To be your best, you want to know all standard beer pong rules.
This includes the dreaded island move.
In beer pong, there are some desperate plays. This is true in professional play or at a for-fun game on a portable table at a house party.
These plays can make or break you. At the end of the day, it’s up to you whether the risk is worth it.
Calling island in beer pong is a very risky and dodgy move, so you have to have your wits about you.
We’re going to explain what it is and how to use it, as well as all the ins and outs of using it effectively. We’ll also cover why, in many cases, you shouldn’t use it at all.
Calling Island In Beer Pong
You can call island when you spot a lone cup on your opponents’ side. This means a cup that is not touching any other cups, like an island.
When you see this, call island. Then sink your ball in the island cup, and have your partner try as well.
If you sink it in the opponent’s cup and your partner does the same, the defending team has to drink like madmen.
One sink in the cup means the defending team picks up two additional bonus cups to drink. Two balls in the cup means they take drink another two cups.
It’s a great way to get your opponents pretty tipsy, pretty fast.
But there is one caveat. The ‘island’ has to actually be an island. That means you need a ‘mainland’.
In order to call island, you have to make sure that the defending team has at least two cups remaining apart from the island (so three cups in total). The two cups must be together and touching, while the island is separate and not touching any other cups.
If you have two separate cups and nothing else, then both masses are the same size and you cannot call island. You need at least three cups in play to call island.
What If You Miss?
If you don’t land the shot in the cup? Oh, that’s too bad… for your partner. They just lost their turn because of you.
If you can’t land your shot, your partner’s turn is up and it goes to the defending team. For this reason, it’s not always a smart play to call island.
Can I Call Island In Professional Beer Pong?
Yes, you can. It is a regulation rule, so you can call island and shoot for that lone cup that sits by itself. Hit it and put your opponents at a huge disadvantage. Unless they get better the more drunk they get.
Is It Smart To Call Island In Beer Pong?
That’s something you should discuss with your partner prior to playing.
If you play together often, and you both know each others’ playing styles, then it might be a good move. That’s a big might, though.
If you’re playing a professional match, it’s tricky. You could seriously screw things up.
If your partner suffers from bad shots, you’re putting more weight on yourself. It’s a high-risk, high reward move for anyone in beer pong. Make sure both you and your partner know how to get better at beer pong and have put in the practice, before implementing this rule.
How Many Times Can You Call Island In Beer Pong?
You can only call island once per game. The island beer pong rule can be powerful, albeit risky, but if you and your teammate are real pros then you could use this to your advantage and basically wipe out the enemy team without giving them a fighting chance.
While this sounds fantastic, in practice, it’s not a very good way to govern a game.
In some rule sets, if you attempt to call island a second time, you’re disqualified from calling it for any future matches (if you’re playing best two out of three that night, for example).
However, a lot of people end up avoiding this rule altogether. In a more relaxed setting, there’s no one-time-only island rule, so you and your partner can call island as many times as you want.
If you abuse the hell out of the rule, though, you may be called a hustler. That’s… well, that’s about the worst that can happen.
American And Canadian Beer Pong Rules Are Different
Did you know that the World Series of Beer Pong had a tournament with over eight-hundred competitors?
That’s not even mentioning the attendees.
These are hosted all around the world year after year, and while most of the participants are from the United States and Canada, sometimes there are different rule sets. This includes calling island.
For one, the way that you decide who goes first is different in America and Canada. In the United States, there’s a one-versus-one game where you have to concentrate and sink your ball in a solo shot.
If you land it but your opponent doesn’t, you go first. If you both fail, you go on to your partners. If you both tie, you go on to your partners, and if they tie… well, you get the deal.
In Canada, you flip a coin. Yeah, that’s the major difference. Canada has simplified this one, and honestly, the game is much better for it.
Other differences include bouncing and swatting, as well as re-racking, but it all depends on the specific rule set.
Sometimes you will find a hybrid mess of American and Canadian rules, so it’s best to be familiar with both types when it comes to calling island.
Call Island In Beer Pong: Final Thoughts
Are you a pro who can actually land the ball instead of sinking it in the wrong cup?
If you have the brass balls to do this, especially in a professional tournament setting, then it’s important that you go in with a clear head.
Island could either be a desperate play, or a pro move that will leave the crowd speechless. While it may not be wise to call island during a professional match, it is an option.
If you can pull it off, you’re amazing. But if you fail to clutch up, people will be quick to say “I told you so.”
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