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Professional cornhole world shocked by cheating scandal dubbed 'BagGate'

Professional cornhole world shocked by cheating scandal dubbed 'BagGate'

The drinking game-turned-sport has been rocked by a scandal amid its rapid growth

Cornhole has been rocked by a cheating scandal dubbed 'BagGate'.

At the 2022 American Cornhole League (ACL) World Championships in August, the number one ranked doubles team were accused of using illegal beanbags.

It turned out they were - but so were their opponents. The incident has caused quite the stir, and in the months since, there has been talk of bringing in tighter regulations to the game, which is rapidly becoming more and more serious.

In case you haven't a clue what cornhole is, never mind 'BagGate', allow me to explain.

The game is getting more and more serious.
UPI / Alamy Stock Photo

Cornhole started out as a lawn game in North America, enjoyed over a few beers.

The name of the game is simple - toss a beanbag through a hole in an angled wooden board. If you get the bag in the hole, that's three points, if you land the bag on the board, that's one point. That's it.

That might sound incredibly straightforward, but the simple things in life are the best, aren't they?

Plus, like it's cousin beer pong, you learn through playing that it's more tactical than you might expect. Should you deploy a blocker bag? Or maybe you should go for an 'air mail' straight over the top?

Also like beer pong, you learn through playing that it's weirdly addictive. As for whether or not you class either as a sport, that is a debate we're not getting into now.

If you're wondering what exactly this game looks like, you can take a look here (but be warned, this is not how it will look when you and your mates play for the first time - you'll be happy just to land a one-pointer):

Anyway, BagGate.

In the doubles, Devon Harbaugh called out his opponents, Mark Richards and Philip Lopez, claiming the bags they were using weren't big enough.

"I thought the bags were too thin," he explained to the Wall Street Journal.

ACL regulations stipulate that bags must be six by six inches when laid flat, and weigh 16 ounces (1lb).

It turned out their bags weren't big enough, but when Richards and Lopez asked for their opponents' bags to be checked, theirs didn't meet requirements either.

After an hour delay, officials decided the violations weren't intentional and allowed the contest to continue, and the competitors were certainly insistent that there had been no foul play.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Harbaugh said: "Honestly it could be anything. Definitely unintentional."

While Lopez insisted: "I don't know how they became illegal-sized. We did not boil the bags."

Tampering with the bags may seem a bit pathetic - with one player allegedly going as far as laying plywood over his bags and running over them to break up the beads - but there is now big money to be made in cornhole, with the top pros bringing in up to $250,000 (£223,916) a year from winnings, endorsements and sponsorship deals... Oh to be a pro cornholer.

Featured Image Credit: American Cornhole League/YouTube