General Provisions

The following terms have the following meanings everywhere in this book, unless a game says otherwise. The Commission has found that most disputes are not about the rules. They are about the words.

Provision 1.1. The Commission. The Drinking Game Commission, which issues this book and stands behind every ruling in it.

Provision 1.2. The Official. The person appointed at the Pre-Game Rules Meeting to enforce the rules (Provision 2.3). The Official may also play. A call made by an Official who is also playing is still a call.

Provision 1.3. The host. The person whose table it is. The host convenes the Pre-Game Rules Meeting and breaks ties. Being the host is not a qualification for winning.

Provision 1.4. Player. Anyone taking part in the game, including anyone playing zero-proof. A zero-proof player is a full player in every respect.

Provision 1.5. The field. The table and everything on it. The floor is not the field. Neither is the kitchen.

Provision 1.6. Drink. When a rule says "drink," the player takes a drink from their own cup. A real one. The Commission recognizes a ceremonial sip on sight. Every penalty in this book is counted in drinks.

Provision 1.7. Finish and shot. "Finish" means drink everything in the cup. "Shot" means one shot of whatever the table is pouring. A game that calls for either says so.

Provision 1.8. Stopping. Any player may stop drinking, switch to a non-alcoholic drink or sit out, at any time. This is not a penalty (Provision 2.8).

Provision 1.9. Social. Every player drinks once, at the same time.

Provision 1.10. Turn. A player's opportunity to act. Turns pass to the left unless a game says otherwise.

Provision 1.11. Session. Everything from the first whistle of the evening until the host declares the evening over. House rules expire at the end of a session (Provision 2.9).

Provision 1.12. Natural break. A pause between games, during a re-rack or during a hydration timeout. House rules may be added only at a natural break (Provision 2.5).

Provision 1.13. House rule. A rule declared by the table at a Pre-Game Rules Meeting that adds to, changes or strikes an official rule (Provision 2.2).

Provision 1.14. Custom of the house. A house rule a table has played for so long that the regulars have forgotten it is one (Provision 2.7).

Provision 1.15. Infraction. Any breach of the rules. Penalty: what happens next.

Provision 1.16. Ruling. A decision by the Official, or by the Commission, on a disputed play. Rulings issued by the Commission are collected in Part 6.

Provision 1.17. Zero-proof. Played with any non-alcoholic drink. Every game in this book can be played zero-proof.

Every table has house rules. The Commission has no objection to house rules. The Commission objects to surprises.

Provision 2.1. The official rules apply. Unless the table declares otherwise, the Official Rules in this book govern every game.

Provision 2.2. House rules are permitted. Any table may add, change or strike any official rule, except those listed in Provision 2.8. It does so by declaring a house rule before play.

Provision 2.3. The Pre-Game Rules Meeting. House rules are declared at a Pre-Game Rules Meeting, held before the first turn of the first game. The host convenes it. Every player attends. The agenda is:

1. Name the game.
2. Appoint the Official. If no one volunteers, the Official is the host. If the host declines, it is whoever is holding this book.
3. Confirm the Emergency Numbers page is filled in and every player has a way home that does not involve driving.
4. Declare house rules, one at a time, out loud.
5. Hear objections. A house rule passes by a majority of players. On a tie, the host decides.
6. The Official asks, "Are there any other house rules?" Silence is consent.
7. The Official blows the whistle. If there is no whistle, the Official says "whistle." Play begins.

A Pre-Game Rules Meeting should take about two minutes. One that runs past ten minutes has become the game.

Provision 2.4. How to declare. A house rule must be stated out loud, before play, in words every player can understand. It should be short enough to say in one breath. A house rule that needs a second breath is a separate game. Tables that want a record may print a House Rules Declaration at DrinkingGameCommission.com/printables, or build and save one at DrinkingGameCommission.com/house-rules.

Provision 2.5. Late declarations. A house rule announced after play begins is not a house rule. It is an appeal, and it is denied.

A table may add a house rule mid-session only by unanimous agreement, at a natural break: between games, or during a re-rack. It takes effect at the start of the next game.

Provision 2.6. No retroactive rules. No house rule applies to a shot, card, turn or drink that has already happened. "Bounces are worth two," announced while your bounce is still rolling, is denied.

Provision 2.7. Customs of the house. Some house rules have been played at a table for so long that the regulars no longer think of them as house rules. The Commission calls these customs of the house, and respects them. Regulars are presumed to know them. Guests are not. A custom must be declared at the Pre-Game Rules Meeting like any other house rule. In a dispute between a regular and a guest over an undeclared custom, the official rule applies.

"We've always played it this way" describes a custom. It does not declare one.

Provision 2.8. Rules that cannot be changed. No house rule may:

• take away a player's right to stop drinking, switch to a non-alcoholic drink or sit out;
• penalize a player for doing any of those things;
• limit or remove a hydration timeout;
• involve driving; or
• override the Official Notice at the front of this book.

A house rule that does any of these is void, even if it passed unanimously. The rest of the game continues under the official rules.

Provision 2.9. House rules do not travel. A house rule lasts for one session, at one table. It does not follow a player to another house. A player who cites a house rule from another house is citing foreign law, and the Commission does not recognize it.

Provision 2.10. Matters not covered. When something happens that neither the official rules nor the declared house rules cover, the Official rules on it. That ruling applies for the rest of the session. It may be challenged under Challenges and Instant Replay.

From the Archives

Archive No. 0219, a Tuesday in 1981. During a game of Quarters, a player who had just missed announced that misses on Tuesdays do not count. It was a Tuesday. Walt Whistler Jr. ruled that the rule did not exist until it was announced, and could not apply to a quarter already on the table. The miss stood.

The following week, Walt Jr. held the first Pre-Game Rules Meeting. It took eleven minutes. Several of those minutes concerned Tuesdays.

The Commission does not require regulation equipment. It requires the same equipment for everyone.

Provision 3.1. Cups. The standard cup is a 16-ounce plastic party cup. Any cup may be used, provided every cup on the field is the same size and shape. A team may not play with cups that are larger than the other team's, even if it brought them.

Provision 3.2. Balls. The standard ball is a 40 mm table tennis ball. Each game uses the number of balls its rules state. A ball that touches the floor is rinsed in the rinse cup before it is played again. A rinse cup is a cup of clean water, kept at each end of the field and changed whenever anyone notices what is in it.

Provision 3.3. Cards. The standard deck is 52 cards, jokers removed, unless a game says otherwise. Aces are high. A card that is dropped face up during a deal is shown to everyone and placed at the bottom of the deck.

Provision 3.4. Coins. The standard coin is a United States quarter. Any coin may be used if the table agrees. Coins from another player's pocket must be returned.

Provision 3.5. Tables. The standard table for cup games is a folding table 8 feet long. A 6-foot table is permitted; both teams play on the same one. The table must be level and stable. A table that wobbles is shimmed, not blamed.

Provision 3.6. Every player's own drink. Each player keeps their own drink, in their own cup, off the field. When a rule says to drink, a player drinks from their own cup (Provision 1.6). No player drinks from another player's cup, and game cups that a ball has landed in are not drunk from unless a game says so.

Provision 3.7. Water on the table. The host keeps water and clean cups within reach of every player for the whole session. This is a requirement, not a courtesy (Hydration Timeouts).

Provision 3.8. Regulation layouts. Each game describes its layout in its Setup section, and illustrations of the most common layouts appear with those games. Where a layout is described as touching, cups touch. Where it is described as a ring, there are no gaps.

Provision 3.9. The rulebook. One copy of this rulebook is kept at the field during play, open to the game in progress. The Official may consult it at any time. Consulting it takes as long as it takes.

The Commission expects players to compete hard, lose well and remember that everyone at the table will be at the next party too.

Provision 4.1. Respect the Official. Players may disagree with a call. They may challenge it (Challenges and Instant Replay). They may not argue with it for longer than it took to make.

Provision 4.2. Trash talk. Commentary on a player's shooting, strategy, card sense or choice of team name is permitted. Commentary on who they are is not. Trash talk ends when the game does.

Provision 4.3. Celebrations. A celebration may last up to ten seconds. A celebration that involves another player's belongings, or another player, requires their agreement.

Provision 4.4. Distraction. Defending players may talk, wave and generally be present. They may not touch the shooter, the shooter's arm or the shooter's ball, and they may not enter the field during a shot.

Provision 4.5. No one has to play. No one is required to join a game, stay in a game, or play any particular game. A player may leave at any time without explanation. The table thanks them for their service.

Provision 4.6. Drinks are private property. Never touch another player's drink. Never add anything to it. If you see anyone tamper with a drink, tell the host and the drink's owner at once. A drink left unattended is poured out and replaced.

Provision 4.7. No pressure. A player who wants to stop, slow down or sit out does so, and nobody argues with them (Provision 2.8).

Provision 4.8. Cameras. Ask before filming or photographing a player. Instant replay (Challenges and Instant Replay) is the only exception, and replay footage is used for the review and then deleted if anyone asks.

Provision 4.9. Conduct penalties. Unsportsmanlike conduct is penalized as follows: a warning for the first offense, sitting out one game for the second, and the rest of the session for the third. Conduct penalties are never paid in drinks. The Commission does not use drinking as a punishment for behavior.

Provision 4.10. Losing. The losing team shakes hands with the winning team, racks the next game where a game says so, and may say "good game" without meaning it. Meaning it is encouraged.

Every infraction has a penalty. Every penalty is listed somewhere in this book. If it isn't, it isn't a penalty.

Provision 5.1. Standard penalties. Unless a game says otherwise, the penalties available to the Official are:

Provision 5.2. Calling a penalty. The Official calls a penalty by naming it and giving its signal (Official Referee Signals). Any player may point out an infraction. Only the Official may call it.

Provision 5.3. Timing. A penalty must be called before the next turn begins. A penalty not called in time is waived. The Commission does not pursue old infractions, however strongly a player feels about them.

Provision 5.4. Giving drinks. When a rule lets a player give drinks, the player may give them all to one player or split them however they like.

Provision 5.5. Fines. For conduct that is irritating but not unsportsmanlike, such as excessive celebration, slow play or quoting this rulebook at people, the Official may issue a fine. Fines are paid in snacks, to the host.

Provision 5.6. Repeat infractions. A player who commits the same infraction three times in a game receives a warning in addition to the usual penalty. The Commission notes that most players stop at two.

Provision 5.7. Forfeits. A team forfeits only when it leaves the game, refuses to continue, or breaks Provision 2.8 or Provision 4.7. A forfeit is recorded as a loss. It does not involve drinking.

The Official will sometimes be wrong. The Commission has made provision for this.

Provision 6.1. The challenge. Each player, or each team, has one challenge per game. A challenge asks for an Official's call to be reviewed.

Provision 6.2. Throwing the flag. A challenge is made by throwing a challenge flag onto the field before the next turn begins. Any napkin is a challenge flag. A player without a napkin may say "challenge," loudly, and is encouraged to bring a napkin next time.

Provision 6.3. What may be challenged. Any call about what happened: whether a ball went in, whether an elbow crossed the edge, whether a card was drawn in turn, who touched the floor last. A rule itself may not be challenged, and neither may a declared house rule. Those were settled at the Pre-Game Rules Meeting.

Provision 6.4. What may never be challenged. A hydration timeout, a player's decision to stop drinking or stop playing, and a decision to end the game because someone is in trouble. These are final when made.

Provision 6.5. Instant replay. If any player recorded the play, the Official reviews the recording. The call is overturned only if the recording clearly shows the call was wrong. If the recording is unclear, the call on the field stands.

Provision 6.6. Review without replay. If there is no recording, the players not involved in the play vote. A majority overturns the call. On a tie, the call on the field stands.

Provision 6.7. Result of a challenge. If the call is overturned, the challenging side keeps its challenge. If the call stands, the challenge is spent. A spent challenge is not refunded, recycled or traded to another team.

Provision 6.8. Announcing the result. The Official announces the result in one of two ways: "After review, the ruling on the field stands," or "After review, the ruling on the field is overturned." Nothing else needs to be said, and nothing else should be.

From the Archives

Walt Whistler Jr. introduced instant replay in 1987, using a Polaroid camera. The first review concerned whether a quarter had touched the rim. The photograph took four minutes to develop, during which play was suspended and the table stared at it. It showed the ceiling. The ruling on the field stood.

Hydration timeouts are part of every game in this book. They cannot be removed by a house rule, and they cannot be challenged.

Provision 8.1. Any player may call one. Any player may call a hydration timeout at any time, for any reason or none. If a ball or card is in play, the timeout begins as soon as that play ends.

Provision 8.2. The scheduled timeout. The Official calls a hydration timeout between every game. It lasts at least two minutes.

Provision 8.3. During a timeout. Play stops. Water is offered to every player. Players may drink water, eat, sit down, step outside or check on each other. No game drinks are taken during a timeout.

Provision 8.4. Ending a timeout. A timeout ends when the player who called it says they are ready. There is no time limit.

Provision 8.5. No penalty. Calling a timeout is never penalized, mocked or counted against a player or team. A player may sit out the rest of the game after a timeout; a team may continue one player short, or bring in a substitute.

Provision 8.6. Food. Hosts are encouraged to serve food. Players are encouraged to eat it.

Provision 8.7. When it is not a timeout. If a player is unwell, confused, unable to stay awake or unable to be woken, it is not a timeout. The game ends. Stay with the player and call for help. The signs to watch for are in the Official Notice at the front of this book.