In 2003, Chris Moneymaker shocked the poker world and won the coveted World Series of Poker when he bought his way into the tournament via a $40 satellite tournament on the internet. Although the game was popular among certain circles, that is what put it on the map for the general public. Before you knew it, high stakes games were being televised across cable and hold em boards were carried in every large store across the country. Well, another obscure game is starting to make its breakout. The cornhole game has exploded from its modest roots in midwestern states and continues to gain speed year after year.

Most players that have some carpentry skills, will build their own set of bean bag boards. They do this because it can be expensive 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, the option is to bring out your hammer, nails, and lumber and make one for yourself to save a few bucks. There are a lot of places to get the plans, you can either find them online or you can borrow a friend's boards and take their measurements. The plans are easy enough to where anyone with some basic skills can construct a set. This will save them the cost of having them shipped. For people that live in an urban environment, don't feel like making the boards, or if they live in an apartment or something, they find that just purchasing the boards and paying the shipping is a whole lot more convienient.

Where did the game come from? The rumor is that some German farmer invented the game to take advantage of some extra corn and to kill some downtime. Over the past few decades, though, the game has remained something that is played here and there with no real concentration in any areas outside of the midwest states. Up until recently, if you wanted your own cornhole sets, you had to make it yourself . Now even the big box stores are starting to carry their own watered down version of the game. 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 rules of the sport are pretty simple and most people vaguely remember the game, or a spinoff of the game, from their childhood. The only equipment you need is a couple of cornhole boards and a set of 8 cornhole bags. And better yet, it's a game that nearly anyone can play. It doesn't matter if they're a grandparent or grandchild, you can adjust the space between the playing boxes to accommodate for the players. That is why the game is so popular for summer BBQ's and parties, you can setup a big tournament and not worry that some players will be at a disadvantage. Most of the time, you'd be surprised at who will end up winning.

Since there are only a couple of pieces of equipment that you need, a lot of people will look to buy the cornhole bags. A lot of times, where they might have the skills to put together a set of boxes, sewing a set of cornhole bags might not be something they want to learn how to do. 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 is the main reason people opt to puchase their cornhole bags from a retailer online, they are reasonably priced and they hold up well. This eventually saves them money in the long run

A lot of the appeal of the game comes from its simple nature. You can pair up any two players at a BBQ, and chances are the games will still be pretty competitive. Will the game grow as fast as Texas Hold Em'? Well that remains to be seen. The only reason cornhole might not explode like the popular poker game is that online poker is so popular. But, cornhole has its own online version of the game. Some sites are now featuring virtual cornhole games so you can brush up during the winter. Who knows, we might see cornhole emerge as the next Olympic game!