Beer Pong is a hugely popular drinking game among college students.  About 20 years ago this game was created and spread like wildfire.  Beer Pong started as a spin off of Ping Pong where you actually used paddles to get the ball into an opponents beer.  Then a paddle less version of the game was created shortly after and was named Beirut.  Wikipedia claims there are 2 stories of where the name Beirut came from. The first story is that the game was popularized in 1983 after a student from Lehigh University observed a game at Bucknell University. The other story goes on to say that the game was developed in 1986. This is when a fraternity at Lehigh University created the game after all ping pong paddles were broken for regular Beer Pong. True Beirut .com supports the first story due to extent research in this area and finding many "old timers" who have claimed to play the game before 1986.

Now, Beer Pong was already in use to describe the game that was spun off of Ping Pong using paddles so they were in need of a name for the new version of the game without paddles.  Beirut, Lebanon  was a hot issue at the time and East Beirut was bombing West Beirut and the throwing of pong balls reminded them of bombs falling, so they named the new game... Beirut.

Since then the game of Beirut spread throughout college campuses across the nation and took on different variations as it went. Although the game is called Beirut, it is often referred to as Beer Pong in many areas. It has been agreed among most people that calling the game Beirut or Beer Pong is acceptable and can be used interchangeably when referring to the game. Tendencies show that most people from the north refer to it as Beirut and most people from the south refer to it either as Beirut or Beer Pong. Simply it is argued that 'Beer Pong' is easier to remember and makes more sense to the novice player. But most serious players call it 'Beirut'.

Some believe Beer Pong was started earlier, possibly in the 70's and took a while to really catch on.

The game has evolved quite a bit from it's dorm room origins and now can boast a World Series held every year in Las Vegas.  Check out the kick ass beer pong tables we have in our catalog.