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You know you're from Ohio when you hear the word 'cornhole' and don't chuckle to yourself. Drive anywhere around the midwest in the summer, and you can see the game being played at parties, BBQ's, and charity events. The game goes by many names depending on what area of the country you are in, but its most commonly referred to as cornhole. It also goes by regional names such as bags, baggo, or bean bag toss. I think most agree, no matter what you call the cornhole game, most people find themselves addicted to the game from the moment you pick up the bags. Why wouldn't it be so popular? Its a game that Grandparents can play with their Grandkids and something that anyone in any shape can play and excel at.

The history of the game is somewhat unknown, but it is widely circulated that it was started by farmers in Ohio. In talking with people, it seems that most remember playing the game (or a variation) when they were younger. The point of the game is this. Setup two cornhole boards 27 feet away from one another, and have two opponents alternate throwing cornhole bags at the board opposite of them. As the players alternate, they keep throwing until each of their 4 bags is thrown. A bag in the hole is worth 3 points and one on the board is worth 1. You tally all the points on the board and the team with the most points gets to add the difference to their score.

You can opt to purchase the boxes online or you can pull out your lumber, hammer, and nails and make the platforms on your own. Regulation boards are 4 feet x 2 feet and are made with 1/2"-3/4" plywood. The hole is a 6" circle cut at the top of the board. A popular alternative to the regulation box is the cornhole boards that collapse for simple traveling. In some areas of the country, namely Chicago, it is popular to use smaller boards measuring 3'x2'. Because of the shorter surface and the steeper pitch, these boards are more difficult to play on. But, the big advantage to playing on these boards is that they can fit into your vehicle with ease and that makes for easy portability. The bags measure 6"x6" and are made with duck cloth and filled with 1 pound of feed corn.

Since the sport has really started to take off, large tournaments are being hosted every year with more and more being added season after season. An Ohio tournament was even televised and had hundreds of people linking up to test their skills against other players. For many, the tournaments are a way of finally seeing how good they really are. Most serious players have never had a chance to assess their level since they were stuck playing backyard games on their homemade cornhole sets. The tournaments are the way to get stiffer competition together in one spot so the players can see where they stand.

Not surprisingly, companies have developed products to meet the needs of the growing sport. Most cornhole players have either left the bags in the rain or had an animal get inside their bags, well a new company has solved that problem by developing weather resistant cornhole bags which contain plastic as opposed to corn filing. Other product developers have introduced scoring systems so you don't get into fights with your friends trying to keep score. Even though you see more and more people playing the game, the main draw seems to be the easy going nature and relaxing pace of the game. In a high tech world, the game of cornhole is very low tech. .