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Dartmouth pong

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Dartmouth Pong is a drinking game played at Dartmouth College that is loosely based on ping pong. A recent survey conducted by Dartmouth College researcher John Pryor and reported on in The Dartmouth found that 80% of Dartmouth students had played the game. [link]

At Dartmouth, the game is known simply as pong.

Contents

History and Culture

As of spring 2006, various newspaper reports have attributed the origin of beer pong to Dartmouth College: "Legend has it that the game, which can be played with paddles and is also known for some reason as Beirut, started years ago at a Dartmouth College fraternity party." [link] [link] The version of beer pong played at Dartmouth College, however, differs from that played at many colleges and universities in the U.S. Beer pong, the game known to Dartmouth students as Beirut, in which ping pong balls are thrown by hand at an opponent's cups, is rarely played at Dartmouth, where play with paddles and back-and-forth volleys is the norm. Among students, this game is known simply as "pong".

In its general form the game has been traced back to at least the 1950s as a casual attempt to combine the popular activities of drinking and ping pong. The game is said to have been started when a fraternity brother first put his beer on the table while playing ping pong. Early pong had fewer cups and fewer rules, and was played exclusively by men, as the game emerged before Dartmouth's coeducation. The game as it is played today probably did not evolve until the late 1970s. [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]

According to the New York Times, pong "has been part of fraternity life for at least 40 years, as hallowed as rush or Winter Carnival." [link]. Other Ivy League newspapers have called Dartmouth "the spiritual home of beer pong" [link], and characterized pong as "a way for Dartmouth frat boys to get drunk [that] has become what is arguably America's favorite drinking game." [link]

Because pong requires significant infrastructure - pong tables are generally considered too large to fit in most dorm rooms - and is best enjoyed outside the realm of college and government regulations on alcohol use, pong is not commonly played in dormitories. Pong is probably played most in the houses of fraternities and various other college-affiliated societies, including sororities, co-ed undergraduate societies and some senior societies, as well as in off-campus residences. Most of these houses have two or more pong tables - often extensively painted or otherwise decorated - usually situated in the basement. There is a strong link between pong and the Greek system, as fraternity basements are the most common "public" venue for pong playing. However, pong is a prevalent feature throughout Dartmouth undergraduate society and culture, and is often played among classmates, team mates, and club members.

Equipment

Pong is played with paddles and ping pong balls on a table. Paddles are modified ping pong paddles: the handles are removed and surfaces have been stripped of the usual rubber coating and often sanded smooth. Each two-person team has a predetermined amount of disposable, clear, plastic cups filled approximately 5/6ths of the way full with beer and arranged in a predetermined formation. Pong has classically been played with keg-filled "Beast", but in the current "post-keg/SLI" era, Keystone Light is nearly universal standard beer. Tables are usually 5'x10' although 5'x9' tables are used in some houses. Tables are usually made from one or two sheets of plywood and are usually propped up on other support structures.

Gameplay

Note: While no "official" codified version of the rules of pong exist, the rules described here are generally accepted by most players.

The goal of the game is to force your opponents to drink all their beer by hitting or sinking their cups with the ball. After a serve, teammates alternate turns returning the volley, allowing the ball to bounce once on each side of the table. Particular emphasis is placed on hitting the ball up (known as a "lob); "low" hits (as determined by any player but generally set at the shoulder height of the shortest player) are not counted. "Low" cannot be called on a sink (unless, rarely, and depending on the house, by the team that sank) and is usually not called unless the ball hits a cup.

Rules vary from house to house, particularly regarding number of serves, certain types of saves, environment (using the surrounding walls, ceilings, body parts, etc. in play) and other factors are determined on a house-by-house basis. Overall, pong is considered a "Gentleman's Game" with a friendly spirit that precedes competition so that if a questionable call exists, the possible perpetrator avoids the necessity of an intermediary by drinking a beer and then serving to restart play. In tournament rules where every play matters, the debate is instead settled by a beer chug-off. (See "Thunderdome")

Serving

Usually, the new team to come to table serves first. If the winner of the previous game is not staying on the table or if it is the first game of the night, service is often determined by a mini-game similar to Beirut ("let's throw for serve"), in which the players take turns throwing the ball at their opponents cups. The first team who is not able to match or exceed the result of the previous throw (in order of increasing desirability: missing, hitting a cup, sinking a cup) serves first. Often, it is considered polite for one team to volunteer to serve first.

Depending on the local custom, the server has either two or three opportunities to make a valid serve. A serve must bounce on the recipients' side of the table, preferably to the opponent diagonal to the server. If the serving team has only one half-cup remaining, they have "infinite" chances to make a valid serve. However, at some houses, the serving team must drink their last half cup and replace it on the table. Since the cup is empty, saves off of that cup are often difficult.

When restarting play, as when the ball bounces twice, misses the table during a volley, or if cups are hit/sunk, the player who failed to hit the table, failed to return the ball, or drank must serve.

Drinking

There is no penalty for failing to return a volley other than having to serve. Drinking occurs only when a service fails under certain conditions (see #Serving), when a cup is hit, or when a cup is sunk.

If a cup is sunk, i.e. when one team causes the ball to land inside the opposing team's cup, the opposing team must drink the entire cup. At some houses, the opposing team is permitted to attempt a "blow save" by blowing the ball out of the cup if it is still spinning around the rim. Depending on the house, this particular type of save may or may not be frowned upon.

If the ball hits the cup but does not sink, the opposing team must drink half the cup unless the ball is "saved" by returning the ball with up to one bounce. Either partner may save and "low" saves are permitted, but many houses merely count "low" saves that hit a subsequent as a save and not a hit. However, some houses permit "slam saves" where the saving team may attempt to "slam" the ball into their opponents' cups to score a hit. You do not need control of your paddle in order to save. A player may "throw save" by throwing his/her paddle at the ball when a save would be out of arm's reach. Play does not stop after such a save, except in the normal course of the opposing team being unable to legally return the ball after the save. At some houses, there is no calling low after a throw save.

Some houses (only Sigma Nu and Zeta Psi) allow "electricity," a variant rule under which, if the ball hits multiple cups, a half is drunk from each cup that was hit. If the ball ultimately sinks, the opposing team must drink a half from all the cups that were hit as well as the full cup which was sunk.

Set up

The cup formation varies from house to house. The most common arrangements include:

Variants

In addition to the commonly played rules and formations listed above, a variety of other rule variants and cup formations exist. Many of these are loosely based upon the common formations, generally expanding them by adding more cups. Others are more exotic, often times themed on historic events or movies. These variants generally require considerable alcohol consumption and are usually specific to one or two houses and played on special occasions.

Basic Variants

Line-based Variants

Shrub-based Variants

Ship-based Variants

History-based Variants

External links

 

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All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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