Running “Tic Bag Dough” Money Games

A number of cornhole clubs/leagues, charities and other organizations have been experimenting with ways of using Tic Bag Toe to raise money for good causes or entertain people with games that give them a chance to win money. Here’s a few:

“Win Your Tickets” Raffle

Participants pay to throw four bags at a Tic Bag Toe board, and they win entries into a raffle based on how they do. They can enter as many times as they want to win tickets. Makes a great game to run for an extended period of time, and works well as a “50/50” fundraiser.

• Setting Up: You only need one board, and a line that people must throw their beanbags behind. I recommend a distance that makes the task challenging but not impossible. For experiened cornhole players I recommend the same 27′ that competitive/tournament cornhole is played at. For crowds made up of non cornhole players, 23 feet is good.
• Staffing: You’ll need two people to run this game: one to collect money and make sure players don’t step past the line, the other to place pucks when they make bags in a hole, then remove the pucks when they’re done and return the bags to the throwing station.
• Cost of Entry: The buyin should reflect the crowd and purpose. If you’re talking about an average cornhole league, raising money for club equipment, maybe make it a $5 buyin. If you’re running the game during a charity or memorial event that’s raising money for a cause people are passionate about, or your crowd is on the affluent side, consider asking $10 a turn. You can let people play as many times as they want, or limit entries if you want.
• Payout: The raffle can either be for full payout, or a percentage of the pot — lots of charity events run raffles as “50/50” where the winner gets half the pot, and the other half goes to charity.
• Playing: Pretty simple, each player gets to throw four bags at the board. They earn one ticket for every make, and if they complete a Tic Bag Toe of three in a row, they win double tickets. So they can win 1, 2, 3 or 4 tickets without a Tic Bag Toe, and 6 or 8 if they make it, depending if they do so in conjunction with making 3 or 4 bags.
• Winning: Standard raffle action — keep half of each ticket in a large container, draw one ticket until a winner is identified. Up to you if you require winner to be present.

Golden Ticket “Money Shot”

This is kinda the opposite of the win-your-tickets raffle described above, in that you sell raffle tickets and the “prize” is a shot at throwing at a Tic Bag Toe board to win all or some of the pot.

• Setting Up: Again you only need one board and a line for people to throw from.
• Staffing: You can run a money shot with just one person, as the job is mostly selling raffle tickets beforehand, then manning the board as they attempt to make bags in the holes.
• Cost of Entry: Cost of tickets is up to you. Lots of places sell them for $5, with discounts for buying a lot — 5 for $20, 15 for $50, etc.
• Playing: Once you close sales, pull a ticket and that person gets to try their hand at solo Tic Bag Toe, throwing four bags at an open board.
• Payout: You can pay out 100% of what you take in, or hold pack a percentage for a fundraiser. I recommend this payout strategy that gives lesser players a chance to win part of the payout, and advanced players the chance to win the entire payout. You can explain it pretty simply like this: “Win 10% of the pot per make, double your money if you make a Tic Bag Toe, with a 20% bonus if you make Tic Bag Toe with your first three bags.”
  As you can see, it makes a wide range of possible payouts, and things get super exciting when a player has a chance to make Tic Bag Toe with either their 3rd or last game.
  • 1 make: 10%
  • 2 makes: 20%
  • 3 makes, without Tic Bag Toe: 30%
  • 4 makes, without Tic Bag Toe: 40%
  • 3 makes, with Tic Bag Toe: 60%
  • 4 makes, with Tic Bag Toe on 4th bag: 80%
  • 4 makes, having made Tic Bag Toe with first 3 bags: 100%