Variations of Scoring Cornhole Games

Okay, so you have the basics of how to play cornhole; you have practiced tossing and perhaps even competed with a friend or family member and now you want to know how the game is actually scored. There are numerous ways that people keep score, along with a variety of rules that they use to make the game interesting for themselves. This article will list a few of the various ways to score cornhole.

Baseball style

If you play the baseball style cornhole game, then it doesn’t matter whether the bean bags land except when they go in the hole. Each player will toss, one at a time, as they normally would, until all four bags each (eight total) are tossed. This will conclude one inning and they will add up any bags that made it through the hole. These will be considered ‘runs’.

Turn around and toss for the second inning. Continue to add up the ‘runs’ that are scored through nine innings and the person with the most ‘runs’ wins.

Traditional scoring

The more traditional method of scoring cornhole is that both players will play for a score of 21 (or 11, depending on each person’s preference). The players begin with zero and toss their first set of bean bags, alternating throws. The scoring is as follows: 3 points for each bean bag that is tossed through the hole, 1 point each for every bean bag that stays on the board. (Any toss that bounces on the ground and then rolls onto the board does not count).

When all four bags are tossed, the players add up their points. The player with highest total subtracts his or her opponent’s score from theirs and this equals the total points earned in that round. For example, Player A tosses 1 through the hole and 2 on the board and Player B tossed 3 on the board. Player A earned 3 + 2 points, or 5. Player B earned 3 points. Player A gets 5 – 3, or 2 points for that round. Score: Player A: 2, Player B: 0.

The players continue playing until one player reaches 21 points and is declared the winner. A variation on the scoring is that in order to win, a player must hit 21 points exactly. If they go over (for example, Player A had 19 points, tossed a bean bag through the hole -for 3 points- and Player B earned no points that round, then Player A has 22 points for the game), then that player will go back to 11.

You can play however the scoring is most comfortable for you and your family or friends. There is an endless array of possibilities when it comes to creative scoring for cornhole and the most important thing is to have fun. Unless your career is made by playing cornhole, the score should be the most minor aspect of what is a fun and exciting way to spend time with family and friends.