I remember playing Beer Pong back in college as a recreational way to get my buzz on, but it has since taken on a life of it’s own. It seems to have gone from simply throwing a ping-pong ball into a cup, to a sophisticated matrix involving rules, regulations, and professional tournaments. Thanks to the help of organizations like BPONG.com, which caters to the needs of the beer pong community by offering amenities such as tournament information, an official beer pong store, and a beer pong players forum, this “drinking game” has turned into one serious sport. All across the United States, Canada, and even further overseas, beer pong leagues are popping up and everyone wants to make it to one place: The World Series of Beer Pong.
The World Series of Beer Pong, known to the beer pong community as WSOBP, is the largest and longest running organized beer pong tournament in the world. It was created “by beer pong players, for beer pong players,” according to the official WSOBP website. All games are played on official BPONG 8-foot tables and are regulated by official WSOPB rules. Last year’s WSOBP was the largest yet, with over 800 participants, representing 45 states, as well as Canada, all competing for the championship title but also, the whopping $50,000 pot. This year’s event is expected to have an even higher turnout and will occur on January 1-5, 2011 on the Las Vegas strip at The Flamingo Hotel and Casino. In order to participate, players have to buy into the event by December 10, 2010, or can win their way in at one of the official satellite tournaments.
Saturday, the Los Angeles Lucky Strike Lounge housed a WSOBP eligible celebrity beer pong tournament that was co-hosted by LA Comedy Shorts and Digital College Network. The VIP lounge was packed with eager pongers looking for a chance to win their way into the WSOBP. The tournament kicked off after Pongmistress Aisha Tyler (24, CSI) gave players a few words of wisdom before handing the microphone to another announcer that got down to business with the details of the tournament. He explained that this tournament would be single elimination, meaning that after you lost a game you were out, and that all teams were to report their scores post game to the official scorekeeper. Teams were given official rules sheets, which included all kinds of strict regulations such as: teams must use only 40mm BPONG balls, a “re-rack” occurs at 6, 3, and 1 cups remaining, the ball may be grabbed only after it has hit a cup, leaning is allowed but no player may at anytime rest any portion of their body on the table during gameplay… The list of rules was endless, but these players knew them and a mere refresher glance at the sheet was all that they needed before engaging in battle.
Six games were played at a time and gawkers stood by and cheered for their favorites. The trash talking that went back and forth at the tables was like a Jerry Springer episode, which attracted a lot of audience attention. These teams meant business. I’ve never seen so many beer pong balls land into cups so gracefully following many effortless throws from adrenaline-infused players. You could tell that these players had practiced before, and a lot.
The winning team will head to the upcoming WSOBP for a chance to compete with past world series teams such as Smashing Time, Getcha Popcorn Ready, Wet Ballz, and Chauffeuring the Fat Kid. We wish them the best of luck!
Who would have thought that this favorite college party game would have launched into such an intense sport? Parents must be now faced with the challenge of finding the balance between scolding their kids for “slacking off” and playing too much beer pong instead of studying and praising them for the diligent beer pong practice schedule. After all, there is a lot that $50,000 could pay for, a college tuition bill being just the beginning.
For additional information on beer pong and the WSOBP, please visit: www.BPONG.com
Words by Nicole Pajer / Pictures by Zoetica Ebb
