Tag: beer pong

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Quarantined: Welcome to Fantasy Beer Pong!

Want a piece of the action but are not able to play? We’ve got you cover! Fantasy Beer Pong is here! 
Fantasy Beer Pong? What the front door is that?

Quarantined: Fantasy Beer Pong

It’s essentially the same thing you’ve been doing for years with football, baseball, basketball and every other big league organization with one slight payout twist. The actual players on the winning owner’s roster will get paid too! 

To register, you simply need to go to BPONG.COM and purchase a ticket that will provide you ownership of a team. 

The Draft

Once all teams are accounted for, each of the 20 team owners will be invited to a virtual draft. A snake style draft will take place. The draft order will be randomized. Owners will fill their rosters with players participating in the Quarantined: Virtual Beer Pong Championships. A LIVE thread will be created on a BPONG.COM social media platform where each pick will be announced.

Scoring

Each roster will consist of 5 players. All owners will earn 1-point for each win their players get throughout the tournament. All owners will earn 3-points for each pod win any of their players get throughout the tournament. One owner will earn 3-points from the final pod winner. One owner will earn 3-points for having the player with the best overall (cumulative) record. One owner will earn 3-points for having the Female player with the best overall (cumulative) record. Each team will have a total cumulative cup differential kept for tie-breaker purposes.

The owner with the most points wins! Not only will that owner receive a $500 prize, the players on his Fantasy Beer Pong roster will share a $250 prize too! The owner who finishes 2nd in the standings will receive a $250 prize. 

Become a Quarantined: Fantasy Beer Pong Owner

To compete for your share of the $1,000 Fantasy Beer Pong prize pool, it will run you $50 via BPONG.COM. 
Players who are participating in the Virtual Beer Pong Championships are welcome to become Fantasy Beer Pong owners too! 

For more details about Fantasy Beer Pong, Quarantined: Virtual Beer Pong Championships, The World Series of Beer Pong or anything beer  pong related, please visit us at BPONG.COM and our Facebook page or group!

– BPONG

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Virtual Beer Pong Championships: Platform, Setup and Requirements

Virtual Beer Pong Championships

If you plan on playing in BPONG’s Virtual Beer Pong Championships, below is what you need to know for the platform, setup and requirements.  Please read thoroughly and be ready to play!

Some of you may be more familiar with playing a game of beer pong online than others. However, we’ll be switching things up just a bit from what you may be use to!

Please make sure to familiarize yourself with what you’ll need to do to participate! 

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Platform: Facebook Rooms

Initially, online play was primarily ran through the Skype platform but has more recently transitioned to the Zoom platform. Though both are viable options, there are some things that we can’t accomplish using Zoom or Skype – not being able to record each game being the most notable.

Utilizing Facebook’s new “Room” feature we will be able to not only record each game but live stream every game for all to view!

Here’s how it will work:

1) During each round of the Virtual Beer Pong Championships all players will enter into a group chat via Facebook Messenger with a tournament organizer and the other players in their pod. 

2) A random player, appointed by the organizer in each group chat, will create a “Room” in the (Beer) Pong Players of the World group. 

3) They will then invite and/or all of the other players in the pod to join the room to play all pod games. (Anyone can join unless settings are changed to restrict people from joining.) 

Players in each pod may decide whether they want to limit their room to just their pod players or allow others to actually join the room.

Having each game recorded will enable our ability to monitor everyone more closely. If something is called into question, we’ll be able to go back and look at what caused the dispute to better assess the situation.

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Setup: 

  • All players must have their own connection. If you are in a location where multiple players are participating, each player will need to have a device and equipment of their own. 
  • All players must find a recording angle that includes their entire playing area. The entire playing area can be defined as your full table and the immediate area around it. (1 foot to all sides) 

The goal is to provide a view for your teammates and opponents that does not obstruct the flight of the ball and eliminates blind spots where someone could be dropping the balls in from above, out of view from the camera. 

The angle should also provide a view slightly above the rim of the cups. (Your camera should not be cup height or below.) Your teammates and opponents should be able to see the ball go in the cup. 

  • After each made shot, you must pull your own cup prior to the next shot being taken. You must show the ball in the cup, upon pulling the cup, prior to reaching into the cup to remove the ball. 
  • Prior to playing in this tournament, please find an angle that will pass a camera setup inspection if someone requests one.

If you have questions about whether your camera setup is acceptable, please feel free to reach out to [email protected] to have it verified at least 2 days prior to the tournament.

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Requirements: 

All players must have an Official BPONG table or a generic table of equal dimensions.

All players must have Official BPONG cups. The older clear BPONG cups will not be accepted. White BPONG cups must be used. 

All players must have Official BPONG racks.

If you do not have the needed equipment to participate in this tournament, you may order everything from BPONG.COM/SHOP to get yourself ready! Please order any needed items as soon as possible to ensure it arrives in time.

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If you have any questions about these set up requirements, please feel free to reach out to [email protected]!

– BPONG

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Quarantined: Virtual Beer Pong Championships’ $10K prize pool increased!

Thanks to a generous sponsorship from Throwing Chips Poker Club, we are excited to announce an addition to the Quarantined: Virtual Beer Pong Championships prize pool! 

Founded by a group of first generation beer pong players, Throwing Chips Poker Club was excited to see the new tournament format (and a large prize pool) during a time when we’ve all been deprived of any major beer pong tournaments. With 48 paid spots, there’s a substantial amount of opportunity to cash in this event, but none of those spots were exclusive to our female players. 

Throwing Chips Poker Club has changed that! With their contributions to the event, we will be adding a $250 prize to our payouts, which will go to the female with the best overall (cumulative) tournament record, pushing our paid spots to 49! That’s nearly half of the field, as registrations are capped at 100 players.

Show your appreciation to our sponsor by downloading the Poker Bro’s App and using Club ID: 102534. All new players get a 20% deposit bonus.

Throwing Chips Poker Club

– BPONG

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PONGDEMIC: A Virtual Beer Pong Experience

June 24th, 2020. It’s currently 5:00pm in Las Vegas, Nevada – Home of The World Series of Beer Pong, an event that has taken place annually since 2006. Right at this very moment is when the first Side Event for The WSOBP XV was originally scheduled to start.

In an alternate universe, those of you who earned the opportunity to be appointed a Captain for The WSOBP 6v6 Draft had just spent your day in the owner’s poolside cabanas drafting your squads alongside some of your best friends from around the world that you don’t get to see very often. There was endless sunshine, bottomless beer buckets and frozen drinks with the little umbrella.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to have that day together as planned this year and we are not about to call your squad to its tables for your first 6v6 match-up.

While we are still uncertain as to the new dates when we will be able to host The World Series of Beer Pong, we have put together a first-of-its-kind virtual event to help hold everyone over!

BPONG.COM is proud to announce the largest virtual beer pong tournament to date!

The Quarantined: Virtual Beer Pong Championships will pay out $10,000 in prizes!

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Tournament Details: 

  • Dates – July 24th – 26th, 2020

  • Prize Pool – $10,000
  • Paid Prize Spots – 48
  • Registration Fee – $150 per player
  • Registration Cap – 100 Players
  • Registration Deadline – July 17th, 2020 8:00pm CST 
  • Rules – Official WSOBP 
  • Rules Link – https://bpong.com/wsobp/official-rules-of-the-world-series-of-beer-pong/
  • Equipment requirements: BPONG table, BPONG (white) cups and racks. (Approved table of same dimensions is ok.)
  • Organizer Incentives – (See Below)

  • Set up and Connection requirements: (See Below) 
  • Minimum Tournament Games – 8 per player
  • Maximum Tournament Games – 16 per player
  • Format: X-Factor (Doubles)

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X-Factor Explained: 


X-Factor is a format that not only balances the playing field but also isolates the player who is making the biggest impact on games. Making the biggest impact does not always equate to who is putting the ball in the cup the most. X-Factor rewards the player who finds a way to win regardless of who they are playing with or against!

For this specific tournament, pods of 5 are formed throughout 4-rounds of competition. All players will participate in Round 1 and Round 2. (8 guaranteed games)

In every round, players will play 4 games. Players will rotate teammates and play one game with each player in their pod. Players will play against each player in their pod twice. Game records (W/L/CD) are kept individually. After all games are completed, the player in each pod with the best overall record and cup differential is considered the “X-Factor” and the winner of the pod. 

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Structure & Advancement Explained: 

  • Round 1: (Friday, July 24th – 8:00pm PST)

    The first round will consist of 20 pods. 

    Each pod will consist of 5 players.

    Each player will play 4 games.

    Pod assignments will be randomly generated.

    All players will advance to Round (2) and be seeded based on their Round (1) pod standing.

    All players who take 1st Place within their pod will receive $150. (20 Players)
  • Round 2: (Saturday, July 25th – 8:00pm PST)

    The second round will consist of 20 pods.

    Each pod will consist of 5 players.

    Each player will play 4 games.

    Pods will be seeded based on where each player finished in their Round 1 pod.

    All 1st Place finishers will be in four 5-player pods.

    All 2nd Place finishers will be in four 5-player pods.

    All 3rd Place finishers will be in four 5-player pods.

    All 4th Place finishers will be in four 5-player pods.

    All 5th Place finishers will be in four 5-player pods.

    The winners of each pod advance to Round 3. 

    Round (2) pod 1, 2, 3 and 4 winners receive $250. (4 Players.)

    Round (2) pod 5, 6, 7 and 8 winners receive $200. (4 Players.)

    Round (2) pod 1, 2, 3 and 4 second place finishers receive $50. (4 Players.)
  • Round 3: (Sunday, July 26th – 6:00pm PST)

    The third round will consist of 5 pods.

    Each pod will consist of 5 players.

    Each player will play 4 games.

    4 of the 5 pods will be seeded with one winner from each tier of pods.

    Meaning, a winner from each of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place pods will compose each pod.

    1 of the 5 pods will be a redemption pod. It will consist of all the four second place finishers from the top tier pods. It will also include ONE second place finisher with the best overall record from the second tier of pods.

    Round (3) pod winners advance and receive $350. (5 players)
    Round (3) second place finishers receive $50 upon their elimination. (5 players)

  • Round 4: (Sunday, July 26th – 9:00pm PST)

    The fourth and final round will consist of 1 pod.

    The pod will consist of 5 players

    Each player will play 4 games.

    Pod winner receives $1,250.

    Pod second place finisher receives $500.

    Pod third place finisher receives $350.

    Pod fourth place finisher receives $250.

    Pod fifth place finisher receives $150.

    Best Cumulative Individual Record/CD – $500.

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Set up and Connection Requirements:

  • Must have Official BPONG table, (white) BPONG cups and BPONG racks. (A generic table of the same size and dimensions of a BPONG table is ok upon approval.)
  • Entire table and playing area must be visible at all times. (Table, player and the area behind the table showing it’s clear from all people.)
  • No shared connections unless your partner is playing in the same game.
  • Must show all cups being empty prior to starting.
  • Players must pull their own made shots.
  • Players must show made shots prior to removal.
  • Must join our Facebook Group – (Beer) Pong Players of the World 

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Scoring:

  • Each pod will enter into a Facebook Messenger group chat with an organizer.
  • After each game is completed, the winners will report the score in the group chat.
  • If there is a score discrepancy it must be addressed at the time the score is submitted to the group chat.
  • Players will individually accumulate a Win/Loss record with a cup differential that will determine their placement within their pod.

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Tiebreakers:

  • The player with the higher head-to-head win/loss/cd receives the higher placement. 

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Rule Adjustments:

  • Bouncing is worth 1.
  • Stalling distractions are not permitted.
  • All other rules should be interpreted, played and enforced as they would be during a live event.

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Organizer Incentives:

  • 5 spots are available to establish organizers who might be interested in becoming more involved in this event!
  • Apply to receive discounts on tournament entry to host qualifiers.
  • Receive a cash bonus if the tournament sells out!
  • Interested organizers should reach out to [email protected] ASAP, as this opportunity will go fast!

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Prizes: ($10,000):

  • Round 1: ($3,000 Total)
    • 1st Place Pod 1 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 2 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 3 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 4 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 5 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 6 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 7 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 8 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 9 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 10 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 11 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 12 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 13 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 14 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 15 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 16 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 17 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 18 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 19 – $150
    • 1st Place Pod 20 – $150
  • Round 2: ($2,000 Total)
    • 1st Place Pod 1 – $250
    • 1st Place Pod 2 – $250
    • 1st Place Pod 3 – $250
    • 1st Place Pod 4 – $250
    • 1st Place Pod 5 – $200
    • 1st Place Pod 6 – $200
    • 1st Place Pod 7 – $200
    • 1st Place Pod 8 – $200
    • 2nd Place Pod 1 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 2 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 3 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 4 – $50
  • Round 3: ($2,000 Total)
    • 1st Place Pod 1 – $350
    • 1st Place Pod 2 – $350
    • 1st Place Pod 3 – $350
    • 1st Place Pod 4 – $350
    • 1st Place Pod 5 – $350
    • 2nd Place Pod 1 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 2 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 3 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 4 – $50
    • 2nd Place Pod 5 – $50
  • Round 4: ($2,500 Total)
    • 1st Place Pod 1 – $1,250
    • 2nd Place Pod 1 – $500
    • 3rd Place Pod 1 – $350
    • 4th Place Pod 1 – $250
    • 5th Place Pod 1 – $150

  • Tournament Bonus: ($500)
    • Best Cumulative Individual Record/CD – $500

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Tickets will go on sale on June 26th, 2020 at 11:00AM PST in honor of when Day 1 of The World Series of Beer Pong Main Event would have started!

More details about this tournament can be found on its event pages via BPONG.COM and social media.

Any questions about this event or anything relating to BPONG.COM or The World Series of Beer Pong can be directed to [email protected]!

– The BPONG Team

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Take your beer pong game to the next level!

Pro Interview

Many still think “binge drinking party game” when they hear “beer pong.” However, over the past decade we’ve developed an extension to that root, establishing a much greater value to the game. The World Series of Beer Pong has paid out over $500,000 in prizes through its Main Event. The WSOBP side events and affiliated organization’s competitive beer pong tournaments add a significant chunk of change on top of that $500K to total a substantial sum of cash that has been awarded to “professional” beer pong players all around the world.
 Continue reading Take your beer pong game to the next level!

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Chemistry Counts

As The World Series of Beer Pong XI approaches (July 6-10th @ Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino) and players begin to lock in their partners for the event, there is a lot to consider.  Partner selection for a large, super-competitive event like The WSOBP is key.

As it turns out, chemistry still counts for something in beer pong. 

Continue reading Chemistry Counts

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Do you remember your first time?

WSOBP I Winners

Preparing for your first World Series of Beer Pong tournament can be difficult; especially, if you haven’t had the pleasure of attending one of our affiliate organization’s fantastic pong events beforehand.  We are going to give you all who don’t quite know what to expect a little insight on how to better strap yourself in to make the best of your experience at The World Series of Beer Pong!

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. It is very hard to describe the adrenaline that will rush through your veins when you walk into a Las Vegas Ballroom filled with hundreds of beer pong tables, see thousands of beer pong players and realize you are about to play beer pong for $50,000; even having already experienced it.  Therefore, trying to imagine what it will be like having never been before is nearly impossible.  The environment is one like you’ve never experienced.

In any case, the first thing to always remember is that you are there to have fun!  There will be teams that go 12-0 during preliminary play; there will be teams that go 0-12.  Nobody thinks they are going to lose every single game walking into the tournament but if it happens to you, take it with a grain of salt and you’ll still have an amazing time.

There will be unicorns and aliens walking around Westgate Resort & Casino that you won’t be able to recognize because they will look just like everybody else in the ballroom.  Though, if you feel like you may have been matched up against a pair of monsters during prelims, don’t get discouraged.  You could be playing a former World Series Champion or a player who has banked 10’s of thousands of dollars playing this sport over the last decade.  Focus up, play to the best of your abilities and take notes.

Don’t let these guys get in your head either!  The best defense is a strong mental game and a witty mouth.  If you’ve let someone trash talk their way under your skin, you’ve lost the game and more importantly, you won’t be having any fun.  Appreciate their intent (trying to win the game), laugh if they say something funny, don’t take it to heart, realize that it’s all a part of the game and don’t let it affect yours!

If you are there for more than just the party and beer you should shoot for a 7-5 record during prelims and hold your breathe.  7-5 has been good enough to make the cut for the Day 3 Playoff Bracket in most years.  On more rare occasions 6-6 records have made the cut, however, there have also been years when you’ve needed to have a polished 8-4 record to get in.

If you make it to Day 3:

Relax!  Come ready to play, but relax.  The environment is incredible and different from the first two days.  Everyone wants to bring their A game, but it happens all to often that players who’ve never been there before become overwhelmed, play anxious and get upset with themselves when they don’t shoot up to their abilities.

If you advance, keep your head on your shoulders and don’t let the satisfaction of potentially surpassing your expectations dilute your focus.  You never know whose day it is and it may just be yours!

Though eventually, everybody falls but 1 team.  When it’s your turn to get erased from the bracket, stick around and pick someone to root for.  Supporting your friends (or maybe your new friends from another country) is almost as fun as playing yourself!

If you do NOT make it to Day 3:

It’s not the end of the world.  It was your first crack at it and the competition is tough!  Take advantage of the many side events, sponsor activities and the one thing that none of us have yet to experience at The World Series of Beer Pong, the summertime, Vegas sun!

If you’ve enjoyed your time, get to know some people and find a place to play close to home. Elevate your game, come back next year and do it all again!

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A World Series of Beer Pong Satellite Tournament Weekend Recap

This past weekend showed the prowess of The World Series of Beer Pong™, as more than 20 players qualified themselves for The WSOBP™ Main Event by securing a tournament victory at one of the five World Series of Beer Pong™ Satellite™ Tournaments that took place around the country!

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Northwest Beer Pong:

We’ll start our recap tour in Kirkland, Washington, at Rose Hill Hideout where Northwest Beer Pong was slated to qualify a team for The World Series of Beer Pong™ XI! Participants were randomly matched against opponents for 6 preliminary games that would be used to seed teams into a double-elimination playoff bracket.

Former World Series of Beer Pong Champion, Matt White, teamed up with Brad “Moose” Mosdell and paid tribute to Chris Cash, a close friend of Matt’s that had recently passed away, by playing under the team name: “Cash Money’s Final Hand.” It’s to no surprise that a World Champion’s tournament dedication to a fallen friend would end in victory. White and Mosdell pulled through to claim the 1st place prize of qualified entry into The World Series of Beer Pong™ XI, complete with 4-night accommodations at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Thomas Hoistad and Chris Sherwood were beat out on the final table, after fighting their way through nearly 20 teams, but didn’t exactly go home empty handed. Chris and Thomas pocketed a quick $200 for their efforts.

SatelliteWinnersWashington

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SoCal’s BidFEST:

Next, we head a bit south and pick up on a ton of action at Johnny V’s in sunny San Diego. Ocean Grown Pong filled up the entire weekend with tournaments and handed out 14 individual bids (bid = qualified entry into The WSOBP™ & Hotel accommodations) via 8 different World Series of Beer Pong™ XI Satellite Tournaments! That’s over $5000 worth of prizes that OGP gave out at The 2nd Annual SoCal WSOBP™ BidFEST!

Friday’s event consisted of a Men’s and Women’s Singles (1v1) tournament, as well as, a 2v2 double-elimination tournament. Former World Series of Beer Pong™ Women’s Singles Champion, Brandi Wrathall of Nevada, took down the ladies tournament, while Nicholas Bland of California cashed in on the Men’s side of the singles tournaments. Former World Series of Beer Pong™ Champion, Byron Findley of California, teamed up with fellow Californian, Zakary Corsi, and claimed the last seat in the winner’s circle on Friday night via a victory in the 2v2 tournament.

SatelliteWinnerWomensSingles SatelliteWinnerMensSinglesSatelliteWinner2v2OGP

Saturday’s schedule had 3 different tournaments on tap that all varied in format. The first was a multi-partner tournament, meaning each player participated with a different partner in two separate brackets with the winners of each bracket meeting in a best 2-out-of-3 final series. Ryan Smith and Scott Muller, both of California, came out on top of the multi-partner tournament. The 2nd of the trio of Saturday tournaments was a Co-ed tournament. Each team had to consist of 1 male and 1 female player. Ryan Smith collected his 2nd victory of the evening, as Charlie De Hoop, also of California, stamped her ticket into The WSOBP™ Main Event. Finishing off a day full of pong was a change of pace for most, as “House Rules” were implemented into a competitive tournament. David Diaz and Justin Herman, both of California, claimed the bid, elbows and all!

SatelliteWinnersMultiPartnerDay1 SatelliteWinnersCoed SatelliteWinnersHouseRules

Sunday kicked-off the final day of BidFEST with another multi-partner tournament and finished with a tourney where an element of surprise was thrown into the mix as players were NOT allowed to pick their own partner! Each team was paired by randomly drawing names from the participant pool to complete teams. David Diaz finished the weekend and collected multiple wins, as he and Ethan Wald finished atop the field in the multi-partner tournament. Ethan Wald also walked away with multiple wins on the weekend as he doubled-up on Sunday and won the Random Tournament alongside Mark Pimentel.

SatelliteWinnersRandomsOGP

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Texas Beer Pong Tour:

Continuing to the south on our recap tour, we pull into Old School Bar and Grill in Austin, Texas, where The Texas Beer Pong Tour awarded multiple players with WSOBP™ bids and cold hard cash!

3v3 was the name of the game in Texas! During 3v3 play, each team has 3 players per side and sets up an extra 5 cups. (15 cups in total.) 3 balls are shot per-side! Roland Ortiz, Adrian Damasco, and Mando Roman filled out the roster that took home the WSOBP™ XI Bids.

Texas also got a little tricky and mixed in a Random draw tournament of their own, which rewarded Robert Williamson with his qualified entry into The WSOBP™ Main Event. His partner Rob Dix cashed in on a $300 cash prize for his share of the random draw prize, as his ticket to the big show in Vegas was written long ago. Dix also picked up an additional win with his partner James Alanis while playing for qualified entry into The Spring Classic!

SatelliteWinners3v3 SatelliteWinnersRandomsAustin SatelliteWinnersSpringClassic

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Chicago’s HOME Satellite:

Just a “few” miles to the northeast, The Chicago House of Music & Entertainment was rocking with nearly 100 players from 11 different states, who partook in a Quad-Bracket World Series of Beer Pong™ XI Satellite Tournament.

Each player was allowed 1 entry into 4 individual single elimination brackets. Each player had to play with a different partner in each of those 4 brackets. The winners of each individual bracket met in a best 2-out-of-3 semi-finals series. The winners of the semi-finals squared off in a best 2-out-of-3 final series.

Brendan Dyelle of Rochester, Michigan, picked a couple of doozy partners from St. Louis and came roaring out of 2 different brackets, placing him in both semi-final series. The first semi-finals saw Dyelle and former World Series of Beer Pong™ Champion, Ross Hampton, take down Scott Frew and Andy DeCaluwe of Illinois to advance to the finals.

Dyelle prevailed again in the second semi-final bracket with Brent Saale beating out Johnny Fourdyce of Illinois and his partner Michael “Sunshine” Kloiber of Kentucky, to advance both of his teams to the final series. Wait what? (This means, Brendan Dyelle had already won the entire tournament without even having to play in the final series.) Dyelle kicked back and watched his two partners play 1v1 to decide who’d share his first place prize with him and who’d take a share of 2nd. Ross Hampton trumped Brent Saale 2-0 in the final series to claim his share of 1st place.

Dyelle took home a bid to The WSOBP™ and $375 cash. Hampton banked his 2nd bid of the season and $250 in cash. Saale walked away with $125 for his efforts.

SatelliteWinners227

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Michigan Satellite:

Last but not least, we make one more stop and travel even further north to Bay Lanes Bowling and Banquet Center in Bay City, Michigan, where Boozin’ Bob decided 3 days before the big weekend that he wanted to be apart of all the fun!

It’s risky business putting so much up for grabs with such little time for players to secure partners and make plans to play but Boozin’ Bob made it happen! He saw an opportunity with some of the best players in the state making the trip down to Chicago to open up the field for non-bid winners to finally scratch their names into the reservation book at The WSOBP™ for the first time, and he capitalized on that opportunity.

The format varied from all the others over the weekend. It was a double-bracket tournament; however, players were only allowed to pick their partners for one of them. The other side of the bracket was random draw. Brandon Juracek, better known as “Homeless” and his partner Clarence Johnson chalked up the Satellite Tournament win.

SatelliteWinnersBoozin

Being Johnson’s first bid win, he provided us with a quote where he unknowingly described a feeling he’ll now get around the same time every year, for the rest of his life…

“I’m hyped about Vegas! Not even gonna lie!”

Me too, Clarence. Me too.

_

On behalf of BPONG™ and The World Series of Beer Pong™, we’d like to thank all the organizers who put so much time and effort into making these awesome tournaments happen! We’d also like to thank all the players who came out to play this past weekend!

If you’d like more information about The World Series of Beer Pong™, how YOU could potentially run a Satellite™ Tournament or anything BPONG™ related, please feel free to reach out to [email protected].

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The Top Ten Reasons The World Series of Beer Pong XI is Your Can’t-Miss Event This Year

 

Ah, beer pong. The ubiquitous party game turned competitive sport. Complete with big-time payouts to its biggest stars! (Like $50,000 big!) Just like poker, baseball, or any other American institution, it has its own national event, The World Series of Beer Pong (The WSOBP).  Whether you’ve seen it on The Jay Leno Show, ESPN or read about it in Maxim, The WSOBP is getting bigger, badder, and more exciting each year. This year, The World Series of Beer Pong has ditched the New Year’s party for some fun in the sun and will be held in the summer (July 6th-10th, 2016) for the first time ever!  With July fast approaching, we’re counting down the top ten reasons to head to Vegas this July and get your balls wet at this can’t miss event!

Top-10-Reasons-to-Go-to-The-WSOBP-10-Vegas 10. Vegas

Sin City needs no introduction.  With its limitless menu of strippers, call girls, all-night clubs, celebrity sightings, and general lack of standards; Vegas is not just a city, it’s an alternate reality in which the laws of the everyday world seemingly do not apply.  It’s the reason why it’s completely plausible that “The Hangover” was based on a true story. It couldn’t be truer that you’ve never really partied until you’ve partied in Vegas – and things really heat up in the Summer time. What better way to party in Vegas than to party in Vegas at The World Series of Beer Pong!

Top-10-Reasons-To-Go-WSOBP XI-9 Costumes 9. The Costumes

From barely-dressed women and cross-dressing men to bearded banditos and full-body-spandex, in ten years The WSOBP has seen its share of costumes (as well as improvisation and performance art).  Nothing says, “miss this shot” quite like something obscene lingering in your field of vision, and in the game of beer pong, this fact is well known, and indeed celebrated.  Each year, the bar is raised (lowered?), and the legend continues.

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI-8 The Sponsors 8. The Sponsors

Nothing says “take out your wallet” quite like a scantily-clad, cup-hungry damsel and the businesses that sponsor The WSOBP are well aware of that fact.  Suit ‘em up & send ‘em out!  Or don’t suit em up, whatever works.  Each year, the sponsor babes crank it up a notch and give us some eye candy we’ll never forget.  We love you, ladies. Don’t dismiss all the other awesome sponsors that don’t involve boobs and always make sure to take care of all the players! From free hangover pills and party supplies to innovative new games and products that just hit the market, The World Series of Beer Pong has it all!

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI- 7 Side Events7. The Side Events

Even if you get eliminated from the Main Event, it doesn’t mean you have to pack your bags and go home. You can play in one of the many side events taking place alongside the Main Event and you’ll be right back in the game. Don’t have the cash to pony up for Main Event entry? No worries, there will be thousands in prize money up for grabs, and the damage to your wallet for registration is miniscule. Rumor has it that the Singles tournament is upping the stakes this year…

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI- 6 The Playing Field6. The Playing Field (A REAL World Series of Beer Pong!)

Ever seen Beerfest?  Yeah, it’s kinda like that.  Oh, except it’s in real life, so unless you fly intercontinental on a regular basis, you’re probably never going to play a Japanese team, an Irish team, or an Austrian team. However, at The WSOBP it’s par for the course. The World Series of Beer Pong is VERY LITERALLY A REAL WORLD SERIES! With tournaments like the European, Swiss, Australian and various other “Series of Beer Pong” tournaments sprouting up around the globe (that all have a Grand Prize of qualified entry into The WSOBP Main Event), there’s no telling where your next opponents may hail from, but there’s no doubt that the competition will be tough!

Even better than the number of people you’ll meet from places you might not have even known existed, is the friendships & relationships that are formed and last a lifetime! There’s no better feeling than spinning a globe and having a high likelihood that you’ll have a friend that is more than willing to let you crash on their couch, no matter where your finger lands. As the years pass, you’ll find yourself giddy for The WSOBP just to see all your friends from distant places! Some of our veteran players may argue that this could easily be number 1 on this list!

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI-5 The Pros 5. The Pros

Like the best of the best in any sport, many of beer pong’s greats need no introduction and are known by only one moniker – Ron, Pop, Kessler, Marx…

A wise man once said truth is stranger than fiction, and this has never been truer than in the world of professional beer pong.  Case in point: Ron Hamilton.  A combination of Barry Bonds, Dennis Rodman, and a charging rhinoceros all rolled into one, Ron’s nerve-rattling antics, insane hair, and legendary appetite for Cinnamon Life cereal are second only to his unquenchable thirst for cups and unsettling tendency to spam every last person on his Facebook friend list (we’re serious—don’t friend him).  But with Smashing Time having unprecedented back-to-back WSOBP victories, he and his partner Mike Popielarski stand-alone in the world of beer pong.

However, the line of true characters you’ll see at The World Series of Beer Pong from the planets most accomplished pongers is not one lacking in numbers. Unlike all other professional sports; player trash talking and personalities are not only celebrated within our sport but are strategic components of the game’s top players to secure victories over other elite opponents. If you watch and listen closely, you’ll develop an appreciation for each stars unique craft.

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI-4 The Experience4. The Experience

An estimated five hundred teams will be at The WSOBP this year.  We’ll say that again: 500 TEAMS!  They will come from almost every US State, and many will fly in from other continents.  You may be the best at your local bar or fraternity, but until you’ve been to Vegas, you’re just playing in the sandlot.  The WSOBP is the only place to come see where you really stand in the land of competitive beer pong. The way you look at the game will never be the same!

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI- 3 Money 3. The Money

There’s not much to sell here. We pay you money to be good at beer pong. Not just a couple bucks either. The 1st place prize at The World Series of Beer Pong Main Event is $50,000!! We’ve paid out over $500,000 to our Main Event players, even more if you count our side events and millions if you count all our affiliate & satellite tournaments throughout the years! So next time someone gives you grief for playing and asks you where beer pong is going to get you in life, make sure you check them hard on the spot!

Top-10-Reasons-To-Attend-WSOBP XI-2 The Environment2. The Environment

Let’s face it, you likely won’t get a chance to hit a home run at Wrigley Field or make a game winning basket at Madison Square Garden, but you stand a good chance of sinking a clutch shot at The World Series of Beer Pong! Feeling the adrenaline rush of a professional athlete during performance is so much greater than any buzz a beer could possibly give you. It’s impossible to ignore the endorphins rushing through your veins from the second you step foot in the ballroom. You feel the bass from the music flutter your heartbeat. You hear the chatter of a huge crowd. You see thousands of people and hundreds of tables set up. There is anxiousness, tension and excitement lingering in the air. YOU are in the SAME FIELD as the BEST players in the WORLD and the fact of the matter is that everyone starts square. Even. 0-0. Equal opportunity. YOU are just 12 prelim games away from being considered one of those players. YOU are 3 days away from walking away with $50,000 and a legitimate World Championship to call your own!

Top-10-Reasons-to-Go-to-The-WSOBP-1-The-Infamy1. Potential Immortality

“If you win The World Series of Beer Pong, they can never take that away from you.”

We’re not sure exactly what shadowy, underground cabal The Iceman was referring to when he spoke of “they,” but you get the idea. After three full days of game play and 499+ defeated teams, there can be only one champion. These men’s names and stories will be written on the walls of history that will eventually become tailed legends. Through skill, perseverance, and dedication, the team that is destined to take it all will forever be immortalized as a true World Champion. Will you be the next to make history??

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OGP’s WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament Recap & Upcoming Action

This past Saturday, Ocean Grown Pong played host to the 11th WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament thus far, which qualifies players to participate in the annual World Series of Beer Pong tournament, presented by BPONG.COM. There are currently 12 more Satellite Tournaments scheduled across the globe that have yet to be dictated; October being hot, as 9 of those 12 events will be played during this month.

Though many more Satellite Tournaments will sprout up between now and July of 2016, we can officially consider ourselves coming into the heart of Satellite Season.

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For those of you new to the scene, here is a quick rundown of just exactly what a Satellite Tournament is:

Typical WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament entry fees per player usually hover between $20 and $30 per bracket. Most tournaments run with a BPONG affiliation have converted over to a “double-bracket” format. Double-bracket tournaments consist of what are essentially two entirely different tournaments that typically require 2 losses before elimination. Once each bracket is played through in its entirety, the winners of each bracket meet in a Championship Series that dictates who takes home the prizes!

(A “Bid” = World Series of Beer Pong XI qualified entry and a 4-night complimentary stay at the host venue, The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.)

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The Hideaway Café in Riverside, CA, had a FULL house on September 26th, 2016 that saw a couple familiar faces take home their first bid win of the season.

Coming out of the first WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament bracket was Mark Pimentel, who you may recognize from some of our recent blog articles. Mark has been an absolute monster recently (as if he hasn’t always been) and has taken home some big time wins. His partner in the first bracket was none other than Ocean Grown Pong’s very own, Ryan De Hoop. Many may not realize just how difficult it is to run an event and keep your hand hot enough to shoot your way to a win.

The second bracket was of “random” variety, meaning that partners were selected completely randomly. The reason for implementing a “random” format into one of the brackets is to keep the best players in the game from consistently forming teams together. The “random” factor generally helps spread out the talent and introduce new players to the veterans of the game. However, the random format is not flawless and sometimes great players end up with an even better random draw.

Mark Pimentel found himself with an early victory as he and his random partner, Zak Corsi fought their way through the second bracket.

Tricky situation, I know. Here’s how it works.

Mark won both brackets with two different partners, which means, Mark already won the tournament and gets to sit out while he watches his two partners play a best-of-3 singles series to see who gets the other bid.

Corsi took game 1 of the best-of-3 series and put De Hoop against the wall right out of the gate. However, De Hoop battled back to take the next two straight games and secure his World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournament Championship!

Mark Pimentel and Ryan De Hoop will both receive a qualified entry into The WSOBP XI Main Event and a 4-night complimentary stay at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino from July 6th – 10th, 2016.

Mark also finished 1st and 2nd in the two side events that were hosted at Hideaway; One being a singles event, of which he finished second behind Lake Forest, CA, Ponger, Ryan Smith; The other side event being a Co-ed tournament, where Mark and his first lady, San Diego Ponger, Jessi Links, brought home the win.

Ocean Grown Pong's WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament Winners: Ryan DeHoop & Mark Pimentel.
Ocean Grown Pong’s WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament Singles Event Winners: Ryan Smith (1st) & Mark Pimentel (2nd).

You can catch Ocean Grown Pong and yet another WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament at the very same spot, The Hideaway Café in Riverside, CA, on October 24th, 2015.  Whether you just missed the win on the 26th or just want to stop by to check out the action for the first time, it’s sure to be a great tournament!

Can’t make October 24th? No problem, OGP has you covered as they have a Satellite Tournament scheduled for November 5th, 2015 at Johnny V’s in San Diego, California. This particular Satellite event will precede the West Coast’s biggest event of the year, The 5th Annual West Coast Championships (WCC)!

The WCC event is co-hosted by Ocean Grown Pong, as well as, our friends over at Nor Cal Beer Pong and Pongstars.net!

You can find all the registration information for the West Coast Classic on the Official WCC event page here:

(https://www.facebook.com/events/1401263893346654/)

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For all other information on The World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournaments taking place around the globe, you can visit bpong.com to find out where all the action is going down, as more events are continuously added!

Whether you are near Michigan, Texas, California, Minnesota or even Switzerland, we got you covered for your opportunity to win your way in and compete in the end all, be all, of beer pong tournaments, THE WORLD SERIES OF BEER PONG!

Check out all the Satellite Tournament listings and dates here: https://bpong.com/wsobp-xi-satellite-tournaments/
Didn’t find what you are looking for? Drop us a line at [email protected] about anything beer pong related!        

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The Best of the Midwest VI Event Recap

Just over a week ago (September 11th through the 13th), Chicago House of Music & Entertainment played host to The Best of the Midwest VI (BOMW); an event featuring four beer pong tournaments and had projected to pay out over $10,000 in cash and prizes.

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Friday, September 11th, 2015

The hype was real and the 6v6 event started with a bang two weeks before anyone had even stepped foot inside the HOME Theater just outside of Chicago, Illinois.

Teams were picked via a live player draft. 22 Captains were assigned, primarily being players from the top 4 placing teams at BOMW V. Those 22 Captains were designated a draft position determined by each player’s registration time. The first 11 Captains to register selected a Co-Captain from the last 11 Captains to register. Then, each pair of Captains selected the rest of their 6 man rosters from a pool of draft eligible beer pong players.

The first Captain selected was Mike Welsh by his New Jersey Nightmare teammate, Tim Williams. Ray Rivera of the Wisconsin Clown Coalition and Scott Frew of Illinois Insanity were the first Captains to select from the players pool. The number 1 overall pick came out of Michigan via Brandon Juracek. Juracek was a new roster addition this year to last year’s BOMW V 2nd place Michigan Mayhem squad.

The 6v6 tournament featured a primary bracket and a consolation bracket that teams who were eliminated from the primary bracket were given an option to buy back into.

Captains Andy DeCaluwe of Illinois Insanity and Kyle Eller of the Wisconsin Clown Coalition dropped their first match-up against the Nightmare lead squad; however, they were able to fight their way back to the final series of the primary bracket to avenge their earlier loss by picking up back-to-back wins and securing their spot in the 6v6 Championship Series.

Captains Brent Saale of STL’s Finest and Donnie Jones of Michigan Mayhem fell just short in the primary bracket. They took both of their losses to the DeCaluwe/Eller squad. The consolation bracket told a different story for the Saale/Jones duo squad as they blistered through the bracket and set themselves up to once again square off with the DeCaluwe/Eller lead team.

DeCaluwe/Eller proved to be too much for the Saale/Jones squad, as they wrapped up the largest portion of a prize pool exceeding $3,000 with the Championship Series win.

BOMW 6v6

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Saturday, September 12th, 2015

The Singles Tournament kicked-off day two and the thunder started early with a couple of huge match ups dictating the pace of each bracket.

The previously mentioned Scott Frew of Illinois Insanity and Brent Saale of STL found themselves face-to-face (-to-face) in the very first round of the tournament; those two players perhaps being amongst favorites to win the singles crown going into the event.

See who won here: (Compliments of Jon Marczak – Michigan LOL)

(https://www.facebook.com/jon.marczak/videos/10100389298301952/)

Spoiler Alert – It was Frew. Frew won everything from game 1 on and not through any fluff. Scott won games against Kurt Heizmann, Nick Trupiano, and Donnie Jones, all players on the top two squads from BOMW V. He also beat the 1st round 9th overall pick from the 6v6 draft tournament, Paul Dausman, of the Indiana Dream Team and the 1st overall pick selected (including Captains), Mike Welsh, of the New Jersey Nightmare.

Frew eventually found himself in the king seed, front and center on stage at the HOME theater, with 10 crisp new blue bennies staring back at him from the center of the table; standing between him and those Franks, his opponent, Eric Lewis of Michigan Mayhem. Eric perhaps is one of the best players in the country that is still relatively unknown. He utilizes his length with a shot only players possessing incredible balance could perform well with. Mean lean or not, Scott Frew was still too much as he took home the Best of the Midwest VI Singles Championship.

BOMW Singles

As 7pm rolled around, the buzz came to a head as the preliminary rounds of the 10v10 Best of the Midwest Main Event started.

Going into play the favorites were the defending champions and their counterparts in last year BOMW V Finals at The Willis (Sears) Tower, Illinois Insanity and Michigan Mayhem.

Although neither team proved to be dominant in preliminary play, Michigan Mayhem settled comfortably into the 2nd seed being edged out of the top seed by a young New Jersey Nightmare squad. Another young team, a fresh STL’s Finest line-up showed up to play, rounding out the top 3. Michigan LOL edged out Insanity by a single cup for the 4th slot, dropping Illinois to a mediocre 5th seed.

BOMW Prelims

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Sunday, September 13th, 2015

The stage was set for the ultimate finals and it was waiting for 2 teams to seize the opportunity to play under the lights. The two teams surviving the playoff bracket would square off and play 1 game at a time in a best 6 of 11 series on center stage inside the HOME Theater!

Perhaps what seemingly was the only upset of the first round was the young STL team toppling what looked to be a contending Wisconsin squad filled with veteran players. (Though STL was the 3 seed and Wisconsin was 6, their preliminary records only differed by a game.)

After getting passed Michigan LOL, the reigning champs (Illinois Insanity) lined up against the New Jersey Nightmare and took their first series loss of the playoff bracket. STL stepped up big and threw a right hand at the other giant to drop Michigan Mayhem.

The aforementioned upset of a sleeper Wisconsin team didn’t go quietly as they eliminated both Illinois Insanity and Michigan Mayhem before getting stopped by New Jersey Nightmare, pending a Best of the Midwest VI Main Event Championship Series against STL’s Finest.

The two rosters were filled with new faces, most eager for their first big time tournament within the professional beer pong world. Below is how each team stacked up for this year’s Best of the Midwest Finals:

New Jersey Nightmare:
Connor Martin
Brian Simpson
Matt Kein
Brandon Clarke
Tim Williams
Brendan Scalley
Sephy Pesabene
Mike Paollili
Greg Fehl
Mike Welsh

STL’s Finest:
Brent Saale
Hoot Kohenskey
Evan Brown
Travis Terrell
James Byers
Wayne Sickmier
Ethan Steube
Robert Suarez
Sean Jones
Faxon Townsend

St. Louis came out swinging looking for an early knockout in the best 6 of 11 series as they jumped out to a huge 5-1 series lead. The Finals seemed to be all but wrapped up as that’s nearly as insurmountable as a lead one can get, however, New Jersey picked themselves up off the floor and kept fighting.

Little by little New Jersey chipped away until they eventually pulled themselves even and forced an 11th and decisive game. Although nearly the entire crowd seemed to be behind the St. Louis team, (as I’d assume the majority of the Midwest players would prefer the Gilkison Cup to reside within the Midwest), New Jersey eventually prevailed and pulled off the near impossible by coming all the way back from a 5-1 deficit to claim The Best of the Midwest VI Championship!

After being presented with The Gilkison Cup, the New Jersey Nightmare team decided to donate their individual Cup tours in order to house the cup in the home of the Gilkison family, after their plate is added, until The Best of the Midwest VII.

BOMW Winners_New Jersey Nightmare BOMW Winners 2_New Jersey Nightmare

The WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament finals saw a match-up between the titan combo of Johnny Fourdyce and Eric Lewis vs. 6v6 Champion Kyle Eller and Michigan LOL shooter Tyler Spencer. Tyler set out to broaden his name and found an opportunity to bring down two of the best in the building in the finals of what’s undoubtedly the toughest Satellite of the year within in the Midwest. He fell just short but garnished respect, as Fourdyce and Lewis picked up the bid wins to conclude all tournaments at the Best of the Midwest VI.

BOMW WSOBP XI Satellite

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A special thanks to WGN 9 for stopping by to shoot with us on Friday (9/11/15) and FOX 32 for dropping by Sunday (9/13/15) for Bears Postgame Live from HOME Bar Chicago!

A special thanks to DJ Joe Green for once again holding down the Best of the Midwest for 3 straight days, as well as, a special thanks to Tommie King for doing a set for us on Friday night!

A very special thank you to all the organizers and players who came out to this tournament. You all host and play in tournaments, year around. Without you, every organizer and every player, this tournament can’t happen. You all are what make this event so great!

For pictures of this year’s Best of the Midwest event check out our photo album on the BPONG Facebook page! For more information on next year’s Best of the Midwest event, The World Series of Beer Pong XI or anything beer pong related, drop us a line at [email protected].

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The Best of the Midwest VI Preview

The clock is ticking quicker as September 11th approaches and the most anticipated tournament in the Midwest kicks-off at The Chicago House of Music & Entertainment on Friday night!

(www.homebarchicago.com)

BOMW6

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Friday night’s tournament will showcase a change from the typical Best of the Midwest lineup. A 6v6 formatted tournament will replace the familiar Friday night (2v2) $2.5K tournament. A variation in how squads are generally formed for larger teams will put a bit of a twist into game play.

A number of Captains have been (primarily) appointed from the top 4 placing teams in last year’s BOMW V Main Event. These Captains will participate in the first-ever BOMW player draft. Each team generated through the draft will need to feature players from 3 different states. (The draft will take place on Sunday, September 6th, 2015.)

While the 10v10 Main Event features restrictions limiting player team designation based on geographic affiliations, the 6v6 draft tournament aims to develop player relationships outside of a player’s primary location. By having numerous players from various states on one team it allows players to build potential partner relationships with players outside of their area by familiarizing themselves with one another; not only on a personal level but by also experiencing game play on a high level together.

The draft leads players who are arguably the best players at this event to become students of the game. If they want to win the tournament, they’ll need to draft the best team possible. In order to do that, they’ll need to be familiar with every player’s game in the draft pool.

Friday night’s entertainment will also feature live sounds from Las Vegas DJ Joe Green, who is also The Official World Series of Beer Pong DJ. Tommie King, of RFMG ENT., will also be featured live later in the evening.

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Saturday’s festivities will start at 1:00pm with a singles tournament. It’s you vs. the world and it’s only ten bucks to play! Want to play just to have some fun and not destroy your wallet?  This might be the tournament you’re looking for.

After the singles tournament wraps up, the show we all have been waiting for will begin.

Roughly around 7:00pm, The Best of the Midwest (10v10) Main Event will commence. Saturday’s preliminary play will determine each team’s fate within the following day’s double-elimination playoff bracket.

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Sunday, September 13th, will be the day a new or reigning champion will be crowned as the victors of The Best of the Midwest VI.

The (10v10) Main Event playoff bracket will begin at 1:00pm. Players and teams from across the country will battle it out on 5 tables at a time with 5 (2v2) games taking place simultaneously on those tables, advancing the squad who takes at least 3 out of those 5 games.

The defending champion Illinois Insanity squad, deep in experience, will bring back almost every player from last year’s championship team. The Insanity will try to get half way to STLs Finest record 4-straight Best of the Midwest championships, with their second straight title.

BOMWfinals2

Players hailing from Michigan will be coming in strong numbers, (thanks to our associate organizations BPA and MAC Pong), as they will enter at least 3-teams into this year’s main event. One such team, Michigan Mayhem, who will return the majority of their team from last year’s 2nd place roster, is determined to better their runner-up efforts from last year’s BOMW V Main Event.

The winner of this year’s Best of the Midwest VI Main Event will not only receive a huge chunk of the thousands in cash that will be given away over the weekend, but they will also be the first team in BOMW history to be presented with the newly appointed Best of the Midwest grand prize, “The Gilkison Cup.”

The symbolism the cup holds ensures the legacy of the late, great beer pong player, Zach Gilkison, is carried on. The perpetual plates will etch each year’s champion into BOMW history and the cup itself will forever represent a piece of what Zach really meant to the beer pong community.

The BOMW's "Gilkison Cup"

After the fire settles and a Main Event champion is crowned, the attention shifts to The World Series of Beer Pong XI (WSOBP XI), as BOMW VI will conclude with a World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournament.

This event will qualify two friends to participate in The WSOBP XI at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino from July 6th – 10th, 2016. Their entry into the WSOBP XI tournament will also include a 4-night stay at the host venue!

While registration is closed for BOMW VI’s Main Event, 6v6 and Singles tournaments, you can still register to participate in The WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament until September 11th!

Register now: (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-best-of-the-midwest-vi-bomw-vi-registration-9875068596)

Can’t make it to The Best of the Midwest this year and want to keep up to speed on how things are shaping up? Add us on Snapchat: “OfficialBPONG” and catch all the action live!

For more information on The World Series of Beer Pong XI, head over to BPONG.COM. Not finding what you are looking for? Drop us a line at [email protected]!

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Marx on a Mission. (A Recap of the Domination at the Utah $5k and Seattle $5k)

The first two weekends out west in August had two $5K pong tournaments on the schedule. The first was hosted by SLC Pong and was played at Sandy Station in Sandy, Utah. The second was hosted the following weekend by NWBP at Aston Manor in Seattle, Washington.

Rewind to a few days prior when OGP came out with their player ballot rankings.

(https://bpong.com/2015/07/ocean-grown-pong-wants-to-know-your-top-15-players/)

The most recent results of the polls did not sit too well with Arizona ponger and founder of Pongstars (Pongstars.net), Brandon Marx.

St. Louis ponger, Ross Hampton, was slated atop the list and was seemingly settling into a comfortable lead for that top spot. It’s hard to argue against someone whose resume is as accomplished as his with multiple major/mid-major victories and countless bid wins to his name.

However, Marx set out to these tournaments with the intentions of turning that potential argument into a difficult one.

His first stop was Sandy Station at the SLC $5k in Utah where he dominated the competition. Marx finished 1st and 3rd in the Kickoff tournament on Friday night, winning it with Utah ponger, Cody Castle, against a pair of Las Vegas players, Justin Spurrier and James Tripp. California ponger Mark Pimentel picked up the 3rd place nod with Marx.

This wouldn’t be the last check “Marky Marx” cashed that weekend as the duo took down the Main Event in the following days. Marx and Pimentel went head to head with Minnesota (Wisconsin) ponger Kyle Eller and another California ponger Josh Schwent to pick up the victory.

All familiar names would round out the top 3 spots of the singles tournament on Saturday night, as Justin Spurrier came out on top with Kyle Eller and Mark Pimentel hot on his heels.

SLC Pong's $5k Singles Champions
SLC Pong’s $5k Singles Champions

SLC Pong's $5k Main Event Winners
SLC Pong’s $5k Main Event Winners

SLC Pong's $5k Kick-off Tournament Winners
SLC Pong’s $5k Kick-off Tournament Winners

Coming off multiple wins in Utah and seeing another $5k tournament in Seattle as an opportunity to carry on towards his mission of proving he’s the best in the game right now, Marx boarded a plane to Washington.

Since his decision to play was last minute, Marx needed a World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournament partner when he arrived and picked up a rookie Seattle ponger, Michael Williams.

A Satellite Bid win here would seemingly be a difficult one as Ross Hampton had paired up with Marx’s Main Event partner for the Satellite tournament, former WSOBP singles champion, Brad Mosdell.

The two teams met in the finals and had already seen each other early on in the bracket. Hampton/Mosdell needed to win 2 games against Marx/Williams to take home the bids. Both teams shot lights out through multiple OT’s but Marx/Williams prevailed, qualifying themselves for next summer’s World Series of Beer Pong XI Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Westgate Resort & Casino.

Seattle $5k WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament Winners
Seattle $5k WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament Winners

The singles tournament was next on the schedule and it told more of the same story. Ross and Marx were squaring off in the finals for the 2nd time. The series was nothing short of expectations as both players shot phenomenally. However, Marx once again came out on top.

Seattle $5k Singles Winners
Seattle $5k Singles Winners

The Main Event of the weekend had reunited a pair of players who once hoisted the WSOBP $50,000 Grand Prize check together. (Something Marx has yet to have the pleasure of doing.) Former St. Louis native Matt White had recently relocated to Seattle, leaving little opportunity for him and his former battery mate Ross Hampton to Seek n’ Destroy as many tournaments as they use to. The two took the top-seed in preliminary play.

The duo made a run through the playoff bracket and got to the finals to once again create a Hampton/Marx championship. Marx, now teamed up with Canadian ponger Brad Mosdell, was looking to sweep the entire event with a victory. Having only missed a handful of shots in 2 games as a team, North meets South (Marx/Mosdell) secured the Seattle $5k Main Event.

Seemingly, Marx’s mission was complete. He was overtaken in the player voting polls by who is widely considered the best player on the planet (Ross Hampton) and set out to prove he is the better player. He couldn’t have asked for any more opportunities to prove it, as they met on the final table of every tournament over the weekend and he capitalized – winning all of them!

Seattle $5k Main Event Winners
Seattle $5k Main Event Winners

Congratulations to all the pongers who shot well enough in either of these events to take home some cash!

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Distraction Technique: The Pistol Pointer

Thanks a lot, Manus Shannon! If you haven’t heard, a few weeks back Manus was arrested after a heated game of beer pong at a party on Chicago’s south side.

Manus attempted the good ol’ classic distraction of pulling out your pistol and pointing it at your opponent’s face to try and get them to miss. Now, while this move is obviously practiced on a regular basis (sense our sarcasm?), Manus had to ruin it for all of us by actually shooting his opponent.

Props to Manus for hitting the kid in the finger, which essentially guarantees he’ll win since his opponent can no longer pick up the ball; however, he also lodged that slug in some unfortunate gentleman’s shoulder, who was just sitting behind the table texting, waiting his turn at the table.

This is likely the reason Sig Sauer yanked their Best of the Midwest VI sponsorship for the big, upcoming Chicago pong event in September. The sponsorship would have given all participants a free gun at the door with paid entry. I thought by this point, the rules on using a gun in your defensive strategy were clear cut. If you are going to fire your gun for distraction purposes, you should discharge it blindly, straight up into the air.

If you haven’t detected the sarcasm in this satire piece, this is clearly a joke. OBVIOUSLY, if you are playing a little pong, professionally or at a party, DON’T PULL OUT A GUN in an attempt to create a miss.

I do feel slightly bad for the guy, seeing as he does have a permit to own, carry and conceal a gun, so at least the weapon was legal. However, Manus still is facing charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and, last we heard, he was being held on a $100,000 bond.

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An even crazier side to this story is that Manus’s arresting officer has actually played in 9 out of 10 World Series of Beer Pong Main Events! How amusing would it be to see that local CPD Officer team up with Manus at the World Series of Beer Pong XI?! Seems like the ultimate web redemption to me. #TOSH.O

Of course, that’s pending the approval of his long-time teammate lending his talents to Manus. Team “MANBEARBIG” put up one of their best World Series of Beer Pong runs at WSOBP IX, propelling themselves into the playoff bracket on Day 3 with an 11-1 record.

For more information about The World Series of Beer Pong, visit bpong.com/wsobp/.

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Cited article:

http://www.vice.com/read/some-guy-tried-to-distract-his-beer-pong-opponent-with-a-gun-and-accidentally-shot-two-people-vgtrn-015?utm_source=vicetwitterus

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SLC Pong’s $5000 Summer Beer Pong Championship Preview

Friday, July 31st, 2015 will kick off SLC Pong’s $5000 Summer Beer Pong Championship at Sandy Station nightclub and event center in Sandy, Utah!

SLCpromoMain

2v2 Kick-off Tournament:
The 2v2 Kick-off tournament will start the festivities at 7:00pm on Friday night. The tournament will feature a double-bracket, double-elimination format. In other words, you can enter into two separate brackets with two different partners. Each bracket will advance a winner into the championship series. The outcome of that series will dictate who takes home the win.

Main Event:
Saturday, August 1st will open registration/check-in at 11:00am. If you have pre-registered for the event, which can be done here, you must check-in by 12:15pm. If you have yet to register for the tournament, you may walk in the day of the tournament and register to participate up until 12:30pm.

Preliminary play will start at 1:00pm and teams will complete between 6 and 8 games that will seed them in the playoff bracket of the Main Event the following day.

Sunday, August 2nd will host the top 32 teams from preliminary play based on teams overall record and cup differential (how many cumulative cups you won/lost by). The final 32 teams will be split into two 16 team brackets. Each bracket will advance a winner to the SLC Pong $5000 Summer Beer Pong Main Event Championship! Those two teams will play a best-of-3 series to crown a champion!

First place will take home a cool $2925 for their efforts. Second and third place won’t be left totally disappointed, as those teams will be compensated $1350 and $425 respectively. On top of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes, the best overall record, the best cup differential, the highest seeded ladies team, as well as the highest seeded co-ed team during preliminary play will also be rewarded with $75 each for their finishes!

Coors Light and Rockstar energy will be sponsoring the event and contributing to the prize pool, marketing efforts and making sure SLC’s players get to play on some slick tables this year!

Check back with the BPONG blog next week for a recap of the all the action that goes down in Sandy, Utah this weekend!

For more information about SLC’s $5000 Summer Beer Pong Championships (like how to qualify to play for free!), please visit their webpage at www.slcpong.com.

Having trouble finding a partner to win easy money with? Check out the Official SLC $5000 Summer Beer Pong Championship event page on Facebook! (https://www.facebook.com/events/1089483367748101/)

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What’s in a Name? Beyond “Beer” Pong

We here at BPONG listen to our players and do the best we can to accommodate requests and implement quality ideas to our daily operations. Often, players use comparisons to other professional sporting leagues/organizations during discussions that periodically are responsible for generating some of those quality ideas.

One such comparison that happens to differ between BPONG and our “slightly” more experienced cohorts is the developmental programs that are available for players to participate in before taking their game to the next level.

Rooted in little league ball diamonds, pee-wee football fields and 7-foot basketball hoops; youth athletic programming is alive and well across the country; helping future athletes learn the basics of their favorite sports! Beyond that, those who fall in love continue to play throughout the various levels of high school and college athletics. Yet, this still is not the last stop (for some) before getting the opportunity to make a name for themselves within their sports professional circuit. Minor leagues, Developmental leagues, Scout leagues, Independent leagues, amongst various others are all also a part of the process, beyond the college athletic years, when pursuing a professional career for a lot of the athletes we admire in today’s games.

Obviously, BPONG has yet to break into the wide world of youth athletics and probably is still quite some time away from doing so. (Maybe not? Check out these little guys knocking down some cups.)

MiddlePong

However, the disparity gap between implementing similar high school and college programming may not be as far off as it may seem.

(For those of you who are not aware, we here in the big leagues play with water in our game cups and DO NOT require ANY liquid consumption of ANY kind within our official tournament rules for a plethora of reasons. We like to have a whole lot of fun, create life-long friendships, fierce competition and win prizes/money!! So we thought we could sacrifice dumping beer down our gullets every time someone makes a shot in order to be able do that. (Legally, responsibly and sanitarily.) Though we definitely won’t discourage our of age players from responsibly enjoying a couple cold ones if they are available.)

In any case, these rules open up the potential for players under the age of 21 to enjoy the game we all love to play within a controlled environment. It gives parents and university recreational programs alike, a unique opportunity to extend a desirable “taboo” social experience onto younger generations without having to worry about any negative repercussions. The most positive aspect of this unique experience is unveiling an alternative way to play the game that has a greater participation substance established, in place of playing to get drunk. In theory, we hope this will help deter underage players from giving into the temptation to play “the real way” (that they will undoubtedly eventually get exposed to) and subjecting themselves to a situation that could potentially harm their future.

Around the country we have affiliated associations and organizations that offer these types of accommodations to interested groups. Hailing from Michigan, the Founder and CEO of Beer Pongers Anonymous (BPA), Joey Irimescu, is a sparkling example of just how family friendly our sport can be! While BPA offers a variety of public events on a weekly basis throughout the state, BPA also caters to private and corporate parties. A huge hit for BPA has been high school graduation parties!

Check out these youngsters putting on a show on the final table of a BPA graduation event!

—-> IMG_1737

(Notice the water in the cups, the complete absence of any alcohol whatsoever and just how much fun the entire group is having!)

If you are in the Michigan area and would like more information about BPA, please visit their website at www.beerpongersanonymous.com/. Also, make sure you check out BPA on Facebook and Instagram! To connect with BPA directly to book an event: Email – [email protected]

If you are outside of the Michigan area and are interested in hosting a private, corporate or public event, drop us a line ([email protected]) and we’ll get you taken care of!

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The First-Ever European Series of Beer Pong

ESOBP IThis past 4th of July weekend, while we here in America were celebrating our freedom with fireworks, recreational pong games, and more, our friends over in Munich, Germany, were hard at work as 144 teams from 14 countries battled it out at the very first European Series of Beer Pong (ESOBP)!

The ESOBP prize included: ultimate respect, a badass title belt and a trip to the United States to compete for $50,000 at The World Series of Beer Pong XI (July 6-10, 2016), inside the brand new event space at The Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.

With nearly 300 participants in the building, hours of play ensued and eventually “Cup & Cupper,” Kevin Keenan and Christoph Vogel, toppled “MAC,” Michl Neubauer and Christian Rudat, for the European crown. Although the game went into overtime, in the end “Cup & Cupper” proved to be too much for “MAC” as they knocked down 3 straight cups to etch their name in the first chapters of the ESOBP history book!

The European Series of Beer Pong's First-Ever Champions: “Cup & Cupper” - Kevin Keenan and Christoph Vogel
The European Series of Beer Pong’s First-Ever Champions: “Cup & Cupper” – Kevin Keenan and Christoph Vogel

(It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago when BPONG crowned their first-ever World Series of Beer Pong Champions, ironically named “Team France.” Kudos to the original kings of pong, Nick Velissaris and Jason Coben. Check out this last known photo of the original “big check” before it infamously became a casualty of infinite cameras.)

WSOBP I Winners: Nick Velissaris and Jason Coben
WSOBP I Winners: Nick Velissaris and Jason Coben

If you want to be really impressed, check out the video of the championship game of the ESOBP here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HbnEhQIr8g&feature=youtu.be

Watch out boys, these kids are good! Our current WSOBP Champs from New Jersey (“Pity the Fool” – Mike Vit and Kris Fraser) might be in a run for their money if they plan on returning to try and became just the 2nd team in WSOBP history to win back-to-back WSOBP Championship titles. (The first team to etch their names in the repeat champions list was, of course, “Smashing Time” – Mike Pop and Ron Hamilton.)

BPONG can’t wait to welcome “Cup & Cupper” to The World Series of Beer Pong XI! Will “Cup & Cupper” be our first-ever international champions?!

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A New Group of Players Dominate at the Indiana State Beer Pong Championships

This past weekend, The 2015 Indiana State Beer Pong Championships took place at Score’s Sports Bar & Grill in Columbus, Indiana.

A few weeks back we took a look at the history of The Indiana State Beer Pong Championships and contemplated what kind of drama would unfold during the 5th anniversary of the annual event.

Southern Indiana Beer Pong (SINBP) did not disappoint and put on a dynamic event that eventually crowned brand new Indiana State Beer Pong Champions!

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A Recap of the Main Event:

2015 Indiana State Beer Pong Champions: Gian Sutton & Jermaine Anderson
2015 Indiana State Beer Pong Champions: Gian Sutton & Jermaine Anderson

The first bracket of the Main Event… (A double-bracket tournament format allowed players to pair with a different partner in 2-separate brackets that are a part of the same tournament. The winners from each bracket meet to play for the tournament finals.) …drew first blood in the drama department. Three-time champion Braden Nading had paired off with an up and coming Indiana shooter, Paul Dausman, for his first bracket run.

Nading/Dausman squared off against the King Seed (Jermaine Anderson and Henry Lee) in the first bracket final. Facing bracket elimination with a single loss, Nading/Dausman rose to the occasion and double-dipped (won 2 games) against Anderson/Lee for the bracket win.

Nading was seemingly sitting pretty to take home his 4th straight Indiana State Championship, as he had already secured a spot in the finals and had yet to even play the bracket with his partner who he had claimed 3 straight titles with.

However, a pair of unmentioned duos leading up the Indy state tournament had other ideas. Chip Dowden & Tyler Rogge, as well as, Andrew Metzger & Brent DeMateo teamed up for the pair of wins that was needed to dethrone the 3-time reigning champions.

Frustration had clearly set in for the defending champs as Nading eventually resorted to bouncing deep into their final game while facing elimination. This did not sit well with Bacon, the two began to argue and the most dominate team in the history of the tournament were put to sleep by Chip Dowden and Tyler Rogge. Bacon and Nading seemed to carry tension for the remainder of the event.

Metzger & DeMateo found themselves sitting in the King Seed of the second bracket. Jermaine Anderson & Gian Sutton were the challengers and needed back-to-back wins against Metzger & DeMateo to advance to the finals.

Yet again, the underdogs stepped up and Anderson/Sutton fought their way into the Indiana State Beer Pong Championship Finals, winning consecutive games against the King Seed of the second bracket.

Waiting for Jermaine and Gian was still the 3-time reigning champ, Braden Nading, as he and Paul Dausman had eliminated Jermaine and Henry Lee from the King Seed of the first bracket to move into the Indiana State Beer Pong Championship Finals.

Highlighting 4 of the top players in Indiana, the finals showed the rest of the Midwest what kind of firepower Indiana is bringing to BOMW VI., this September. Perhaps hot off of the back to back wins in the 2nd bracket final, Jermaine and Gian rolled over Nading/Dausman, etching their name into the Indiana State Beer Pong history books along the way.

Check out the Top 5 Main Event finishers!

1st – Jermaine Anderson & Gian Sutton
2nd – Paul Dausman & Braden Nading
3rd – Jermaine Anderson & Henry Lee
4th – Andrew Metzger & Brent DeMateo
5th – Jordan Beebe & Tara Herr
5th – Jordan Beebe & Richard Herr

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A Recap of the Singles Tournament:

2015 Indiana State Beer Pong Championships Singles Champion: Gian Sutton
2015 Indiana State Beer Pong Championships Singles Champion: Gian Sutton

The singles tournament ended up with an interesting story line considering the outcome of the Main Event.

Jermaine Anderson found himself in the King Seed of the singles tournament. He watched his newly crowned champion teammate (Gian Sutton) once again square off against the now former champion (Braden Nading) to determine who would eventually advance to the finals to face Anderson. After Gian toppled Nading, he stepped to the table against Jordan Beebe. This game was arguably the best of the weekend having gone into multiple overtimes before a winner was established.

Gian came out victorious, of which, set up a singles match-up between the now definable, top two beer pong players in the state of Indiana. The partners were clearly fighting for the win but were having a ton of fun doing it, as this entire event shined a huge light on their “Wolf Pac.” Gian put together back-to-back wins against Jermaine to take the singles crown.

Check out the Top 5 Singles finishers!

1st – Gian Sutton
2nd – Jermaine Anderson
3rd – Jordan Beebe
4th – Braden Nading
5th – Tara Herr (Top Female)
5th – Josh Morrow

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Compiling a composite score from all the tournaments each player participated in over the weekend at the Indiana State Beer Pong Championships, a statistical rank is generated based on overall record and cup differential.

Check out the Top Ten Players from The Indiana State Beer Pong Championships!

OVERALL STATS: (Wins-Losses / Cup differential)

  1. Gian Sutton 19-7 / (+38)
  2. Jermaine Anderson 17-8 / (+33)
  3. Braden Nading 16-7 / (+31)
  4. Paul Dausman 12-9 / (+22)
  5. Jordan Beebe 12-8 / (+16)
  6. Josh Morrow 11-8 / (+15)
  7. Tyler Rogge 11-8 / (+5)
  8. Andrew Metzger 11-8 / (-2)
  9. Tara Herr 9-8 / (-2)
  10. Richard Herr 8 – 8 / (+21)
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Are You Too Old to Play Beer Pong?

Recently, Susan Bonifant of the Washington Post wrote a piece on her first experience playing beer pong with her college junior son on a North Carolina campus during a “snowpocalypse” party, of which, cancelled all classes.

Article: (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2015/05/27/what-i-learned-playing-beer-pong-with-my-son-at-college/ )

Without knowing it, Susan perfectly outlined so many details of what makes the sport of professional pong and the beer pong community such an incredible and unique family to be a part of.

A revelation took place within Susan in regards to her perspective on what it means to be “old”. This phenomenon is not a new concept for us here at BPONG.COM. Fortunately, for us and some of our players/organizers, we’ve got the pleasure to watch this exact scenario play out at various tournaments across the country, including at The World Series of Beer Pong itself!

Oldies

An extremely rare feature within the sports world that professional pong can proudly claim is that player participation limitations are ageless. Meaning, the physical demand that eventually claims the ability it takes to play most any competitive sport does not exist within “beer” pong. Hence, how an individual that may view themselves as “old” can experience the adrenaline rush that drives a youthful competitive spirit.

Whether this experience is a revival of a former athlete or a brand new emotional high for someone who has never had the opportunity to feel the satisfaction of conquering another team in any sort of organized competitive fashion, beer pong can be a fun rush. The thirst that’s quenched after being able to feel that competitive spirit many had no choice but to leave in their high school/college locker is often so fulfilling. It’s difficult to not be able to blatantly see the youthful joy on a player’s face.

The thrill of learning, growing, and succeeding in new experiences is more commonly prevalent in any particular individuals youth versus the years spent rhythmically succeeding within the niche career they’ve chosen. Beer pong has proven, time and again, to disrupt that rhythm for pre-millennial generations. It provides a unique platform to connect with later generations, often stemming from one’s own children getting their first opportunity to teach their parents something, as was the case with Susan.

Though professional beer pong tournaments tend to be competitive, success is enjoyed and measured on many different levels that make the game enjoyable for all ages, regardless of where you ultimately place in any given tournament. For the mother competing in her first game with her son surrounded by a flock of his closest bros at a “snowpocalypse” party, a single made shot seemingly fields a similar reaction to a rowdy group of friends watching their buddy cash in on a $50,000 check after finally taking down that World Series of Beer Pong title, after nearly a decade of efforts.

So, in our opinion, and as Susan has discovered, you are never too old to play a little beer pong.

_On a Side Note_

Susan also obliviously provided us here in the pong big leagues a quality scouting report of how our future stars are developing on college campuses across the country! Look at you guys being all responsible and using water in your game cups. (Please, always drink responsibly.)

MiddlePong

You guys were also giving parents tips on following through using your wrist!! Looks like the young guns have ditched the heave and are figuring out some shot mechanics before gracing a BPONG table at an official tournament; impressive, gentlemen.

Your mother was just one small detail away from filling me with so much pride that I would have been so overwhelmed, I likely would have had to hop a flight to North Carolina and personally ran a WSOBP XI. Satellite tournament myself for that campus!

Leaving me only one final piece of advice for her if she ever does enter the professional circuit – lean or get leaned on, Susan.

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There’s No 50/50 Chance In Beer Pong

According to AskMen.com, there’s only a 40% chance you’ll sink that cup!
Player ShootingAhh…, statistics in beer pong. These are definitely something we here at BPONG.COM have put a lot of thought into how to regulate and track.

Although, a cohesive system has yet to be perfected that accurately tracks and maintains player’s statistics from all the BPONG tournaments that people participate in around the country; we as a community, have done more than our fair share of projecting our own and our opponent’s shooting percentages.

The term “hundo” is thrown around by players pretty casually, though, most “hundo’s” seem to have a bit of a Reap-like smell to them.

(For those of you who might be lost, “hundo” is a reference to shooting 100% in a beer pong game. “Reap-hundo” is a term players use to reference a player claiming to have shot 100% in a game but had actually missed shots during that game.)

Even considering that the majority of the claims at shooting 100% in a game are likely inaccurate, there are players who do achieve this feat on a semi-regular basis, especially within the professional pong circuit. However, perfect games are not the only thing that seems to get exaggerated from time to time; players also tend to forget a good handful of misses when manually calculating a tournament shooting percentage estimate. Until a platform to track, record and store shot-for-shot statistics in pong is developed, we can only take our best guess at how well we actually shoot in any particular tournament.

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Ian Lang of askmen.com and mathematician Dominic Spadacene break it down by the numbers, of which, will likely bring some of your self-shooting percentage projections back down to earth.

Article: (http://www.askmen.com/news/entertainment/the-real-odds-of-making-a-beer-pong-shot.html)

Dominic uses geometry to calculate the actual likelihood of a ball landing in a cup when a pong ball is thrown in the direction of the cups.

The mathematician’s formula never gives a player more than a 40% chance of making a shot, even with a full 10-rack set up! A clean shot (doesn’t hit the rim and bounce in), is projected to happen about 27% of the time. (Note: These calculations were NOT done with Official BPONG cups. Considering the smaller dimensions of BPONG cups vs. general party cups, these percentages likely would be even less if calculated on Official BPONG cups!)

Obviously, this does not account for the skills that a professional pong player possesses, but it does reveal an origin for performance evaluation. Now if we could only talk John Brenkus into considering all the other variables of a pro ponger’s shot to really get a good idea on just how well someone could actually shoot over the course of an entire tournament!

What do you think your lifetime tournament shooting percentage is?

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Best Of The West Kick-off Tourney Recap and Day 2 Main Event Action

 

As Day 2 of The Best Of The West (BOW) tournament in San Diego, CA, wound down late last night, the kickoff tourney champs were crowned and the preliminary schedule was wrapped up, paving the way for Day 3 action.

Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) fight their way to the top of the BOW $2k kick-off tourney title.
Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) fight their way to the top of the BOW $2k kick-off tourney title.

In the Kick-off Tourney, Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) claimed the cash and the top spot in the kickoff tourney for the 2nd straight year. This championship is actually Marx’s 3rd straight BOW kickoff tourney win, having won the tournament with Travis Carl in 2013 as well.

Before claiming this win, Marx and Pimentel had to take down another AZ/CA pairing of TJ Robinson (AZ) and Ryan Smith (CA). The entertainment value of this finals matchup did not disappoint! As Game 1 began, it felt like the making of an enormous upset – to everyone in the building except Big Mark and Marx.

The chatter was high on the end off the table that was occupied by Robinson/Smith and rightfully so, as every advantage needs to be capitalized on. (Especially, in a finals match and even more so against such highly touted competition.) Ryan Smith stepped up to the table with supreme confidence in himself to sink the last cup left on the table to put Pimentel/Marx against the ropes and force rebuttal shots.

…this is where things got interesting…

Smith, without skipping a beat, continued to talk trash as he gathered his shot, even requesting the direct attention of his opponents while shooting. However, given the extensive experience of the Marx/Pimentel squad, Marx decided to utilize a defensive strategy best left to the top players on the planet and does so in flawless fashion.

With only one cup remaining on both sides, and in the midst of a flurry of trash talk (with $2k on the line, of course), Marx intercepts Smith’s shot mid-air (leaving no chance for a miss) and fluently bangs his rebuttal shot all in one motion. (At this point, Tim Mozgov and Fredrick Weis might as well have been standing on the other side of the table.)

Game 2 didn’t turn out to be as close as the first as Marx/Pimentel completed their quest to repeat. My guess is because of the manhood that was all but stripped from them at the end of Game 1.

Sam Henshaw (LV) / Justin Spurrier (LV) and Adam Conrad (CA) / Justin Miller (CA) tied for 3rd.

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Day 2 also concluded preliminary play for the 10v10 Main Event!

BOW all squads
Beer Pong players from across the West Coast unite at Johnny V’s in San Diego this weekend for the annual Best Of The West tournament!

In anticipation of this event, we had pondered the likelihood of Nor Cal continuing their dominance with a new roster. After Day 2, it seems that they are coming back down to earth, as they finished prelims (19-11, +5) and in the 4th seed. However, SOJO’s WSOBP battery mate (Tim “Byron” Findley) seems to have found a new Cali squad, “Cali’s Last Resort”, as they settled comfortably into the 3rd seed with a (19-13, +33) record.

Marx continued his quality play as he has led his Arizona squad to the top overall seed in preliminary play with a (22-8, +50) record.

Having almost zero hype leading up to BOW was the Las Vegas teams. The men (Kick Rocks) have secured the 2nd seed and the Vegas ladies have the top overall seed going into bracket play.  A good showing for sure!

The returning ladies champs (Southern California) fell to (4-8, -22) and slipped into the 4th  seed, as the 3-time ladies champion Arizona squad sits near the top of the bracket in a 2 seed with a (7-5, +13) record.

Who will take home the Main Event title and be crowned 2015’s Best Of The West?

Check back with us next week for complete tournament results!

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The 6th Annual Best Of The West

BOW logo

This weekend, one of the country’s most revered professional pong tournaments will commence: The 6th Annual Best Of The West!

A quintuple of premiere organizations, including West Coast Pong, Nor Cal Beer Pong, Ocean Grown Pong, Pongstars.net and Fast Times Entertainment, will play host to the event. Festivities will kick off Friday night with a $2000 Multi-Partner tournament at Johnny V’s in San Diego, California. (945 Garnet Ave, San Diego, California, 92109) The Main Event will also take place at Johnny V’s on Saturday, June 6th, and will run thru Sunday, June 7th.

The Best Of The West (BOW) is one event in a series of “Best Of” tournaments that take place across the United States.  Other “Best Of” series include the Best Of The Midwest, Best Of The South, and Beast Of The East.  A distinctive feature of the “Best Of” series of events across the country is the 10v10 tournament format that is used. If you are unfamiliar with how this is possible in a game of beer pong, here is a quick run down:

Five BPONG tables are lined up next to each other and 5 individual (2v2) games are played
simultaneously. In order to win the overall match-up, your 10v10 team affiliation
must win at least 3 of those 5 individual (2v2) games. The BOW 10v10 teams are formed
by regional affiliation.

 

Here’s what to look for at this year’s event:

Reigning supreme over the Best Of The West’s operable tenure, Nor Cal Beer Pong (pictured below) will look to extend its legacy by adding a 5th title to their BOW collection. However, they will have to overcome replacing a key roster spot held by former World Series of Beer Pong Champion and pong legend, Mike Seivert.

2013Norcal

When it comes to the ladies, we’re looking for a battle between Arizona and Southern California!  After winning 3-straight women’s titles, the Arizona ladies squad (pictured below) will try to reclaim their hardware from last year’s Southern Californian championship team.

2013arizonawomen

For additional pictures and more information about the Best Of The West, please visit the Official BOW webpage at: www.bestofwestpong.com

Or visit the Official BOW Facebook event page at: https://www.facebook.com/bestofthewestpong?fref=ts

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NBA Draft for Jahlil Okafor Determined Through a Game of Beer Pong

 

Jahlil Okafor plays beer pong to determine who he will play for.
Jahlil Okafor plays beer pong to determine which NBA team he will play for.

The NBA draft is scheduled to begin at 7:30 ET on June 25th, and consensus top two pick Jahlil Okafor has recently taken to the beer pong table to hypothetically determine his professional basketball fate. (While the table used does not appear to be regulation size, this is a method of decision making that we at BPONG.COM completely support!)  Armed with a table tennis ball, similar to the ones used in the actual draft, the 6’11” Center began eliminating possible teams one shot at a time. He was eventually faced with a two-rack consisting of Philadelphia and New York.  The Duke University athlete intentionally eliminated (we’d like to assume) the 76ers pronouncing the Knicks his team of choice.

Okafor claimed to have never participated in the game before (roll eyes), as it would have been expected for there to have been beer in the cups if so.  Little does he know, that if he were to step up his game and play on a professional level, utilizing official World Series of Beer Pong rules, there is no drinking required.

When it came to his natural beer pong talent, Jahlil Okafor showed strong form while consistently making the cups he had aimed for.  Just imagine how much more promise the 19-year-old could show if he was leaning over the table, a legal maneuver in the professional circuit.  Certainly his 89” wingspan would aid him in any future participation in the game we love so dearly.

However, his height and length would not even be his greatest strength in beer pong. His competitive nature and mental toughness has already been tested through his years of high level basketball.  If Okafor can perform on the court in a national championship, with thousands of opposing fans maliciously berating him, the foul words of a beer pong opponent defending him should have little effect.

Seeing Jahlil Okafor grace the tables of a BPONG event would certainly be a dream for many players and organizers alike.  Considering the addictive nature of this game and the amazing community, we’re sure his first event would absolutely not be his last.

And one last thing: Jahlil, could you please have a conversation with Sir Charles Barkley on our behalf since he said that “black people don’t play beer pong”?  Not only was he clearly wrong, you chose the sport of beer pong to help make the important determination of where you should hypothetically land in the NBA, which was a great choice, by the way.


Check out Bleacher Report to watch Jahlil smash cups before he walks across the stage and shakes Adam Silver’s hand on draft day.


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Beer Pong for Newbies

Newbies

Beer Pong is considered a drinking game that’s mostly popular on college campuses. The game’s played with cups and balls. The cups are half filled with beer and are arranged in a triangle shape starting with 3 cups at the farthest edge of the table, descending to the one cup ascending closer to the center of the table. It’s usually played 1 on 1, 2 on 2, or sometimes even 3 on 3. There’s usually a small ritual to determine which team will go first, such as rock paper scissors, a coin flip, etc.

The object of the game is for one person to throw two of their balls into a cup at the other end of the table. If the balls go into the cups of the opposite team, the cup is removed from the game, often with the team drinking the beer in the cups. The balls are thrown until there is a miss of both balls, then it’s the other team’s turn. Most people have a bucket to clean splashes off the table and to keep the cups drinkable.

There are different ways the game can be played. The balls can be bounced into the cups, the balls can bounce once inside the cups, or the balls cannot bounce once inside the cups. Creativity and imagination have possibly spawned other derivations of how the game can be played.

Sometimes the teams are allowed to reshape the cups to make them easier to throw the balls into.

2 Major Rules to Live By in BPONG:

  • “Sink cups”. No matter what version of the game you play, you’ll almost never win unless you know how to put balls into cups with precision. Again and again and again.”
  • Don’t let your parents win often. You spent their hard earned money to attend college and get good at this game. Maybe let Grandma win every so often so she thinks she still has it, but don’t make your parents start to doubt that they spent good money only to produce a subpar pong player.”

The game stands to get more complicated, and just as in playing games of cards, there are different names for the different challenges the game offers. There are names for the shots that it is possible to make with the balls. These names coincide with which game of the many in beer pong is being played.

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Five All-Time Awesome Beer Pong Tricks

Beer Pong Tricks

Many moves in beer pong can be described as “tricks”, such as the twirling 360 and the acrobatic Under the Leg, as well as the lazy blindfold. (“Look, Ma! No Eyes!”) But the finest beer pong tricks take more imagination. The best beer pong performances involve props–other objects other than ball and cup, intermediaries, if you will, in the communion between player and cup. In no particular order, here are the five best beer pong tricks:

Number 5: The Skipping Rock: Place at least two small tables between you and the cup. Gently toss the ball in a soft overhand arc, and watch the happy bouncing and sinking. Drink.

Number 4: The Tiger Woods: This is a variation on the Skipping Rock, except using a golf club. Use irons or wedges for maximum loft. Tee optional. Drink.

Number 3: The William Tell: Place a clipboard or similar object at a 45-degree angle on a chair. Stand ten feet across the room from the chair and place the cup on top of your head. Close your eyes and toss the ball with a zippy overhand arc. Wait for the ball to land in the cup. Drink.

Number 2: The Happy Camper: Find a triple-decker bunk bed. If you don’t have one in your dormitory, dive in the largest dumpsters in your neighborhood. Place the cup at one end of the lowest bunk, making sure that that the end of the bunk is flush with a wall. Stand at the other end of the bunk and energetically bounce the ball on the middle bunk and the bottom of the top bunk until it hits the wall and lands in the cup. Drink.

Number 1: The Traveling Punk: Place the cup on a skateboard. Place the skateboard at one end of a gauntlet of three clipboards or similar flat objects arranged on chairs. Gently push the skateboard so it sails down the middle of the gauntlet. Bounce the ball hard off the nearest clipboard at an angle so it hits the next clipboard and the next, bouncing off all three on its way to meeting the cup at the gauntlet’s end. Drink.

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Anticipation

Can you feel it? Are you ready? In less than seven weeks, hundreds of teams will descend upon Vegas, many with hangovers from the revelry of the night before. Right now, everyone has that tingle. Everyone is undefeated. Everyone can dream of that glorious moment when Billy shakes you and your partner’s hand and presents you with a giant check. Whether it’s your first World Series or your ninth, those butterflies are in your stomach and you can’t wait to find out what the pong gods will bring your way on January 1st.

But hold up. Do you really think you’re going to win WSOBP 9? The answer might very well be a “HELL YEAH!” The answer you’d give could also be “Of course not.” That’s the point. This game is for the so-called “pros” that travel across the country routinely to compete. This game is also for the husband and wife who are at the WSOBP as part of their New Year’s vacation. Or for the friends who haven’t seen each other in a while but used to run the plywood tables together in college. This game is for everyone. The enjoyment that is provided by the game we all love is evident in both victory and defeat. We’re all lucky to be able to experience it, especially on as grand a scale as the World Series of Beer Pong.

It’s true, however, that the only constant is change. This year, while the Center of the Beer Pong Universe will once again have a latitude and longitude that leads you to the familiar Flamingo Hotel, some things will be different. No beer in the cups this year. It’s a logistical nightmare, and takes way too much time and coordination by WSOBP staff. Time better served to make sure that dude mean mugging you doesn’t cross the plane while you’re shooting, or move past his side of the table to get in your face.

We’ve compiled a general list of reasons why we have decided to forego beer in the cups this year.

1. Eventual TV rights.
2. Liability/over consumption of alcohol.
3. Pong Flu/health concerns.
4. Consistency – many major and weekly tournaments use water only.
5. Drink of choice – as opposed to a flat, indistinguishable product.

You may not see all the events you’re used to this year. You may see new ones you’ll come to love just as much, if not more.

All we ask is that you remain patient as we try to create the best experience possible while not over-extending the company’s future growth potential. Television deals, major cross promotion agreements, and bigger and better events are all within reach. We need our foundation to be rock solid as those next great steps are taken.

Organizers throughout the country have seriously stepped up. We have Skype tournaments, local satellite events and a multitude of weekly tournaments that continue to bring new players into the beer pong community. We’re encouraged by the continued growth of pong in new areas, and the veterans who are willing to provide guidance to the others willing to be tournament organizers. New initiatives like BPONG’s tournament software and national program structure will make it much easier for brackets to be run well, and run quickly.

Before you arrive in Vegas this year, take a minute to reflect on the work so many did before you (or with you) that has enabled a record ninth World Series of Beer Pong. It’s a significant achievement that can and should be appreciated by all. It’s up to every one of us to keep the game going. As a community, we want a 10th WSOBP and many more after that.