Cornhole is a game that anyone can enjoy. Whether it’s your grandma, cousin, little brother, or mom, anyone who can toss a bean bag 27 feet can participate in a game of cornhole. This is one of the main factors that makes cornhole such a go-to game when it comes to gatherings and parties.

Regardless of if you are putting on a fundraiser, a competition, or are just having a few friends over, knowing how to run a cornhole tournament (or bags tournament) can go a long way. See this link to understand the different names of cornhole around the country. It’s a fun and interactive game that everyone can play and makes for a great memorable experience for everyone involved.

In this article we are going to talk about planning for a tournament, the equipment and items needed, and the rules involved.

Planning your tournament

As with many things, the first step to your tournament will be creating a plan of how things will be set up. Planning out your goals and needs for this tournament will help you make sure things run as smoothly as possible. If you plan on providing food, drinks and any other entertainment, this should all be figured out beforehand.

One of the main things you will want to know is how many people will be there and base your prize off of that. Decide your buy-in fee and how many people will be attending and go from there.

A common payout is 1st place- 60%, 2nd place- 30%, and 3rd place- 10% of half of the entry fees or 1st place- 70% and 2nd place- 30% of half the entry fees. The reason tournaments often do half the entry fees is so the remaining money can go towards the set up or venue provided by the tournament host.

Your tournament should be planned out properly to avoid any confusion during the actual game play. If you’re tournament will contain more than friends and family it might be a good idea to use social media and maybe some type of local advertising or word of mouth to bring people in. A properly planned out tournament should cover the following:

• Food and Drinks
• Any extra entertainment
• Number of players, buy-in fee, and payout ratios
• Location
• Cornhole boards and bags
• Bracket
• Marketing

As far as where you can hold your tournament you have options. Backyards can work great as long as the cornhole boards can be placed on a mostly flat area.

Any open area outside usually work best for having a tournament of friends and family but inside venues can work well also depending on the size. The boards will need to be 27 feet apart from front to front if you plan on playing regulation rules. 

Equipment and Accessories

As far as equipment goes, obviously you will need a set or multiple sets of quality cornhole boards. If you are looking to have a legit regulation tournament, be sure to use tournament size boards.

Be sure to have a tape measure on hand or something similar to make sure the boards are 27 feet apart. It’s also a good idea to use Pro Style Resin Filled Bags as they offer the ability to use different techniques and styles of play.

Having a bracket with the appropriate number of teams on it can be crucial to your tournament. A bracket will allow the participating players and the host keep track of the status of teams in the tournament.

It’s important to announce before the tournament begins whether it will be single or double elimination so teams are informed beforehand. The app Bracket Maker & Tournament is a great app you can utilize while running a tournament as well if you prefer to do so digitally.

If you are interested in adding other accessories to make your tournament a great experience, you might want to consider adding a few scoring towers to your set up. Scoring towers are a great way to keep score in real time during the match with no confusions. Some scoring towers also double as a drink holder which can be convenient for players.

Rules for a Tournament

Depending on how you want to run your tournament, the rules can vary. However there are usually a few constants when it comes to the rules. Some of these rules include a distance of 27 feet between the front of cornhole boards, players cannot step past front of board when throwing, 21 points is often the winning point total needed to advance.

Regulation cornhole tournaments allow players to go over the score of 21 to win a tournament without penalty. This is different than many backyard matches, which often force you to reach an exact score of 21 without going over to win the match. This makes for quicker matches without players going back and forth after being penalized.

Check out the image below this paragraph for a chance to get the official rules of cornhole. Having a set of rules to go off can be crucial when you consider any disputes that could occur with teams and players. This foundation of set rules should allow everything to run smoothly.

Hopefully this article helped you cover the basics when it comes to running your own cornhole tournament. Having a tournament can be a great way to raise money for a specific cause, have a fun competition between friends and family, or just simply put on a legitimate cornhole competition.

There are many different ways to go about having your tournament. Maybe your tournament will be trying to raise a lot of money and require that you get sponsors. Maybe it will be for a few friends and family and doesn’t need a super advanced set up. Regardless of your goals it’s important to plan everything out and be prepared. There are plenty of resources available on the web to help you in setting up your tournament. Best of luck!