. Among students, this game is known simply as "pong".

In its general form, pong has been traced back to at least the 1950s as a casual attempt to combine the popular activities of drinking and ping pong. The game is said to have been started when a fraternity brother first put his beer on the table while playing ping pong. Early pong had fewer cups and fewer rules, and was played by both men and women at parties, although it emerged before Dartmouth's coeducation. History professor Jere Daniell '55 stated that he played the game as a student.[4] One of the earliest published photographs depicting a game of pong appeared in the Aegis of 1968, on page 304. The game as it is played today probably did not evolve until the late 1970s and may be tied to the advent of cheap plastic cups. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] By 1976, students began publishing articles about the game (“Beer-Pong Rooted in Religion,” The Dartmouth (16 October 1976), 4). According to the New York Times, pong "has been part of fraternity life for at least 40 years, as hallowed as rush or Winter Carnival." [11]. Other Ivy League newspapers have called Dartmouth "the spiritual home of beer pong" [12], and characterized pong as "a way for Dartmouth frat boys to get drunk [that] has become what is arguably America's favorite drinking game." [13]

Because pong requires significant infrastructure - pong tables are generally considered too large to fit in most dorm rooms - and is best enjoyed outside the realm of college and government regulations on alcohol use, pong is not commonly played in dormitories. Pong is probably played most in the houses of fraternities and various other college-affiliated societies, including sororities, co-ed undergraduate societies and some senior societies, as well as in off-campus residences. Most of these houses have two or more pong tables - often extensively painted with heraldic and other emblems and scenes - usually situated in the basement. There is a strong link between pong and the Greek system, as fraternity basements are the most common "public" venue for pong playing. However, pong is a prevalent feature throughout Dartmouth undergraduate society and culture, and is often played among classmates, team mates, and club members.

[edit] College recognition

"The game achieved such popularity during (the early 70's) that the College sanctioned pong as an intramural sport; beer pong was the only college-sponsored drinking contest in the country. However, in 1977, the College decided no longer to support the endeavor."[14]

[edit] Equipment

Pong is played with paddles and ping pong balls on a table.

Paddles are modified ping pong paddles: pong paddles with sandpaper surfaces are most common and the handles are removed. If typical paddles are purchased (the kind with a rubber face), then the usual rubber coating is stripped and the face of the paddle is often sanded smooth. A design or house letters may be drawn on the face of the paddles. There are several possible reasons for removing the handles. First, in a save scenario (described below), a player may throw the paddle at the ball after it hit a cup. It is easier to accurately throw a paddle without a handle, and the added spinning roll the paddle may take on the table could increase the chance of a successful save . Secondly, without a handle, the player must grip the paddle in the palm of their hand. This in turn works to keep the ball traveling in a lofty arc as it limits the player's motion.

Each team has a predetermined quantity of disposable clear plastic cups (usually 12oz) filled approximately 5/6ths of the way full with beer and arranged in a predetermined formation.

Pong has classically been played with keg-filled "Beast" or "PBR" but in the current "post-keg/SLI" era, Keystone Light is the nearly universal standard beer. The tables are usually 5'x9' or 5'x10', made from one or two sheets of plywood, propped up on supports such as sawhorses, garbage cans, or specially built tables. Usually, a median (often a two-by-four, hockey stick, broom handle or ski) is placed across the center of the table.

[edit] Gameplay

Note: While no "official" codified version of the rules of pong exist, the rules described here are generally accepted by most players.

The goal of the game is to force your opponents to drink all their beer by hitting or sinking their cups with the ball. After a serve, teammates alternate turns returning the volley, allowing the ball to bounce once on their side of the table before making contact for the return. Particular emphasis is placed on hitting the ball up (known as a "lob); "low" hits (as determined by any player but generally set at the shoulder height of the shortest player) are not counted. "Low" cannot be called on a sink (unless, rarely, and depending on the house, by the team that sank) and is usually not called unless the ball hits a cup.

Rules vary from house to house, particularly regarding number of serves, certain types of saves, environment (using the surrounding walls, ceilings, body parts, etc. in play) and other factors are determined on a house-by-house basis. Overall, pong is considered a "Gentleman's Game" with a friendly spirit that precedes competition so that if a questionable call exists, the possible perpetrator avoids the necessity of an intermediary by drinking a beer and then serving to restart play. In tournament rules where every play matters, debate over a call is often settled by a beer chug-off (generally Thunderdome.)

[edit] Serving

Usually, the new team to come to table serves first. If the winner of the previous game is not staying on the table or if it is the first game of the night, service is often determined by a mini-game similar to Beirut ("let's throw for serve"), in which the players take turns throwing the ball at their opponents' cups. The first team who is not able to match or exceed the result of the previous throw (in order of increasing desirability: missing, hitting a cup, sinking a cup) serves first. Often, it is considered polite for one team to volunteer to serve first.

Depending on the local custom, the server has either two or three opportunities to make a valid serve. A serve must bounce on the recipients' side of the table, preferably to the opponent diagonal to the server. A serve may not hit the opponents cup. If a serve hits the opponent's cup, a point is generally scored against the server.

In some houses, if the serving team has only one half-cup remaining, they have "infinite" chances to make a valid serve. However, if a team exercises this right, it is sometimes a custom that the serving team must drink their last half cup and replace it on the table. Since the cup is empty, saves off of that cup are often difficult.

When restarting play, as when the ball bounces twice, misses the table during a volley, or if cups are hit/sunk, the player who failed to hit the table, failed to return the ball, or drank must serve.

[edit] Drinking

There is no penalty for failing to return a volley other than having to serve. Drinking occurs only when a service fails under certain conditions (discussed below), when a cup is hit, or when a cup is sunk.

If a cup is sunk, i.e. when one team causes the ball to land inside the opposing team's cup, the opposing team must drink the entire cup. At some houses, the opposing team is permitted to attempt a "blow save" by blowing the ball out of the cup if it is still spinning around the rim. Depending on the house, this particular type of save may or may not be frowned upon.

If the ball hits the cup but does not sink, the opposing team must drink half the cup unless the ball is "saved" by returning the ball with up to one bounce. Either partner may save and "low" saves are permitted, but many houses merely count "low" saves that hit a subsequent as a save and not a hit. However, some houses permit "slam saves" where the saving team may attempt to "slam" the ball into their opponents' cups to score a hit. You do not need control of your paddle in order to save. A player may "throw save" by throwing his/her paddle at the ball when a save would be out of arm's reach. Play does not stop after such a save, except in the normal course of the opposing team being unable to legally return the ball after the save. At some houses, there is no calling low after a throw save.

The "playmaker" refers to the center cup of the formation at some houses. When a player makes his or her first return to the opposing team, they have an opportunity to sink the playmaker. Service to the other team does not count as a return. This privilege is extended to any player making their first return. If the player sinks the opposing teams playmaker cup, that team must drink the entire back row of the formation (for the tree formation the back four cups and for the shrub the back three cups.) A save does not count as a player's first return.

Some houses (only Sigma Nu and Zeta Psi) allow "electricity," a variant rule under which, if the ball hits multiple cups before bouncing a second time, a half is drunk from each cup that was hit. If the ball ultimately sinks, the opposing team must drink a half from all the cups that were hit as well as the full cup which was sunk. Typically, the ball must make a visible bounce between cups for the rule to be invoked.

[edit] Set up

The cup formation varies from house to house. The most common arrangements include:

  • Two Cup: Two cup is allegedly similar to the original version of the game played in the 1950s and 1960s. [15] Two cup is a one on one game taken more seriously at some houses than others. Rules vary but the general idea is that hits on the two cups, at the center of the back line, are tracked by a point system - often one point per hit, 2 to 4 points per sink. Some houses keep points on the table - if your opponent hits your cup but you then save the ball (successfully returning it to the other side of the table) there is then one point on the table, which is then added to the score of the next scored upon person. The score to which the game is played (4, 16, 24, 50 and rarely 100 or "century") and when drinking occurs depend on the house and the game. Two cup is highly technical and places a premium on defense and according to some is the most historically rooted of the forms.
  • Shrub: This arrangement is the most common, used at the majority of fraternities. It consists of seven cups: six in a triangle placed in the middle of the table, a paddle's width from the edge of the table and a single cup "stem" behind them. (Note: when playing on short tables (and in some houses with long tables, as at Psi Upsilon fraternity), the stem usually is placed on the back edge of the table)
  • Tree: This arrangement is the same as shrub, except it uses eleven cups: ten in the triangle and one for the "stem".
  • Double-stemmed Tree: This arrangement is the same as tree, except it uses twelve cups: ten in the triangle and two "stems". Classic formation of fraternities Theta Delta Chi and Alpha Delta.
  • Line: This arrangement is only used at Sigma Nu (eight cup line) and Sigma Phi Epsilon (nine cup line). The cups are lined up a paddle's width from the end of the table.
  • Ship: A game modeled after the classic board game Battleship. Each team gets a "five-boat" (Five cups in a straight line), a four-boat, a three-boat, and a two-boat. There is no universal set of rules for the placement of the boats on each side of the table, though certain houses and organizations have adopted their own specific arrangements. When a boat has been reduced to half volume (two and a half cups for a 5-cup boat, etc.) it becomes "sinkable" (at Chi Gamma Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Epsilon all boats are sinkable when they have less than two and a half cups). A subsequent sink in a sinkable boat will require the sunk team to drink all remaining cups in that boat. One cup, the "mine", requires your opponent to drink when they hit it. At Tri-Kap, Chi Heorot, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Zeta Psi and Sigma Nu, the mine is refillable, but at Chi Gamma Epsilon it is not.

[edit] Variants

In addition to the commonly played rules and formations listed above, a variety of other rule variants and cup formations exist. Many of these are loosely based upon the common formations, generally expanding them by adding more cups. Others are more exotic, oftentimes themed on historic events or movies. These variants generally require considerable alcohol consumption and are usually specific to one or two houses and played on special occasions.

[edit] Basic variants

  • Pong to 50: Two-Cup matches to 50 points, or 12.5 beers. Often played as matches one-on-one or two-on-two, and historically the standard house game of Alpha Delta, which may have been the first to popularize Pong to 50 as an essential tournament sport. While matches may take as little as an hour to complete, Pong to 50 tournaments often occur over an extended period of time, sometimes days. Another variant, two cup pong to 100, sometimes called Odie-Pong, was a variant popular in the 1980s, usually taking place over one morning.
  • Randomness: Two-Cup played with more than four players, each occupying an irregularly-shaped portion of the table. Spare lumber and hockey sticks are used to divide the table. Strategy is involved in placing the cups: if they are close to the center or the walls, they are harder to hit, but harder to defend. Group dynamics also affect play, as multiple ostensibly independent players can gang up on another. Once a player is out, one of his walls is removed and then neighbors expand into his space. This game is the formal antecedent of Henge.
  • Rotating Randomness: A variant of Randomness that requires players to move one space clockwise after each point. Strategic cup placement now involves the possibility of defending one's own cups twenty percent of the time or less.
  • Speed: Speed is a more historical form of pong. It is Two Cup played with paddles with handles and rules regarding "low" shots do not apply. Vollies and serves are as low and fast as possible. As the name suggests, 'Speed' is a game of reflexes, not stamina. This game is popular at Phi Delta Alpha fraternity but is generally only played when alumni, who view modern "lob" pong as a bastardization of the original game, are in town.
  • Slam: Similar to volleyball, and played with paddles that have handles. It is an older version of pong, played by alumni of many houses, and played by current students at Phi Tau. Teams attempt to return low fast serves to teammates at the net who try to volley the ball at the opposing team's cups. See Slam pong for more detail.
  • 'Ruit: While traditional pong is the dominant drinking game within Dartmouth's social scene, the more widespread version, Beirut, is also played from time to time. Sigma Nu from 2003 to 2005 occasionally provided games of 9-base 'Ruit (45 cups on each side of the table, or one case of 30 beers) in its 'Ruit Lounge (since converted to other purposes).
  • War: If Tree is the checkers of pong, War is the chess of pong. A game that originated in Gamma Delta Chi in the mid 1990s by brother Zod. Each side has 9 cups of full beer. 7 "soldiers" near the center back of the table, 1 "cannon" on the back left and right corner of the table, and 1 "general" 1 foot away from the net. Opponents only drink on hits, and sinks capture cups and bring them to your side. The cannon represents your ability to slam. If the ball goes off the table, opponents may slam the ball, off the floor, back at your cups for hits. Every team must have a general, and once teams start losing cups, they move cups from their cannon and soldiers to replace the general. Aces are worth half of a beer.

[edit] Line-based variants

  • Death: Nine cups in a row, all touching the back edge of the table, centered left to right.
  • Wall: Line, played with cups lining the edge of the table closest to the player.
  • Great Wall of China: Cups lining all edges of the table.
  • Table: Cups covering the entire surface of the table. To make service possible, a team must initially must hit its own cups and clear out a patch of table.
  • Dam: 2 rows of Death, one in front of the other, with one row on top. When opposing team creates a separation in the cups, this is called a "dam break" and the defending team must drink every cup touching the break. This formation is played at Sigma Phi Epsilon and was invented by a Gamma Delta Chi.

[edit] Shrub-based variants

  • Social: Social is played by as many people fit around the table (or multiple tables side by side). Each player has a set formation of cups (oftentimes a shrub) and a paddle. Lob rules apply but you can hit it at any other players cups rather than just to the other side of the table. In addition, if the ball is hit off the table on any shot other than a serve, a player can hit the ball towards any other player - if it hits the target persons body they drink half a cup, if the target catches the ball the hitter drinks a half a cup, if it misses no one drinks and the game progresses.
  • Sequoia: One more row added to a Double-stemmed Tree, leading to a triangle of 15 cups, plus the 2 for the stem. 17 cups per side.
  • Tower of Boot: This arrangement is a Shrub on top of a Tree, with three cups on top of the Shrub, and finally a single cup on top of the 3. The formation is 4 cups high and includes 22 cups per side. This game is common at Gamma Delta Chi.
  • Red Dawn: Two tables placed side-by-side, with a 12-cup Tree at each corner pointed towards the center. Played with four teams of two people each, though typically the two pairs across from each other cooperate. This game is played as traditional pong, except that it is full contact when the ball goes out of bounds, sometimes resulting in scrums on the floor. Play usually starts with one team serving easily to set up their partner team, who tries to hit the Tree of one of the opposing teams. Players from that team are allowed to screen the shot or try to distract the player as long as they do not touch the ball or player. This game is played at Theta Delta Chi fraternity.
  • Black Forest: Several variants are known by this name. At some houses this simply refers to a game of Social where each player has a Tree as their formation, often played on two (or more) tables placed side by side. Other houses play modified Socials rules that dictate where players are allowed to hit the ball. At Psi Upsilon fraternity players on one side of the two tables try to hit the Trees on the opposite side.

[edit] Ship-based variants

  • Brutal: Ship, with the addition of a six-boat and a seven-boat. 27 cups per side, plus the mine.
  • BattleStar Gallactica: Ship, Death, and Tree all on the same table at once. 34 cups per side, plus the mine.
  • TowerStar Gabootica: Ship, Death, and Tower of Boot all on the same table at once. Requires at least two 30-packs of beer to play. 41 Cups per side, plus the mine.
  • Pearl Harbor/Midway: Two tables placed side-by-side, with a Ship formation plus a six-boat and seven-boat each quadrant. Each quadrant is manned by teams of three players, with only two players playing at any given time. Gameplay follows traditional Ship rules, with the additional that, as in Social, players can hit towards any quadrant. 27 cups per side, plus the mine.
  • Keg-Kicker: Two tables placed side-by-side, with boats from 2-boat through 15-boat placed on each quadrant. Gameplay follows Midway rules. As the name suggests, this game requires a complete keg to play, as well as 4 or 5 hours. 119 cups per side, plus the mine.
  • Amphibious Assault: Played at Gamma Delta Chi only. Two tables are put together. Each team plays with a set-up of Ship and War.

[edit] History-based variants

  • Vietnam: A game based on the Vietnam War and involving 90 cups per side. Vietnam is played on two or three tables arranged adjacently, one side arranged in a Tree formation representing "America". The other side is arranged at random representing the "Viet-Cong" or "VC". This variant is rarely played due to the excessive amounts of beer required. In the current version played almost exclusively at Panarchy, 45 cups are used per side. Every time a VC cup is "removed from play" (sunk or hit twice) it is immediately refilled and placed back on the table in a place of the VC's choosing, with a running tally of "removed cups" kept. The Americans play out a 15-cup side, which is set in a Sequoia formation with no stem. Every time the entire stemless Sequoia is removed, a new one is added. There is also the "Tet Offensive," where after 20 cups are "removed" from the VC side, the VC form a standard Tree (11 cups) placing the other 4 wherever they'd like. As each cup from the VC Tree is removed it can be replaced anywhere on the table. While the game is designed for 45 cups per side in total, the game can be extended by rounds of 15 to suit the number of players per side (which generally number 3-4 involving a rotation.) Vietnam is part of the Panarchy Epic Pong Series.
  • Gettysburg: A special form of pong created by the Panarchy Class of 2004 in tribute to the epic American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg. The game involves two tables and four score and seven (87) cups a side . With the two tables arranged adjacently, the game is played with three players on each side. The ball may be hit by any player on a side at any time. Serves rotate in order down the line. Gettysburg is usually played with a team of 4-5 players on each side allowing for a rotation. The battle is divided into three "days" with increasing cups per side. The formations aim for historical accuracy and include highlights like the Union fishhook on Day Two around Little Round Top, in which the cup on the end (which would represent Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain) cannot be hit, only sunk; Pickett's Charge for the South on Day Three in which all 32 cups are stacked in a 4 x 8 rectangle centered at the far back end of the table. After every four cups are removed, the back line of the formation (or whatever remains of it) is moved to the front as the charge continues towards the center. As an additional rule, Days One and Two are complete when all of either the Union or Confederacy's cups are removed. When the forces reconvene for the following day, all remaining cups from the earlier day on the victorious side remain, i.e. if the Union wins Day One with three full cups and one half cup remaining, they set up their Day Two formations and leave those four cups on the table in as close to their original positions as possible. Gettysburg is part of the Panarchy Epic Pong series.
  • D - Day: A tribute to World War II's Battle of Normandy and another member of the Panarchy Epic Pong Series. Like Gettysburg, D-Day is played on two tables involving two teams which compete with three players on table at a time, and strives for historical accuracy. The German side should use one cup of Becks per five cups of "base" beer (usually Keystone Light). On the Allied side, different units also require different types of beer. Canadian units use Labatt Blue, the small handful of Scotch/Irish units (or a small number of British units) should be played with Guinness. British units in general can be apportioned at the team's desire between Newcastle Brown Ale and Olde English Malt Liqour.
  • Henge: On a table divided into five or more irregular pie slices, each player arranges cups into two or more Trilithons (three-cup stacks) and an empty Tourist. Hitting a supporting stone in a Trilithon requires drinking down to it unless the player can successfully pull the base so that the top stone lands upright on the table. This is almost impossible, so there is a penalty for failure. Any player who prefers to put off finishing a cup can pour the beer into the Tourist for later; any serving player who wishes to challenge his competitors can call "Tourist Move!" and relocate his Tourist while drinking half, which forces all other players to do the same. A plastic Halloween witch that cackles when a paddle is passed in front of it may be kept in the center of the table. Loose costumes that permit the Druid Salute may be worn. The smooth sounds of John Watanabe may be played on a boom box. The game is suitable for indoor or outdoor play.

[edit] External links

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