Rules of Play

How to read these rules

The Series plays by standard competitive cornhole rules, the same game you'll find at organized events anywhere. These pages put those rules in Series words and add the few things that are specific to us: our Series 1, 2 and 3 classes, Scoreholio scoring and membership.

• The first sections are the game itself: equipment, the court, pitching, scoring and the clocks.
• The later sections are how Series events are run: formats, classes, who earns points, entry fees and payouts, and how problems are settled.
• The director runs the event. At a Club event the director (or someone they pick) acts as the official. At Region and State Events, and the Championships, the Series names the officials.

Boards

A legal board:

• Is made of wood with a smooth finish, 2 feet wide by 4 feet long (a quarter inch either way).
• Has a 6-inch hole, centered side to side, with the center of the hole 9 inches from the back edge.
• Has a top at least 1/2 inch thick with cross-support underneath, or at least 3/4 inch thick without it.
• Weighs at least 15 pounds.
• Stands with the front edge 2.5 to 3.5 inches off the ground and the back edge 12 inches up (a half inch either way).

Keep boards clean and dry. Nothing may be put on a board after you buy it (powder, cleaning spray, silicone and the like). A dry cloth is fine between games.

No stamp is required. A board only has to meet the measurements above.

Bags

A legal bag:

• Is 6 by 6 inches (a quarter inch either way), weighs 15.5 to 16.5 ounces, and is 1.1 to 1.5 inches thick when it lies flat.
• Is filled with resin (plastic beads). Corn-filled bags are not allowed.
• Has no hole where filling could leak out.
• Is unaltered since you bought it. No stitching, no adding or removing filling, no ironing.
• Is allowed to be washed with detergent or fabric softener, machine dried, and broken in with an approved product used as the package says.
• May carry your initials or name in permanent marker, up to 5 square inches.
• Matches the other three bags in its set, front and back, in design and color.

Each player brings their own set of four, or uses a set the director provides. Bags may be switched only between matches, unless one is damaged and leaking.

• No substances on the outside of a bag, and no liquid put on a bag on purpose. A director may make you switch bags mid-game, or forfeit the game, if you do.
• A damaged bag: tell the director. The whole set of four is replaced, and you get one "down and back" practice with the new set.
• Damaging a bag on purpose forfeits the game.
• Checks: a director may inspect bags at any time, or when someone asks before a game. Once a match starts, the bags in play are accepted for that match.
• Repeat offenders: playing disallowed bags again after a warning forfeits the rest of that event. The Series may suspend you after that.

Any bag that meets these measurements is legal.

The court

• Two boards face each other, 27 feet apart, measured front edge to front edge (a half inch either way). Indoors or under cover you need at least 12 feet of clearance overhead.
• On each side of each board is a pitcher's box, 3 feet wide and 4 feet long (as long as the board).
• The front end of the board is the foul line, and also the front edge of the box.
• A lane is the two boxes directly across from each other. Doubles partners stand in the same lane, not diagonally.
• Keep a scoreboard or tablet at least 1 foot behind a board and out of the way of play. It isn't needed to play.

Before the game

• Coin toss (or bag spin). The winner chooses who pitches first.
• In singles, the winner picks a lane, and keeps it for the whole game.
• In doubles, the winner picks either the fixed lane and board for each player, or who matches up against whom at each board. The other team decides the option left over.
• Practice. The standard is one "down and back": in singles, one round of practice at your board, then walk to the other board in your lane for another round. In doubles, partners at each board practice in turn. Every new match starts with a down and back, unless everyone agrees to skip it. Extra practice needs everyone's agreement.
• Delays that aren't the players' fault (a dead tablet, for example) don't earn practice throws. First delay is a warning; after that, the delaying player forfeits the next bag.
• Bags can be challenged before a game, through the director. If disallowed, the player or team gets a warning, can't use those bags that game and needs another set for the rest of the event. Bags nobody challenges before a match are accepted for that match.

Pitching and foot faults

A pitch is a bag thrown toward the far board. Underhand or overhand is fine. You may miss on purpose for zero points.

• Stay in the box. At release, at least part of one foot must be on the ground inside your pitcher's box.
• Stay behind the line. Don't step on or past the foul line before you release, or until the bag you threw lands on the far board or the ground.
• Stay off the board. No stepping on the board while pitching or following through.
• Keep your body back. Nothing except a hand or arm may cross the middle of the board toward the other box.
• Exception: players with a lower-body disability aren't penalized for a natural follow-through past the foul line if the bag was released behind it.

Foot fouls. The first foul brings an official to the court (the opponent can ask for one, or the director steps in). After that, every bag pitched with a foul is forfeited. A forfeited bag comes off the court once it stops, and any bags it moves count where they end up. Starting a pitch with no foot in the box counts as a foul, even if you never cross the line. The points from the foul bag come off your round, and any points your opponent lost because of it go back to them.

Both feet past the foul line at release is a severe foul, scored like touching bags (see Scoring).

How a game flows

• A round is 8 bags, 4 for each side, thrown toward one board. You score at the end of the round, never in the middle.
• Pitch order. The coin-toss winner pitches first and sides then alternate through all 8 bags. In later rounds, the side that scored in the previous round pitches first. After a push (no net points), the same side leads off again.
• Moving boards. In singles, both players walk to the other board in their lane. In doubles, the partners at the other board pitch the next round.
• Winning. The first side to have 21 or more points at the end of a round wins. There is no win-by-two, and no penalty for going over 21.
• Straightening a board. You may fix the board you pitch at only before a round, and only if it's crooked or the wrong distance away. You may fix the board you pitch from any time except while the opponent is pitching. Fixing a board at the wrong time forfeits your next bag.
• Wait for the bag to stop before you pitch. Pitching early forfeits your bag, and any opponent bag it touches counts as if it were in the hole.
• Don't walk down early. Neither side may walk to the far end until the last bag has landed. Walking early scores every bag on the board, and the last bag, as in the hole.
• Wait 3 seconds after the last bag stops before you touch any bag. Picking up early is a touching-bags violation.
• Wrong order. If a bag is pitched out of order, that bag is forfeited and the opponent pitches two in a row to get back on track. If nobody calls it until the round is over, finish the round; if it was a push, the next round uses the right order, and if somebody scored, the scoring side leads next.
• A leftover bag found after both sides cleared the board and started the next round means that round is over. The leftover bag is forfeited.
• Refusing to finish. A player who won't finish loses 21–0. In doubles, if one partner can't finish, the team loses 21–0.

Scoring

Bags are counted only when the round is over, where they lie.

Cancellation scoring. Only the difference counts. If you have 10 points and your opponent has 8, you score 2 for the round.

• Pinned bags. A bag that's pinned against the side of the board, hanging off it and touching the ground, a leg or the frame is dead. An official takes it off. The other bag scores 1 if it stays on the board, 0 if it falls too.
• A bag hanging on top of a ground bag. The official removes the ground bag. If the hanging bag then falls, it scores 0; if it stays on the board, it scores 1.
• Raking the hole. An official or a fair spectator may clear the hole, without disturbing a bag hanging in it. If that bag stays, it's worth 1. If it falls after a correct rake, it's worth 3.
• Bags that were moved. Final resting places count, including bags moved by a dead bag. A dead bag is taken off once it stops.
• Touching bags during a round (a severe foul). Touching any bag in play, stomping or jumping so bags move, or touching the board so bags move ends the round on the spot. The offender scores 3 for each bag in the hole, and nothing for bags on or off the board. Their bags still in hand are forfeited. The other side scores 3 for each bag in hand, on the board and in the hole. Then the usual cancellation applies. (If the offender has exactly one bag left and the other side has none, that bag is simply dead and the round is scored normally.)
• Conceding. Saying you concede, or throwing in the towel, ends the match or round on the spot. Bags already in the air still count. If a concession was based on a wrong score and that's noticed before either player starts the next match, the concession is canceled and play picks up where it was.

Who keeps score. With no official, the players keep the score. Mistakes can be fixed until the end of the next round. With an official, or on a stream, either side may appeal until the end of the next round. After any violation, the official confirms the right score before the next round starts, and that score stands unless it's appealed in time.

Scoreholio. All Series events are scored on Scoreholio. Players use the name on their Scoreholio account, which should match the name on their Series membership so results find the right player.

Clocks and timeouts

• Pitch clock: 15 seconds per bag, starting when your opponent's bag comes to rest.
• Start-of-round clock: the first pitcher of a round has 45 seconds in doubles or 60 seconds in singles, starting when the last bag of the last round stops. Both players must be in their pitcher's boxes before it runs out.
• If the clock runs out: you're charged a timeout automatically and the clock resets. With no timeouts left, the bag is forfeited. A bag pitched after the clock has run out counts as a foot foul.
• Timeouts. Each player (singles) or team (doubles) gets four 60-second timeouts. You may call one when you have the next bag, or between rounds if you pitch first. A partner can call it for the team, but not once the throwing motion has started. You may look at the other board, but no practice throws (that forfeits your next bag). Everyone must be back in the box when time is up. You may take at most two timeouts in a row.
• Asking an official to clarify a rule or step in is never charged as a timeout.
• Celebrations that stop the game are not fine. Your opponent's clock starts when the celebration ends.

When the clock is enforced. The pitch clock and the start-of-round clock apply at every Series event. They are enforced when a player or the director asks. If you want the clock on, ask the director to enforce it, and from then on it's enforced for that match. A director may also turn it on for a whole event and say so on the event page.

Conduct

• No contact between players during a game, and no obvious attempts to distract an opponent.
• Sportsmanship. Treat opponents, officials, directors, volunteers and fans with respect.
• Repeated misconduct after a warning (throwing bags in anger, cursing, fighting, putting down the Series or other players) can mean removal from the event and a ban from Series events for the rest of the season.
• Coaching is allowed. Teammates, coaches and spectators may give advice during play.
• Headphones may not be worn on a stream or TV stage.

Penalties, lightest to heaviest. The official picks the one that fits:

1. Warning for something that had no real effect on the opponent's pitch.
2. Forfeited next bag for an accident that clearly affected the opponent's pitch.
3. The round is scored as a touching-bags violation for disrupting the game on purpose.
4. Forfeiting the game or match for the worst conduct.

Who decides. The director makes the call at Club events. At Region events, State Events and the Championships, the Series admins (or the official they name) make it. Any player may appeal to the Series admins in writing within 3 days. The admins' decision is final.

Event formats

Every Series event is one of these formats. The director posts the format with the event.

• Minimum field for points: 6 players in Singles formats and 6 teams in Doubles formats. Switcholio needs 12 players.
• Doubles teams play at the higher partner's Series (see classes below). In a Blind Draw, each player keeps their own Series.

Match length. Every match is one game to 21, finals included. A match ends when one side has 21 or more points at the end of a round.

Brackets. Brackets at Series events are double elimination unless the director posts otherwise.

Classes: Series 1, 2 and 3

• Every member is placed in Series 1, 2 or 3. A director confirms every placement and every move. Series are reviewed monthly. See Find your Series.
• Region events, State Events and the Championships may have a bracket for each class. In those brackets you may play up into a higher Series but not down into a lower one. A bracket that combines classes (for example "Series 2 + 3") counts the class on its label for points.
• A doubles team counts as the higher partner's Series.
• Don't sandbag. Players mustn't try to lower their stats or their placement to land in an easier class. An admin may move a player up, or take away points, if that happens.
• Club events are open. Anyone can play, and classes don't limit who enters.

Who earns points

• Anyone can play a Series event. Only members earn points and appear in the standings. Non-members take their place in the results but earn no points.
• Membership is for New York residents and players who live within 25 miles of the New York border. Other out-of-state players may play but don't earn points. See Membership.
• Points come from your finish. They're listed on the points tables and not repeated here.
• Circuits. Women's, Senior (55+ on Nov 1, 2026) and Junior (15 and under on Nov 1, 2026) events are for those players. Circuit events use the Series 1 points. See the Circuits.
• Your name must match. Use the name on your Scoreholio account. If you join the Series after an event, your earlier results are added when the name matches.

Entry fees and payouts

• The director sets the entry fee for each event and posts it with the event, along with the payout and the deadline to register.
• Payouts are determined by the director for each event and posted on the event page before it starts.
• Players register on Scoreholio.

Director authority and disputes

• The director is the official at their own events unless the Series names someone else. Their call stands in the moment so play can continue.
• Directors post the event's details before it starts: format, class bracket (if any), entry fee, payout, and who the official is.
• Directors upload the results to the site afterward. A Series admin approves them. See Adding your event results.
• Disagreements go to the Series admins, who can correct a result or discipline a player or director.