What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

My cousin Katie (on the far right) turned 21 on January 1 and, in Johnson family tradition, we all went to Vegas to celebrate. Just before this picture was taken, we had finished off a lively, 2-deck game of King's Cup. King's Cup is one of those college drinking games designed to provide hours of fun based on the consumption of large amounts of alcohol. This is basically the center of college life and I have provided the rules, after the jump, in case you have not had the great fortune of playing Kings. I'd be happy to invite you over for a round.

Although my cousins and I have played King's Cup on many occasions, this was our first experience playing King's Cup with the rest of the family. Including aunts and uncles. Including Grandma. If you have never played King's Cup, that is sad; if you have never played King's Cup with your Grandma, well that is just downright terrible.

In King's Cup, if you draw an Ace, you have the fortune of making up a new game rule that everyone must follow. Grandma pulled the first Ace and required everybody to put their left hand on their head before taking a drink. I pulled the next Ace and made it a rule that everyone had to make the sound of an animal before drinking, thus turning the room into a big, head-patting barnyard. We were using two decks of cards, 8 Aces, so plenty of new rules were coming into effect. If you fail to follow the rules, you have to drink. Mr. SoPink could not seem to follow any of the new regulations and was getting drunker by the second.

In college, one of the best rules to implement is the No Cussing rule. As soon as the No Cussing rule goes into effect, everyone gets blitzed because no one can remember not to say any bad words. It's actually pretty ridiculous considering we are supposed to be intellectuals at institutes of higher learning. But whatever.

Of course, at this wholesome family gathering, there was no cussing going on because, hello, Grandma was in the house. But, when the last Ace was pulled, my cousin Mike, a UCSB grad, put the Must Cuss rule into effect. As in, you Must Cuss or you Must Drink. Chaos and laughter erupted with the F-bombs.

Poor Grandma, whatever happened to your sweet, innocent grandchildren?

Happy 21st to our favorite New Year's baby!

KING'S CUP

King's Cup has a million variations, many of which you can find by googling "King's Cup." These are the rules we played by.

Get a deck of cards or, if Grandma is playing, two decks of cards and place them, face down, in the center of the room. Fan them out in a circle and place an empty cup in the center of the circle. Everyone should have some cheap beer or a cheap cocktail. Don't bother with the expensive stuff, as you are not so much enjoying the alcohol as downing it.

One by one, each player chooses a card and must follow the action or rule associated with the card.

2) You
Choose a person to drink.

3) Me
Take a drink.

4) Floor
All players must touch the floor. The last person to do so must drink.

5) High
All players must raise their hand. Last hand up must drink.

6) Dicks
All the men take a drink.

7) Chicks
All the women take a drink.

8) Pick a Date
The person who drew the card must choose a date. For the remainder of the game, the two are connected and the date must drink anytime the drawer drinks.

9) Bust-A-Rhyme
The drawer starts with one line, and in succession, everyone rhymes with the last word of the line. If you repeat what's already been said or take too long to come up with something, you drink.

10) Waterfalls
Before you start the waterfall, everyone should fill their drinks. Everyone starts drinking when the drawer of the card starts. The person to their left can't stop drinking until the person to their right stops.

J) Categories
The drawer starts with a Category and an example and everyone in turn comes up with another example. Again, if you repeat what's already been said or take too long, you drink. For example, I (being the drawer), would say 'the category is N.B.A. Teams'. I would give the example of the Lakers, and so on...

Q) Questions
You start by making eye contact with someone and asking them off-the-wall questions. The first person to answer one of the questions, or make any statement other than a question, drinks instead.

K) Kings
Pour some of whatever you're drinking into the center cup so that it fills up to a 1/3 of the cup. The game ends when the last King is drawn and the bearer has to drink the full cup.

A) Make-A-Rule
The drawer of this card gets to make a rule and a punishment for breaking that rule. There's the 'Drink, Drank, Drunk' rule where you can't say any of these words. No pointing. No using names. You must cluck like a chicken before you take a drink. Etc. Etc.

Have fun, be drunk.

Comments

[Kathryn]

HOW FUN!!!
and I have never played King cup!lets go!

[brit]

Looks like you guys had a blast! I am headed to Vegas for the first time next month! I can't wait. I have spent countless hours in both high school and college playing King's Cup as well as many other games that have no purpose other than getting highly intoxicated. They are so fun though!

[nicole]

I think we should put together a King's Cup tournament! xoxo

[Jenna]

Looks like fun fun fun!!!! Thanks for the tip about my camera!! It worked! :)

[NCTRNL]

Man...I wish I partied like a rockstar...

[Pamela]

I completely forgot about King's Cup! I LOVED this game in college. I definitely need to remember it for the next dysfunctional family gathering. Thanks for the reminder!

[Dawn]

I've played this before, and I love it!

Also, the "no pointing" rule is *great* for getting people really, really drunk. Or so I've heard.

[Brooke]

I adore your family!! I am glad you had such a delightful time!

[Zandria]

Don't you ever take a break? I am so jealous. :)