Quarters: Official Rules

Bounce a quarter off the table into the glass, and choose who drinks.

Players sit around a table with a hard, flat surface. Place a small glass in the middle, filled with beer. Give one player the quarter.

Rule 1. The shot

Rule 1.1. The shooter bounces the quarter off the table, face down, so that it lands in the glass. The quarter must touch the table at least once before it goes in.

Rule 1.2. A quarter thrown straight into the glass, or bounced on its edge, does not count.

Rule 2. Making it

Rule 2.1. When the shooter makes a shot, they choose any player to drink the glass. That player drinks it and refills it, and the shooter shoots again.

Rule 2.2. A shooter who makes three shots in a row makes a rule. The rule lasts the rest of the game. A player who breaks it drinks.

Rule 2.3. A quarter that strikes the rim and then falls into the glass counts as a make (Archive No. 0001).

Rule 3. Missing

Rule 3.1. When the shooter misses, the quarter passes to the player on their left.

Rule 3.2. A quarter that leaves the table on a missed shot is retrieved by the shooter, who passes it on.

Speed Quarters. Two glasses and two quarters start with players on opposite sides of the table. A shooter shoots until they make it, then passes glass and quarter to the left. Make it on the first try and you may pass to anyone. If you make your shot while the player on your left is still shooting, stack your glass on theirs: they are screwed, and must make one last shot into the stack or drink the penalty glass in the center. It is Rage Cage, with change.

• Rim shots don't count. Commissioner's Discretion. The Commission's first ruling held otherwise. The Commission will not be attending.
• The shooter may not choose the same player twice in a row. Approved.
• A shot glass of liquor in place of the beer glass. Approved. It is a smaller target, and a larger consequence.
• Elbow shooting (the shooter's elbow must stay on the table). Commissioner's Discretion.
• Rules made after three in a row may require drinking with the left hand, banning the word "drink," or banning pointing. Approved. Rules that are cruel, crude or about a particular player are not rules. They are conduct (Provision 4.2).

The quarter hits the rim, rolls around it and falls in. Does it count? Yes. It has counted since 1962 (Rule 2.3).

The quarter bounces in and then bounces out. Does it count? No. A quarter must stay in the glass.

May the shooter choose themselves to drink? Yes. The Commission does not understand it, but does not prevent it.

• Rim shot that falls in. Signal: the Official draws a circle in the air with one finger, then points down.
• Three in a row (make a rule). Signal: the Official taps three fingers on the table.
• Breaking a rule. Penalty: one drink. Signal: drink (Provision 7.1).

Quarters is where the Commission began. On March 14, 1962, in a basement, a quarter struck the rim of a glass and fell in. No one knew whether it counted. The game stopped for forty minutes. Walt Whistler Sr. ruled that it did, bought a whistle and a three-ring binder, and filed the ruling as Archive No. 0001. Every ruling in this book descends from it.

Fill the glass with any non-alcoholic drink. The quarter does not know the difference.