Flip Cup

Flip Cup is a relay race. Two teams stand on opposite sides of a table, each player drinks a cup and flips it upside down with one finger, and the first team with every cup flipped wins. It takes twenty seconds to explain, which is why it is the beer game that breaks out at every barbecue, and a full round takes about a minute. The skill is in the flip, and the flip is in the wrist.

What you need

• One plastic cup per player, 16 oz (pint) size; a red one if you want the full effect
• A long table with a clean, dry, straight edge
• Beer, enough for about a third of a cup per player per round
• An even number of players, 4 minimum, 8 to 12 ideal
• A towel for the table edge

Setup

1. Split into two teams of the same size and line up on opposite sides of the table. Each player should be facing an opponent. If the numbers are odd, one player on the smaller team goes twice.
2. Pour the same amount into every cup. A third of a cup is the standard. Less and the round is over in ten seconds; more and round three is a problem.
3. Set your cup on the table in front of you, a little back from the edge. Hands off it until your turn.
4. Decide which end starts. Play passes down the line, so the first players on both teams stand at the same end and the anchors stand at the other.

How to play Flip Cup

1. The first two players touch cups and drink. Cheers across the table, then finish everything in the cup. Not most of it. The other team is watching.
2. Put the empty cup on the table edge with a small overhang. Open end up, the base hanging off far enough to get a fingertip underneath.
3. Flip it with one hand so it lands upside down. Flick the overhanging base upward so the cup turns one full rotation and lands mouth down on the table. No catching it, no guiding it down, no second hand.
4. If it lands on its side or the right way up, reset and flip again. Put it back on the edge and go. There is no limit on attempts and no penalty beyond the seconds you are losing.
5. The next player may start drinking only when the flip before them lands. Going early is a false start: the early cup goes back on the table full, or as full as it still is, and the team loses those seconds.
6. Play passes down the line to the anchor. The anchor is the last player on each team. When their cup lands upside down, that team is done.
7. The first team to have every cup flipped wins. The losing side refills and plays again, or drinks a penalty cup, depending on what you agreed before the game.

Flip Cup tournament formats

Variations and house rules

• Survivor Flip Cup. After every round the losing team votes one of its own players off. The cups stay: the same number as the team started with, so someone now drinks and flips twice. Play until one team is gone, or merge the survivors into one team when half the players are out and finish with a free-for-all.
• Double Trouble. Everyone except the anchor gets two cups, and the anchor gets one cup with a double pour. The race runs down the line as normal. When the anchor flips, the player before them drinks and flips their second cup, and the race runs back up the line to the start. First team to flip every cup wins.
• Boomerang. Same as Double Trouble but with single pours in every cup and the second leg run with water. Our house rule for round five onwards.
• Two-hand Flip Cup. Every player holds a full cup of water in their other hand for the entire round. Spill it and you reset. It is mainly a way to make the best flipper worse.
• Reverse Flip Cup. Start the cup upside down and flip it so it lands right way up. Much harder, because the narrow base is what has to land.
• Wizard staff. Tape each finished cup onto the last one so every player carries a growing staff. You flip with the staff in your other hand. By round four the tall players are hitting the ceiling.
• Boat Race. The original drinking relay without the flip. Each player drinks and puts the cup upside down on their head to show it is empty, and the next player starts. Faster, messier, and the name some people use for Flip Cup anyway.
• Sudden death. Tied series settled by one player from each team in a single cup, single flip, face to face. Pick your anchor.

Tips

• Keep the flick small. Most misses are from too much force. The cup should rise to about chest height and land flat. If it is hitting the ceiling light, use half the effort.
• Dry the table edge with a towel between rounds. A wet edge is why cups skid instead of flipping, and why the team at the spilt end loses.
• Flip Cup is a chugging game, and a tournament is a lot of chugging in a short time. Cap the tournament before you start, run every second round with water, and let anyone drop to a half pour without comment.
• Put your most reliable flipper at anchor and your fastest drinker first. The middle of the line is where the game is lost, so do not put the two weakest flippers next to each other.