In 2003, Texas Hold'Em was a relatively unknown game, until Chris Moneymaker went from a virtual nobody to the World Series of Poker champ and turned $40 into $2.5 million. Quickly the sport took off and soon enough you noticed poker tables in every superstore and just about every poker event was televised on ESPN or GSN. Well, another obscure sport is starting to make its emergence from out of nowhere. The cornhole game has grown from its modest roots in Illinois and Ohio and the momentum keeps growing year after year.
The cornhole bags themselves are something that most people will purchase. While most people can muster up the skills to construct a set of boards, they don't have the patience or desire to learn how to make cornhole bags. While most people have a hammer and some nails, a sewing machine is a little harder to come by. Plus, unlike a set of cornhole boards, the bags do go through quite a bit of wear and tear and if you don't know what you are doing, they can break after just a little bit of play . That's why a lot of people will tend to just buy their bags from a local retailer or look to purchase them online
The game is easy and when you explain the rules to a newcomer, virtually everyone can think of a time or two in the past when they've been exposed to some variation of the game. The nice thing about the game is that it requires almost no investment into expensive equipment or gear, just a set of bags and cornhole boards. Really, what makes the game popular is that anyone can participate. It doesn't matter if they're a grandparent or grandchild, you can adjust the distance between the playing boxes to accommodate for the players. That is why the game is so popular for summer BBQ's and parties, just put all the names in a hat, draw out random teams, and then have a great time. A first timer can unseat a veteran in any game, at any time.
Most players that have some carpentry skills, will build their own set of bean bag boards. Since the boards are bulky, it might be a little pricey to try to have them shipped across the country. The awkward size of the board tends to bring the shipping cost to a point that most people don't want to pay. So, a lot of people will have one of their buddies construct a set of boards for their own play. There are a lot of places to get the plans, you can either find them online or you can borrow a friend's boxes and take their measurements. The directions are easy enough to where anyone with some basic skills can construct a set. This will save you the expense of having them sent to you, but you'll make up for it with your time. Others find that they don't have the tools, skill, space or desire to put a set together, so they resort to buying a set on the internet and paying the extra expense.
The orgin if the game is a little fuzzy, but we have a pretty good idea Where did this wildly popular sport come from? There are a few theories out there ranging from a farmer in Germany that invented the game in the 14th century to a group of farmers in Illinois that came up with the game when they had some leftover corn. For the last few hundred years the game has only been popular in small groups in certain areas of the country. Up until recently, if you wanted your own cornhole sets, you had to make it yourself . Today, even stores like Wal-Mart or Target will carry a plastic version of the game, which doesn't play the same as wooden boards, but still the game is out there more than it was before. A popular choice for people that purchase the product is to go direct and purchase either from someone locally or from an internet site that will make the boards according to the proper specifications.
The draw of the game probably comes from the simplicity of the game. People can play against whoever, no matter what the skill set, and you can have a competitive game. Whether cornhole will explode like Texas Hold Em' remains to be seen, but the game sure is picking up steam in certain areas of the country. The only reason cornhole might not explode like the popular poker game is that online poker is so popular. But, never fear, there are some crafty software developers that have put together a neat little virtual cornhole game. I can already see cornhole as the newest Olympic sport!
