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Ball Cup Cup Ball

Did you bring your cup?

Introduction ◦ How to Play ◦ Glossary ◦ Social Media

Introduction

What is Ball Cup Cup Ball? The best way to know is to show:

Ball Cup Cup Ball ("BCCB") is a game of skill, humor, and comradery.

BCCB has been dismissed as an inferior substitute for beer pong. Many new players anticipate the game to be easy and straight-forward. However these incorrect preconceptions rarely persist beyond a player's first round.

BCCB is a game of surprising depth, revealing its difficulty and subtlety only to those who pick up the cup and balls themselves. It is easy to learn, difficult to master, and altogether pretty silly, what with those balls bouncing everywhere.

How to Play

Rules

For casual play, any ping pong balls will do. For regulation play, ping pong balls must be 40 mm in diameter, 2.7 g in weight, and be rated 1+ stars.

For casual play, any cup, glass, mug, stein, crock, goblet, or drinking vessel will do. For regulation play, the cup must be a half-liter ceramic Oktoberfest beer stein from Red Lion Tavern.

BCCB is a team-based game played in pairs. A team of two players may play solo or against other teams of two players.

Teammates sit on the court facing each other. Players may be seated in chairs, on cushions, or directly on the court surface. The space between the players is typically 4 feet, although larger courts, up to 6 feet, are possible and make the game more challenging.

Once seated, teammates take turns tossing and catching balls. The exact format depends on the game type. See below.

Etiquette

Etiquette, sportsmanship, and respect are the cornerstones of BCCB.

At the beginning of a game it is customary one teammate to invite the another to play. The tossing player should invite the catching player with the standard invitation: "Are you ready to cup my balls?" The catching player should respond with verbal consent to commence play. A touching of cups is also customary.

A catching player may signal "game off" to their teammate by positioning their hand, flat and palm facing down, over the mouth of their cup, without touching the cup. This non-verbal signal instructs the tossing player to pause tossing until the hand obstructing the mouth of the cup is moved.

Classic Game

Casual game type.

Two players sit facing each other on opposite sides of the court. The tossing player tosses five ping pong balls, one at a time, to the catching player, who attempts to catch each ball in their cup. After five balls have been tossed, players reverse roles. Continue for hours.

John's Game

Competitive game type.

Four players are seated around a 4x4 foot square, one player on each side of the square, facing their partner on the opposite side. Each team starts with five balls in play, and the goal is to be the first team to catch all five of their balls. Play is done in turns that alternate between teams, and on each team's turn the tossing and catching roles alternate between the teammates.

Game example:

Team 1, composed of Person A and Person B
versus
Team 2, composed of Person C and Person D

Commence play:

Team 1's Turn. Person A tosses five balls to Person B. At the end of the turn, any balls that are in Person B's cup are removed from play, and Team 1 will attempt to catch the remaining balls on their next turn.
Team 2's Turn. Person C tosses five balls to Person D. At the end of the turn, any balls that are in Person D's cup are removed from play, and Team 2 will attempt to catch the remaining balls on their next turn.
Team 1's Turn. Person B tosses Team 1's remaining balls to Person A. At the end of the turn, any balls that are in Person A's cup are removed from play. Team 1 will attempt to catch the remaining balls on their next turn.
Team 2's Turn. Person D tosses Team 2's remaining balls to Person C. At the end of the turn, any balls that are in Person C's cup are removed from play. Team 2 will attempt to catch the remaining balls on their next turn.
Teams continue taking turns, alternating tossing and catching roles, until one team successfully catches all five of their balls.

Glossary

backboarding A specific type of ball fondling where the catcher uses their chest as a "backboard" to aid in catching the ball.
ball A ping pong ball. Must have a diameter of 40 mm, weight of 2.7 g, and be rated 1+ stars. Without this, BCCB is just CC.
ball fondling The act of manipulating the ball with one's body, usually in an attempt to catch it.
bounceback Occurs when the catcher hits the ball back towards the tosser using their cup.
bounceback recovery Occurs when the tosser catches a ball in their hand following a bounceback. This is a situation in which non-cup contact with a ball allowed.
court The field of play. Usually a 4x4 ft or 6x6 ft square. See How to Play - Rules.
cup A half-liter ceramic beer stein from Red Lion Tavern used to catch balls. Without this, BCCB is just BB.
casual play Playing any non-competitive BCCB game type.
Classic Game Casual game type. The one that started it all. See How to Play - Classic Game
catcher Player who is attempting to catch a ball.
dead ball A ball that is no longer in play because it has made contact with something other than a cup, e.g. floor, wall, ceiling, body parts.
etiquette The cornerstone of BCCB. Without this, we are lost.
first ball advantage Refers to the phenomenon wherein having a ball or balls in a cup makes it easier to catch subsequent balls. Therefore, catching the first ball during a round makes all subsequent balls easier to catch. A significant advantage.
John's Game Competitive game type. See How to Play - John's Game.
Master's Cup A variant cup style with no inner bevel near the rim. This style of cup is so named because catching balls with it is significantly more difficult than with a standard cup and therefore requires a high degree of mastery.
rim job The act of hittng the ball with the rim of the cup.
seconds When a player catches a ball after the ball has previously bounced out of their cup, i.e. after one bounce. This pattern of bounces preceeding a catch can continue to become thirds, fourths, fifths, etc.
toss The act of serving the ball to the catcher.
tosser Player who is tossing a ball.

Social Media

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