Official cornhole rules

Two sides take turns pitching bags at a raised board. A bag through the hole scores 3, a bag on the board scores 1, and only the side that did better in a round scores. The first side to 21 wins.

• Sides. Play one against one (singles) or two against two (doubles). Each side has four bags of its own color.
• Rounds. Sides take turns pitching until all eight bags have been thrown. That is one round. The score is settled, and the next round is pitched from the other board.
• Scoring. Hole 3, board 1, anything else 0. The lower round total is subtracted from the higher, so only one side scores each round.
• Winning. The first side to reach or pass 21 points at the end of a round wins. There is no bust — going over 21 is fine.

In this app: Tap a bag to cycle it: blank → miss (✕) → board (1) → hole (3). Mark a foul with the Foul button. When all eight bags are in, press Score round and the app works out who scored.

For adults, the front edges of the two boards are 27 feet apart.

• Doubles. One player from each side stands at each board, so partners face each other from opposite ends. The pair at one board pitches a round, then the pair at the other board pitches the next.
• Singles. Both players pitch from the same board, one in each pitcher’s box.
• One box per round. Every bag you pitch in a round has to come from the same pitcher’s box.

In this app: Choose Teams of 2 (2 v 2) or Solo players (1 v 1) at setup. Scoring works the same way in both.

• Take turns. Sides alternate — one bag from you, one from them — until all eight are thrown.ACA rules
• Stay in the box. Keep contact with your pitcher’s box through the whole throw, and don’t step over the foul line before the bag leaves your hand.
• Who pitches first. Whoever scored in the last round pitches first in the next. If nobody scored, whoever pitched second last round goes first.
• The first round. The ACA doesn’t say who throws first in the opening round. A coin toss is the usual way to decide.House rule
• 20 seconds. You have 20 seconds to pitch each bag.
• Same arm. Pitch the whole tournament with the same hand or arm, unless there is a medical emergency.

In this app: Before the first round, pick who pitches first or toss a coin in the app. From then on the scoring screen shows who pitches first each round, following the rule above. If the organizer turns on the pitch clock, a 20-second timer appears there too.

A foul bag scores nothing, and it comes off the court before the next bag is pitched. It is a foul to:

• Step on or over the foul line before the bag leaves your hand.ACA rules
• Step completely out of the pitcher’s box before you let go of the bag.
• Take longer than 20 seconds to pitch.
• Pitch from a different box than your first bag of the round.
• Land a bag that touches the ground before it lands on the board (a “dead bag”).ACA rules
• Hit something overhead, like a tree branch or the ceiling.

In this app: Tap Foul, then the bag. It scores zero like a miss, but round history shows it as a foul. Take it off the court before the next throw so it can't knock other bags around.

• In the hole: 3. A bag that goes through the hole.
• Knocked in: 3. A bag knocked into the hole by another bag counts too.ACA rulebook
• On the board: 1. A bag resting on the board when the round ends, that didn’t touch the ground first.
• Hanging: 1. A bag hanging over the edge of the hole counts 1 as long as the board is still holding it up.
• Everything else: 0. Bags on the ground, knocked off the board, or fouled.
• Cancellation. Add up each side’s total for the round and subtract the lower from the higher. Only the difference counts, and only for the side that threw better. Equal totals cancel out and nobody scores.
• Example. You land one in the hole and two on the board, for 5. They land one in the hole, for 3. You score 2 and they score 0.
• About “cancellation”. The older ACA rulebook describes holes cancelling holes and board bags cancelling board bags. Everyday play, the ACA’s current rules, and this app all use the subtraction above.ACA rulebook

In this app: This is exactly how the app scores every round.

• First to 21. The first side to reach or pass 21 points at the end of a round wins.
• No bust. Going past 21 is fine. There is no rule that sends you back.
• No need to win by 2. The winner does not need a 2-point lead.ACA rulebook
• Skunk. The ACA rulebook also ends a game when one side leads 7 or more to 0 at the end of a round. The ACA’s current rules leave it out, so agree on it before you start if you want to play it.ACA rulebook

In this app: The official game is the default: First to target, with a target of 21. Win by 2 and other targets are house rules (see below). The skunk rule is an option at setup, off by default. When it is on, the app ends the game at 7–0 or better.

• Double elimination. The ACA’s standard format for sanctioned tournaments. A team is out after its second loss.
• Grand final reset. In double elimination the losers-bracket champion reaches the grand final with one loss and the winners-bracket champion with none. If the losers-bracket champion wins, both have one loss, so many events play one more game to decide it.House rule
• Round robin. For smaller events, every team plays every other team.

In this app: Double elimination is the default bracket, with a losers bracket and a grand final. The organizer decides at setup whether the grand final can be reset: if the losers-bracket champion wins the first game, one more game decides it. Single elimination is offered as a quicker house rule. Either can be seeded by a round robin first.

These options aren't ACA rules. They're handy for backyard games and short events, but agree on them before the first bag.

• Single elimination. One loss and a team is out. About half as many games as double elimination, for when time is short.
• Win by 2. The game only ends once the leader is at or past the target with a lead of at least 2. If a round would take a side to the target without that lead, its points for that round don’t count.
• Other target scores. Play to any score from 5 to 99 for a shorter or longer game.
• Limited round robin. When there isn’t time for everyone to play everyone, play a set number of rounds with random pairings, then seed the bracket from the standings.
• Standings tiebreaks. Teams level on wins in a round robin are separated by total point difference, then total points scored.

Sources

• ACA rules. The ACA's current rules page, playcornhole.org/pages/rules. This is the main source for this page.
• ACA rulebook. The ACA's older, fuller rulebook. It covers what the current page doesn't: pitching order, fouls, singles and doubles, and tournament formats.
• House rule. Not from the ACA. Either a common convention or an option this app offers.

Other cornhole organizations, like the American Cornhole League (ACL) and the American Cornhole Organization (ACO), publish rulebooks that differ in places. This app follows the ACA. Last checked against the ACA's rules on September 18, 2026.