Cornhole Championship in Las Vegas!

Who would of thought that the backyard, tailgating, friendly (well, mostly friendly anyways), highly competitive game of Cornhole would have grown into such a popular new sport that it would have taken the Midwest and the rest of the country by storm?

Well, Frank Geers did and he is highly responsible for its immense popularity at this time. Frank is the CEO/President of the American Cornhole Organization. The ACO is the governing body for the sport of Cornhole and is responsible for its membership, rules and regulations, sanctioning leagues and tournaments and the ranking of its members.

Cornhole is said to be originated in the Cincinnati, OH area and has spread across the Midwest and the rest of the country the last few years. There are now leagues and tournaments held all over the country. Many of these tournaments are used as fundraisers for charities.

These leagues and tournaments take place in bars, parking lots and high school gyms. The American Cornhole Organization sanctions some of the tournaments and this allows its members to qualify for the ACO US Nationals King of Cornhole. The 2009 Championship is being held in Las Vegas on January 23 and 24 at Sams Town Hotel and Casino.

Two of the cornholers vying for the “King of Cornhole” in Vegas are Randy Atha and Matt Guy. Matt Guy is the current reigning champ and defeated Randy last year for the title. The two are the best cornholers and have a great history of competition between them over the years.

This years Championship Tournament is a testament to Frank Geers and the work of the ACO. In a recent message, Frank tells how the growth of the sport is so amazing that he expects the purse for the CornyForty to be over $1,000,000 by the year 2013. The members of the CornyForty will receive a share of the purse. Move over golf, Cornhole is taking over!

According to Mr. Geers, the CornyForty “is a performance based ranking system identifying the best cornhole players and the top 40 cornhole players in the world” and a spot is earned by a player’s best SCR score in a season and player’s performance in various TopGun events held throughout the year.

All I can say is that this phenomenon of cornhole is real and you better get on the “board” now! Get in a league and play in a tournament in your area. You can find them on the ACO’s website, http://www.AmericanCornhole.org and while you are there, become a member too!

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