The national Beer Pong League

By: Jeff Barnes

To the casual observer, beer pong is nothing more than a college drinking game. You throw table tennis balls into plastic cups, drink beer and repeat the process. It’s not rocket science. It’s just beer pong.

But chances are, if you are reading this, it’s more than just beer pong. “It’s not just beer pong, it’s a way of life” sounds like a terrible cliché you’d find on a t-shirt at the Jersey Shore, but in many ways it’s so true.

Truth is, the majority of us have sacrificed a lot for the sport of beer pong. Only a beer pong player would spend the last twenty dollars to his name on a tournament entry, even though he’s got nothing at home to eat besides Ramen noodles. We stay up way too late on school nights playing in leagues and tournaments. We head into the big meetings at work still hungover from the previous night’s adventures. We take off work to travel to Las Vegas and Atlantic City to play in beer pong tournaments. We spend hours writing blogs that no one cares about. Our significant others wonder why we can set aside time for things like beer pong but not for them. And if you’re Maryland Beer Pong player Ronald Savage, you drive from West Virginia to Baltimore once a week just to play in a coed beer pong league for nothing more than a bar tab.

Yes, beer pong is a game of sacrifice. I suppose we all have the right to make our own decisions, but in many cases, beer pong makes them for us. Once you get hooked, there’s no turning back. The question is no longer “Am I going to the World Series of Beer Pong?” The question becomes “How am I getting to the World Series of Beer Pong?” We seldom are rewarded for what we give, yet we keep coming back for more. It’s a vicious, terrible, yet wonderful cycle.

It’s not just beer pong, it’s a way of life

But few of us have made the sacrifice that Clayton Still made. In January, 2010, the now 23-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia was asked to enroll in the National Guard’s Officer Candidate School, an 18-month program. He performed very well in his leadership position. He was well on his way.

This past November, Clayton discovered the world of competitive beer pong. He helped organize tournaments with Southeast Beer Pong and in January, made his major debut in the World Series of Beer Pong VI. His team Busboys played well, finishing at 8-4 and narrowly missing the cutoff for Day 3 competition.

Clayton had no reason to worry about his position with the National Guard. He made sure all his duties were complete prior to leaving, and performed very well in his position upon his return. But everything changed when his peers found his pictures from the World Series of Beer Pong on his Facebook page.

“They told them I wasn’t officer material,” Clayton said. “They said I was too concerned about playing beer pong.”

Clayton was faced with a tough decision. Restart his program from the very beginning, or finish up his last two months with one stipulation: He must quit playing beer pong altogether. His decision, he said, was an easy one.

While the trophies, prizes and bragging rights are what attract us, at the end of the day it’s the community and the friends we make that keep us coming back.

“They don’t pay all my bills,” he said. “If this was something active duty, then I could see where they would have an argument.”

Clayton said that while he could have fought the decision, he decided not to.

“I’m a person who has character, a person who’s never going to throw someone under the bus to get ahead. That’s what was done to me,” Clayton said. “That would be like playing the game just like they played it against me.”

When Clayton’s father became very ill after he returned from Las Vegas, he noticed the outpouring of support from his newly-extended beer pong family. It’s that kind of atmosphere, and the competition which convinced Clayton he made the right sacrifice.

“It wasn’t the guys in the military, the guys I would possibly be going to war with,” Clayton said. “It was the guys on the other side of the table. The people that I met there were in the chaos and the crisis, more than the people that I trained with.”

People wonder why we invest so much time, effort and money into the sport of beer pong. While the trophies, prizes and bragging rights are what attract us, at the end of the day it’s the community and the friends we make that keep us coming back.

“I want to help grow the sport of beer pong and the family atmosphere,” Clayton said. “That’s what everyone should be in this for.”

By: Jeff Barnes

The city of Philadelphia is rich with history. It was here that the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. The streets of Philadelphia provided the gritty setting for Rocky Balboa to become one of the most beloved sports characters of all time. And a cheese steak is not a cheese steak unless it comes from Pat's or Geno's in South Philly. Or so I’m told.

Like every great city, however, it’s the people that bring Philadelphia to life. And in the City of Brotherly Love it’s a 31-year-old corporate sales rep, a husband and father, who has spent the last couple of years dominating the world of beer pong. His name is Kevin Kessler.

At first glance, with his designer shoes, tight jeans and vintage Duke jersey, Kessler looks like a harmless, unassuming guy who has wandered away from the fraternity houses in Durham, North Carolina. But on the beer pong table, the La Salle University graduate transforms into a ferocious competitor.

Similar to many players, Kessler first got his feet wet dominating elbow rule tournaments in college. For someone now regarded as one of, if not the best, competitive beer pong players in the world, that kind of feeling is nothing new for Kessler.

“I always kind of thought I was the best, even when I was 19 and 21,” Kessler says of his early pong career. “I always wondered if anyone could beat me at this game. I've always had the belief.”

He finally got a chance to prove himself in the now-defunct Philly beer pong circuit. It took some cash games with Kris Fraser and pong tournaments at small bars in Philadelphia and that was all she wrote. The competitive pong monster had swallowed Kessler. He was all in. After a successful singles and doubles run at World Pong Tour’s 2009 Atlantic City Beer Pong Championship, everyone who wanted to keep their money knew to stay away from that guy Kessler.

I always kind of thought I was the best, even when I was 19 and 21. I always wondered if anyone could beat me at this game. I've always had the belief.

“It kind of launched me into the hungriness of wanting to play for more,” he says.

From there, Kessler’s story arc is a familiar one. Now regarded as one of the premier players in the game, Kessler racked up tournament wins and partner requests in the months leading up to the World Series of Beer Pong V in Las Vegas. For his first World Series of Beer Pong experience, Kessler teamed up with veteran Deep Chakrabarty and “Ask About Us” placed third overall in their major debut.

Kessler and Deep were two players that most did not want to face on the beer pong tables. Like Deep, Kessler will do and say almost anything to make an opponent miss. For some, his trash talk sometimes borders on too much, but for Kessler, it’s all part of the game.

“On a local level, I kind of just go about my business. I’ll bring it when I need to bring it,” he says. “I want to make them uncomfortable, make them doubt and judge themselves. It kind of gets me juiced up, gets me hyped and gets me going.”

In the competitive pong landscape, there is much debate over what ingredients make the best beer pong team. One school of thought believes that chemistry between two players is the key to a successful partnership. And then there is the other school of thought: The two best players make the best team. Kessler adheres to the latter.

“I don’t think there’s ‘set plays’ that need to be drawn up for beer pong,” he says.

I beat myself up over my decision to dump Deep. It just came down to ‘how do you pass up the best player in the world?’

So it came as no surprise to many when Kessler, despite a respectable third-place finish in Vegas, teamed up with Michael “Pop” Popielarski, who had just repeated as World Series of Beer Pong champion, for last summer’s Atlantic City event. Their team “No Introduction Necessary” was favored by many to win the top prize. From the leftovers, Pop’s former partner Ron Hamilton teamed up with Kessler’s former partner Deep to create “Welcome to the Jungle.” In one of the most dramatic beer pong series ever, Ron and Deep exacted their revenge against their former partners, eliminating them from the final day of the tournament en route to a second-place overall finish. It’s a decision that, to this day, continues to haunt Kessler.

“I beat myself up over my decision to dump Deep,” he says. “It just came down to ‘how do you pass up the best player in the world?’”

Because of the highest of expectations, by most accounts Pop and Kessler’s performance was considered a tremendous disappointment. In the Atlantic City aftermath, a plethora of “he said, she said” stories of blame surrounded the two. Rumors swirled of each player dropping the other, straining the relationship between Pop and Kessler. The two have not played a major tournament together since. Still, Kessler insists that any perceived disrespect was unintentional.

“I do view him as the best player in the world,” Kessler says of Pop. “I didn’t wait to see the ‘Lebron James Decision’ to see if he’d drop me. I didn’t want to hold him back. I would be stupid to drop the best player in the world for anyone. It definitely hurt our relationship,” he says.

Like most men his age, Kessler’s priorities changed last September when he and his smoking-hot wife welcomed the birth of their first child. Cash game monies went toward diapers, and after a respectable, but also disappointing finish again in this past World Series of Beer Pong, Kessler knew his time in the beer pong world was dwindling.

Hopefully I’ll be out there when I’m 35-40 shooting the shit with everyone. Maybe one of these days I’ll win the big one.

“After The World Series of Beer Pong VI, I had a reality check,” he says. “I knew the days of me playing as frequently as I was were over.”

While keeping his baby dressed in fresh Wu-Tang apparel, tending to the needs of his gorgeous wife and watching the Phillies now take most of Kessler’s free time, he still finds the time to hone his skills and keep his reputation as one of the game’s best.

“Thank god for the Skype,” Kessler says. “That’s the only way I’m able to stay competitive with some of the best players.”

And competitive he is. Despite a laundry list of personal beer pong accomplishments, Kessler finds himself in the company of other top players in the sports world: The best to never win a title. While he’s notched big wins with many of the game’s best (and not-so-best) players, Kessler does not shy away from his preference to play his best in singles play. “Whenever I’m shooting, I feel like it’s all on me, I’m in control,” he says. “I feel more comfortable with the ball in my own hand.“

While he’s still unsure who he will be playing with this year in Las Vegas, Kessler already has partners lined up for the next few tournaments. In June, he has plans to play in Atlantic City with Jason Chichester and in July he’ll be teaming up with Brandon Marx for BPONG’s Return to Mesquite: A $10,000 Mega Satellite Event.

Although the priorities are changing, Kessler doesn’t plan to leave the world of beer pong anytime soon.

“Hopefully I’ll be out there when I’m 35-40 shooting the shit with everyone,” Kessler says. “Maybe one of these daysI’ll win the
big one.”

By: Jeff Barnes

When the cavemen hunted wooly mammoths, saber-tooth tigers and other ancient creatures, they almost certainly boasted about the size of their spears and the quality of their kills in their cave paintings. When the Greeks competed in the Ancient Olympic Games, it’s a good bet that they talked trash to one another while vying for the coveted olive wreath. And what would the “Rumble in the Jungle” be without Muhammad Ali’s famous quips?


Since the beginning of time, every civilization has had its own unique brand of trash talk. No matter where you look, whether it’s in church, on the soccer field, at a PTA meeting or at a professional sporting event, you are going to get your fix of trash talk. The world of beer pong is no different, from your house party all the way to the final table of the World Series of Beer Pong.


If it wasn’t for trash talk, I wouldn’t be here right now writing a column about beer pong. While most people catch the beer pong bug through the desire to get drunk, for me it was the opportunity to talk shit to people. It may come as a surprise to some, but I grew up with older kids and got picked on and beat up a lot. I learned the art of talking trash before I kissed a girl. But nothing ever gave me the opportunity to talk trash to someone as directly as beer pong. I was hooked.


While I never earned a reputation for being a great shooter, people knew they didn’t want to play me. I didn’t care who you were, I was going to let it all out against you. But I always considered my trash talk a bit superior to my peers. I said enough to make people miss, but not enough that things would escalate. At a glance, I was a complete asshole. But my opponents always knew that after the game, it was all good. One of the first beer pong blogs I ever wrote was about trash talk. You can read it here: http://www.mdbeerpong.com/recap.php?id=638


I’ve always said that the key to trash talking isn’t who can be the loudest or who can be the meanest, rather it’s about finding out what your opponent’s hot button is and attacking that. The beer pong community has grown so much over the years and there is now so much more interaction between players than ever before, so when someone finds out what makes a player tick, all hell breaks loose. And I think it is starting to hurt the sport of beer pong.

I've been around the game for a long time. I'm like 100 years old in beer pong years.

Beer pong players have just gotten to be so damn mean. I’m guilty of the same thing. Like many of you, I’ve been around the game for a long time. I’m like 100 years old in beer pong years. So there’s nothing that is going to be said on the table or off it that is going to get to me. I’m seasoned and desensitized to trash talk. But I can imagine that a new player who comes out to a beer pong tournament for the first time, someone who hears some of the things that are said or sees some of the things that are done, will be immediately turned off and not come back. For us, it’s normal, but for them, it’s a little too much. It’s like when my friend’s mom found my cassette tape of “The Chronic” in his Walkman when I was in fifth grade and called my mom to complain. I think some of the behavior is getting a little out of hand and is keeping some new players away.

I’ll always have respect for guys like Nick Manfredo, who for my money is the best trash talker in the game.

After yet another disappointing finish in a major beer pong tournament this past weekend at the Beast of the East (congratulations to Weapons of MASS Destruction on their win and to NorCal for their win at Best of the West, too) I kind of took a step back and looked at the event from a different perspective. You had certain individuals spitting on multiple people and acting like complete idiots, you had people threatening to fight, you had people making racial remarks, and I was just really embarrassed by the whole thing. It’s just been taken too far and it’s not funny, it’s actually kind of sad. Yeah, we all do dumb things when we’re drunk, myself included, but at each major tournament, I’ve just noticed things steadily going downhill. There was even one guy there showing his balls to anyone and everyone. Seriously, who does that?

I’ll always have respect for guys like Nick Manfredo, who for my money is the best trash talker in the game. He’s one of those guys that walk the line perfectly of being funny and disrespectful enough at the same time. He does it right.

At the end of the day, for the vast majority of us beer pong isn’t our life, it’s one of the things we do to escape the real world of school, work, marriage, kids, etc. Put enough drunk people in one place and put a lot of cash on the line and it’s going to bring out the worst in most of us. But at some point or another, we all got into this to have fun. I think everyone, myself included, would benefit if we all just lightened up a bit. Have fun, hit some cups, talk your trash and have a laugh about it when you’re done. Come on guys, it’s just beer pong.

By: Jeff Barnes

I’m a nostalgic kind of guy. I seem to remember almost everything that has ever happened to me. I like listening to music from other times of my life and reminiscing. A lot of my beer pong blogs over the years have been about this very subject. While I am happy to see how far the sport of beer pong has come, I do kind of miss the good old days of beer pong. One of my biggest regrets in my beer pong career is missing out on the first two World Series of Beer Pong events in Mesquite, Nevada. I had just got into competitive beer pong weeks before the inaugural event, so I had no idea it existed. It was the fall prior to the second event when I started posting in the beer pong forums. I really wanted to go to the second year’s event, but I got too caught up being a smartass on the forum and arguing with Billy and ended up not going. Me arguing on the forums? Seems like only yesterday.

Sadly, I missed out on the Mesquite experience. By almost all accounts, it’s one of the worst places ever, but at the same time, everyone who’s ever talked about their experience there said they had the time of their lives in Mesquite. Between eating at McDonald’s, drinking Sin City Dark and playing beer pong, I don’t think there’s a whole lot more to do. But I think these kinds of places often lead to the best experiences. Some of the best times I’ve ever had with my friends were a result of being stuck in a situation without all the amenities, when you’ve just got each other, a beer pong table, some beers and whipped cream. Wait, what?


Las Vegas is fun and all, but if you’re like me and you’ve been a bunch of times, it loses some of its luster. While the location certainly draws in a lot of teams, one of the downsides is I think you lose some of that sense of community you get when you are stuck somewhere without much else to do.

"The last time a major beer pong event was held there, Jon Basile was still a freshman in high school."

All things considered, you can imagine my excitement when BPONG announced its Return to Mesquite: A $10,000 Mega Satellite Event this week. The last time a major beer pong event was held there, Jon Basile was still a freshman in high school. I think this tournament is a perfect chance to break up the wait for the next World Series of Beer Pong, and a great opportunity to get a lot of West Coast teams and the top players from the Midwest and East Coast together for another big tournament on the standard 8 foot tables. Airfare isn’t cheap, but I know I am going to do my best to get out there and see what all the Mesquite hype is about. As is standard operating procedure these days, several “dream team” matchups have already been announced. But I expect it will be one of the West Coast teams that will come out, dominate and take this one home.

BEAST OF THE EAST THIS WEEKEND

The inaugural Beast of the East tournament was held in February 2008 at The Nutty Irishman in New York and was the brainchild of Josh Deford. While I don’t exactly remember the format, 16 players were chosen and randomly drawn as teammates. These teams were then split into brackets and in the end, it was an all-Maryland final. I wasn’t good enough to be on the team, but I heard it was a great time.
The second edition was held in September of 2009 at McFadden’s at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Garrett Lang and Mike Vitiello joined forces and took the reins of that tournament, which would ultimately be won by Michael “Pop” Popielarksi’s Long Island, New York squad.

The next Beast of the East was held in Philadelphia, again, but this time in a much larger area and with a much larger turnout. Teams came from as far away as the Midwest, with the Midwest even earning the #1 seed after preliminaries. But in the end, it was the defending champions who fell to the New Jersey War Machine.

This year’s edition of the Beast of the East will be held at Miami Mike’s in East Hanover, New Jersey. 16 teams from Massachusetts to Virginia will battle it out for bragging rights of the deepest beer pong region on the East Coast. The tournament will feature 7 rounds of preliminary matchups, with players from each squad pairing up with a different player each round.

The four teams favored by most to do well on Saturday include the defending champion New Jersey War Machine, Long Island 1, Maryland United and Weapons of MASS Destruction. While all four of these teams consist of many of the top players in the country, almost every team has a chance to make a run in this kind of tourney. Beer pong is a game filled with gigantic egos, and the players who just don’t envision themselves as a second or third option always find a way to step it up and show what they’re made of. This kind of tournament comes down to matchups, not which team has the best one or two players.

In addition to the top four listed above, I’m going with NJ: Spare Parts, Virginia Beer Pong, Maryland: We Black-Eyed Susan and Long Island 2 as my four “sleeper” teams to make bracket play. All four of these teams have top players who have made deep runs in national tournaments, who aren’t playing on other squads in their region for one reason or another (except Virginia, of course).

Maybe it’s my Maryland bias, but I think that Maryland: We Black-Eyed Susan will be the top seed going into bracket play. This team is composed of some of Maryland’s best players, yet largely unknown to the masses. I think they have the easiest schedule, avoiding playing New Jersey War Machine, Maryland United and Long Island 1.

I’m running out of space and because there are too many to list, here are some of my favorite matchups from each round--bear in mind that these are subject to change pending the final schedule:

Round 1:

Long Island 1 vs. Maryland United

Favorite match: Ron Hamilton and Dave Posada vs. Bunky Weichert and Mantis

With more than a gross ton (literally) of weight on this table, will the Mantis escape alive?

Round 2:

New Jersey War Machine vs. Maryland United

Featured match: Kevin Kessler and Mike Farley vs. Jordan McAllister and Ryan McAllister

Can Kessler and his team captain overthrow the reigning Maryland State Champions?

Round 3:

Weapons of MASS Destruction vs. MABP’s Sloppy Seconds

Favorite match: Mike Connors and Richard Patchett vs. Tim Michaud and Dave Gaffey

I once kissed Mike Connors to get on the Jay Leno show. We did not make it on. No regrets

Round 4:

International Empire vs. New Jersey War Machine

Favorite match: Paul Kurylowicz and Mike Hulse vs. Jimbo Matsukas and Deep Chakrabarty

It’s time for Captain Canada to put his money where his mouth is.

Round 5:

Long Island 1 vs. New Jersey War Machine

Favorite match: Ron Hamilton and Mike Popielarski vs. Mike Vitiello and Kyle Williams

Friends again on Facebook, can Smashing Time rekindle the flame?

Round 6:

Long Island 1 vs. Long Island 2

Favorite match: Dan “Goliath” Altizio and Ron Hamilton vs. Josh Deford and Eddie Sterchi

Goliath can win with Pop… can he win with Ron?

Round 7:

Long Island 1 vs. Virginia Beer Pong

Favorite match: Ron Hamilton and Lenny O’Rourke vs. Thomas Reap and Tim Sykes

Ron vs. Reap Part 2

Final prediction: New Jersey War Machine over Long Island 1 in a repeat of last year’s finals. Anything less than a berth in the finals will surely be a disappointment for these two star-studded teams.

But let’s be honest, no one cares about what the Barn Animal thinks. Here’s a preview from none other than the “Pong Guru” himself, Mike Jones:

Why is the Pong Guru D-ridin Barnes’ blog? There is a lack of BOE predictions and I have a bold one to make. Some way or another I believe it will be another team facing either LI or NJ in the finals. The obvious choice is MD United, full of talent. Hopefully they don’t choke like years prior. Perhaps the on the rise MABP squad…probably not, the depth isn’t there. Maybe Mike I’s LI 2 squad, one would think after their impressive showing last year if anyone’s gunna upset LI or NJ its gunna be them. Unfortunately they lost some of their best pongers to LI1 and will be with the rest of the teams, fighting it out for the 5-8 spot only to get eliminated in the next round. How bout International Empire? Id rather not be like other pong website to rank my team 5th and end up dead last. All I know is after missing 2nd round by one win we’ve made moves to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

So who will it be and how will It happen? All I know is it will involve Captain Canada spitting beer and/or a plate of Miami Mike’s Nachos Supreme. – Pong Guru

BEST OF THE WEST THIS WEEKEND

I know, I know, the West Coasters always seem to get left out on these kinds of previews. But that doesn’t mean they are any less special. Not to be outdone, the West Coast will also be assembling 16 squads to compete this weekend for the second annual Best of the West tournament in Phoenix, Arizona.

This year’s tournament will include squads from California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington and Texas. There will also be a Women’s Best of the West tournament with 6 squads from California, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.

The tournaments will be run almost identical to the Beast of the East, with the Top 8 teams making bracket play. I’ll admit, my West Coast predictions aren’t worth anything. But I’d like to make an effort to give the Left Coast some shine. This is only based on what I’ve seen in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and what others have suggested, but I’d have to say my favorites would be Sactown’s Finest co-captained by Sonoma Joe and Byron Findley, the Phoenix, AZ West team In Clint We Trust, captained by Chris Gracia and featuring the one and only Brandon Marx, Peter Rusch’s Los Angeles/Orange County, CA team, Ricky Shepherd’s Sin City All Stars team from Las Vegas, Albuquerque’s Duke City Dust and the Phoenix, Arizona East Team, Beast MODE.

I’m not even going to attempt to embarrass myself and make any more kind of detailed predictions, because I’m sure I’m going to leave people out and piss the others off.

All things being equal, I’m putting my money on whatever team Mike Wan plays on. So I guess the Los Angeles/Orange County, CA team will be your next Best of the West champion. They in the building.

Good luck to everyone competing this weekend, hopefully the world doesn’t end tomorrow.

By: Jeff Barnes

I still remember my first game of beer pong... The big plywood table was sitting in my friend’s apartment in college in 2001. We had just watched the Maryland Terrapins make their second consecutive Final Four appearance. I called next by writing my name on a paper towel. Everyone made fun of my shot. Apparently, some things never change.


In the years that passed, we played on anything and everything that could be used as some sort of table. When we traveled, we took the headboards off of the hotel beds and used that. We would play with mismatched ping pong balls and any kind of cups we could find. We didn’t know the difference between 38mm and 40 mm balls, nor did we care. And when we wanted to play, we wrote our name down on anything we could get our hands on. Tournaments were run on scrap paper, empty 30 packs and napkins. We didn’t know any better. Yeah the rules changed from place to place, but we didn’t care. We were just having fun.


The first time I played in a legit beer pong tournament was in 2005. It was hosted by Maryland Beer Pong and I had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be some kind of glamorized house party, but it wasn’t. There was a large bracket printed on poster board and the tournament was run on the computer. It was so incredibly organized, and although we played terribly, it’s safe to say that was the day I got hooked on beer pong. It was also the first day I began to get spoiled by Maryland Beer Pong tournaments.


Somewhere between then and now, I became a beer pong snob. A lot of us have. I just got so used to playing in these well-run tournaments. The tournaments, for the most part, were always run quickly and we didn’t have to wait around much. The formats were easy to understand. There were plenty of tables set up. And in the unlikely event that we placed in the money, we knew we were getting paid. I knew I could play in a beer pong tournament on a Saturday and still have time to do something afterward.

I take it for granted that not all tournaments are run like this. I know there are several respected tournament organizers around the country who do a great job, so I know that Maryland Beer Pong is not alone.

But we’ve all been to those terrible tournaments. There’s nothing like a badly run tournament to scare people away forever. People still talk about the infamous Bing Bong tournament in Philadelphia as being one of the worst tournaments ever ran. I still rip on one particular “professional beer pong player” about the first tournament he ever ran. Sorry Steph!

So much of the stuff you read about beer pong discusses the characters and players in the community. Seldom do you read about the tournament organizers, the great ones, who really are the ones that keep the movement moving. A lot of us take it for granted that people go out of their way to run tournaments on a daily and weekly basis with not much in return. Most of us have no desire to go through the efforts to put together a league or tournament, but are very quick to complain when things don’t go our way. Believe it or not, I have been known to lose my cool and calm attitude when things like this happen. Crazy, right?

It’s no secret that, for the most part, attendance at leagues and tournaments is down around the country. There are exceptions, but it seems to be a common theme. And while much of this is to blame on players not coming out, I think tournament organizers need to share some of the blame as well.

Somewhere along the way, beer pong tournaments stopped mattering unless they had something really special to offer. Oh, it’s not a satellite? It’s only $1K? Only $5K? It’s going to be a somewhat unpopular opinion, but I think that one of the biggest things hurting the growth of beer pong is this emphasis on the prize. I think too many tournament organizers are pandering to the top players and ignoring many of their other customers.

Truth is, at the end of the day, tournaments will be much more successful if they are well run and offer a fair prize. An outlandish cash prize with a structure of preliminary games and a best two out of three may attract the elite beer pong players, but they will alienate most of the casual players who want to compete and have a good time. My first job was in a restaurant, and I remember my boss always told me people would come back if the service was good, regardless of the food.

If you run a good tournament and pay out whatever you promise, the people will come. I promise.

By: Jeff Barnes

Not sure if anyone knows, but this Saturday is the Kentucky Derby. Anyone interested in a $100 per person pool to put in and hit big on the race? What is going take place is, I’m going to study the race the best I can and then bet with the money, bet all the money, and then send pictures of the tickets and info on what we bet to everyone that is involved. I’m looking to go crazy and bet a ton of stuff. I’m looking to bet only the trifecta and superfecta, because obviously that pays more money.


Two things dominated the news this week: Ron’s endless "promotion" (read: spam) of his Kentucky Derby pool and the death of Osama bin Laden. If you logged into Facebook at any time during the last week, your news feed was probably flooded with either one. And on top of that, I’m sure there was something else taking up valuable space on your computer screen: The nonstop trolling of Mike Jones on Facebook and the BPONG forums.


For those of you who don’t know Mike Jones, the self-appointed “Pong Guru” enjoys adding his colorful commentary whenever he has the opportunity. He likes to add insightful comments such as “yawn” or “GOMD” whenever he can. But his most popular comment, by far, is “pongbar.”


The controversial idea of the Pong Bar was first developed last year. In essence, the bar attaches to the end of the BPONG table and moves the shooter back one foot. I was not a supporter of the idea, but I could certainly understand the logic in it. But it was Jones’ incessant trolling of the idea which made it one of the least popular beer pong ideas of all time, second only to the elbow rule. http://www.bpong.com/nation/beer-pong-forum/topics/beer-pong-in-general/pong-bar-yay-or-nay


Fast forward a few months to the World Pong Tour announcement that they will be switching to a nine-foot table for the Atlantic City Beer Pong Championship. This decision continues to spark controversy and depending on whom you ask, opinions vary on the subject.

"The controversial idea of the Pong Bar was first developed last year"

I posted this on his Facebook wall: “So do you really sell pong bars? Seems like it would make more sense to get one rather than get a 9ft table for one tourney. I feel so dirty typing this.”

"I haven't been so let down by 'the future of pong' since Eric Castro fell off
the face of the earth."

What’s crazy is that an idea that I immediately dismissed actually became something I was interested in, and when I found out it wasn’t actually available I was a bit disappointed. Thus ends the story of the Pong Bar, and believe it or not, Mike Jones actually had a pretty decent idea that he could have made a little bit of money on. R.I.P. Pong Bar. I haven’t been so let down by “the future of pong” since Eric Castro fell off the face of the Earth.

Back to the nine-foot table discussion, this is one of the hottest debates currently in the beer pong community. While I know some players in New York and New Jersey have played on the new tables, I’d venture to say that the majority of players have not played a single game on a nine-foot table. I’m sure some of you have created makeshift tables or contraptions similar to the Pong Bar, but it’s not quite the same. I know that no one in Maryland is currently playing on a nine-foot table, and with less than two months to go, a lot of people are going to be in for a rude awakening in Atlantic City.

In an effort to be as objective as possible, I won’t get into my opinion on the switch. I can see its advantages and disadvantages, both of which have been argued more eloquently and more in-depth than I have the space to fully do so here. I think any idea which sparks debate and increases the legitimacy of beer pong on a large scale should be considered.

Unless, of course, that idea comes from Mike Jones. Yawn.

By: Jeff Barnes

I am a pessimist by nature. I am as cynical as they come. People always ask me why I’m so angry. Maybe it’s because I have little faith in the future of our society or in the future of the planet Earth as a whole. Sometimes this carries over to some less-than-appropriate behavior on or near the beer pong table. I just can’t help myself.


There are a few things that are considered taboo to discuss at the table. Topics like politics and religion usually don’t go over too well in most situations. I’d venture to say the same holds true for the beer pong table. I’ll never forget when I wore my “Maryland for Obama” shirt during the World Series of Beer Pong IV. Most of the things that were said to me that day are not fit to print.


What does this all have to do with beer pong? Not much, I guess, except that since this is the “Friday Rebuttal” I’d be remiss not to mention the devastating tornadoes which claimed the lives of more than 300 Americans in several states this week. I’m sure some of you were affected in some way. But if you have been watching the news the last few days, you’d never know since the “real news” is the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, which took place early this morning. It also received top billing on CNN. And people wonder why I think the way I do.


If you’re wondering what I think about the Royal Wedding, just know that it is filed in the same section as “Ronny Hamilton” and his daily countdown and raffle spam. I could care less. But I’m well aware that there is a certain, usually ignored, demographic of beer pong player that does care, and I’m referring to women. Please note this also includes others, such as Haydée Djinn and Steve Healy.


Most of us have our eye on the prize when we enter a beer pong tournament. For some of us, it’s the cash. For others, it’s the entry code to the next big tournament. And in some cases, we are just trying to win that Kegstool or inflatable beer pong table we’ve always wanted. But most of us are missing the crown jewel of any beer pong tournament: The ladies.

"Women are the key to it all, think about it."

Women are the key to it all, think about it. For those of us in serious relationships and/or marriages, we are all familiar with “the look." It’s the look you get when you tell your significant other that you’re going to practice beer pong on a Tuesday night or stay out late to play in a tournament, even though you couldn’t find time to spend some quality time the day before. If you’ve got kids and you lose the diaper money and come home one night empty handed, you get the look. Right Kessler?

For the average girl, beer pong can be an extremely boring event to watch, especially when the stakes are low. We, and by we I don’t mean myself but the tournament organizers, need to figure out a way to make beer pong events more female friendly. I’m sure there’s a way. Let’s face it: If I’m a single girl and I am looking to find an overabundance of young, attractive men eager to mingle, I’m going to a beer pong tournament. It’d be like fishing with dynamite. There’s a definite market there.

"Tournament organizers need to figure out a way to make beer pong events more female friendly."

I will commend tournament organizers for getting more females to compete the last few years. Most tournaments offer discounted (or free) entry fees for girl teams and I think that’s a great start. Where there are girls, the men will follow. Co-ed tournaments have also become a staple at most big tournaments. What better way to get girls to come back then giving them their first taste of winning in a competitive tournament?

Some girls, however, don’t need a male counterpart to win. Times they-are-a-changing. In Maryland, our new league structure requires at least two female players on each squad. Each week, I see some of these ladies shooting at a higher percentage than most of the male players. And around the country, several female players have made a name for themselves. Gone are the days when women were laughed off the beer pong table. It’s 2011. Unless you’re playing against the Fringles girls, there’s no such thing as having an easy win just because you’re playing against a female. We need to embrace these players and find more like them.

In the meantime, the best of luck to Prince William and Kate Middleton. She can play on my table anytime.

By: Jeff Barnes

When the character of Mike McDermott, played by Matt Damon, gave those words of advice in the 1998 poker film Rounders, he was referring to the different styles of poker play. But he could have just as easily been referring to another sport often compared to competitive poker: beer pong.

In the world of beer pong, Jordan McAllister is about as meek as one can get. If beer pong players were awarded senior superlatives, McAllister would easily win “Talks the Least, but Says the Most.” He doesn’t engage in the intense trash talk and wild antics that most of the top players take part in. He just hits cups. A lot of them.

He’s probably the best player that most people have never heard of or wouldn’t recognize if they were facing off against him on the beer pong table. Yet he’s the reigning Maryland 1-on-1 State Champion, the reigning Maryland State Champion in doubles with brother Ryan, and has placed in or near the top 20 in almost every major he’s played in. But he’d be the last one to tell you.

“I think people do misunderstand me,” says the 27-year-old from Carroll County, Maryland. “People mistake my calmness or quietness for being a jerk. It’s not intentional.”

While many beer pong players fight like brothers on and off the table, the McAllisters are brothers. It’s been a recipe for success. The two finished in the Top 10 of World Series of Beer Pong V, followed it up with a Top 3 finish in World Pong Tour’s Atlantic City Beer Pong Championship, and then capped it off with a Maryland state title. Not bad for two brothers playing together.

“There’s a lot of unspoken stuff,” Jordan says about playing with Ryan. “We just know what the other one is thinking and what the other one wants to do.”

The duo seemed poised to make a deep run this year in Las Vegas. But after some cold shooting early on the final day of competition, the McAllister brothers were eliminated.

“I am competitive, to a fault,” Jordan says. “It doesn’t show on the table, but I’m a pretty sore loser.”

“The rule is this: you spot a man's tell, you don't say a fucking word.”

Last year, Jordan was ranked number four in the controversial Top 25 rankings by Death of Elbow Rule (D.O.E.). Although most players in Maryland already knew Jordan as a top player, the ranking was affirmation that McAllister was a force to be reckoned with.

“I kind of felt like I got more than I thought I would have gotten from D.O.E. and whatever,” Jordan says of his ranking. “But I’m not arguing it, nor do I really care about where I am on the poll.”

While he doesn’t get too caught up in the hype, Jordan does admit that his low-key personality may affect how people perceive his play.

“I just don’t get into it,” he says.

“Always leave yourself outs. Applies to a player's life away from the game same as it does at the table.”

Despite his accomplishments in 2010, Jordan found his D.O.E. ranking drop all the way from four to eleven following McAllister’s disappointing finish this year in Las Vegas. In addition, many speculated if that was the last we would see of the McAllister brothers in national competition.

While his ranking may have dropped, his stock has remained high amongst other top players. Jordan will be teaming up with Michael “Pop” Popielarski while his brother Ryan will team up with Pop’s former partner Ron Hamilton in this weekend’s Drunken Bear $10,000 tournament.

Despite the drop in ranking, Jordan says he isn’t worried, although he will have to adjust to his new role for the tournament.

“I don’t think I have to prove anything to anyone, except Pop really,” Jordan says. “The only difference will be playing the role of second fiddle to him.”

Following the Drunk Bear tournament, Jordan will be playing the SJ Pong $5,000 tournament with Kevin Kessler and then World Pong Tour’s Atlantic City Beer Pong Championship with Austin Lanham. And Jordan still has plans to play with his brother, too.

“We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.”

Beer pong attracts different players for different reasons. For some people, it satisfies the competitive itch that has remained unscratched since high school. For others, the time spent on the beer pong table is the escape from the day to day responsibilities of life. Everyone wants to win, but ultimately players love the game for different reasons.

Jordan has no qualms about his motivation.

“It’s always been mostly about the cash,” Jordan says. “Playing with Kessler or Pop isn’t even a question to me.

“A lot of poker pros will say they’d rather have the bracelet than the cash,” he says. “It’s nice to have the title, but no one’s that well off they can’t use the money.”

The stakes have never been higher, and Jordan McAllister has a winning hand.