Rules

A match

You and your opponent throw 4 bags each, alternating, at a board 17 feet away. That is one frame, and it takes about two minutes. Whoever wins the frame wins the match — there is no race to 21.

What a bag is worth

Where it ends up	Called	Points
Through the hole	cornhole	3
Resting on the board	woody	1
On the ground, or hanging off the board	dirt	0

A bag is only worth what it is worth once everything has stopped moving. Knock your opponent's bag into the hole and it scores 3 — for them. Knock it off the board and it scores nothing.

Why the winner “won by 1” when they had 4

Bags cancel out. Both totals are added up, the smaller is subtracted from the larger, and only the higher scorer scores — the difference, and nothing else.

You — 1 cornhole + 1 woody3 + 1 = 4

Them — 3 woodies3

You win by4 − 3 = 1

So the scoreboard during the frame shows what your bags are worth; the result shows the difference. Four beats three by one, and one is the score.

Ties

If both of you total the same, the bags cancel to nothing and nobody wins the frame. The board is cleared and you play another one. That repeats until somebody comes out ahead, so a match never ends in a draw.

Time and disconnections

You have 60 seconds to throw. Run out and a bag is dropped at your feet, worth nothing — so the match always finishes, and nobody gets kicked out.
Lose your connection and the match waits two minutes for you. Come back and you carry on where you were.
If nobody comes back, the match is abandoned: no rating change for either player. A flaky connection is not a loss.

Rating

Everyone starts at 1000. Beating a stronger player gains you more than beating a weaker one, and the margin makes no difference — winning by 1 counts the same as winning by 6.

Provisional means you have finished fewer than 10 matches. Until then your rating moves further after every result — win or lose — so it can find your real level in a few games instead of dozens. It is a label on the number, not a penalty: provisional matches count, and you can beat anyone on the ladder while carrying it.

Only matches that finish are counted. A match somebody abandons is not a loss and does not change either rating, so it does not move you closer to leaving provisional either — a dropped connection should cost you nothing.

After 10 matches the label disappears and your rating settles down, moving in smaller steps. Both are visible on the leaderboard.

Two evenly matched players at 1000, one beats the other:

While provisional: winner 1000 → 1016 (+16), loser 1000 → 984 (-16)
Once settled: winner 1000 → 1010 (+10), loser 1000 → 990 (-10)

Same match, same result — the provisional player simply moves further. Beating somebody rated above you moves you further still, and losing to them costs less, which is how a rating finds its level rather than rewarding whoever plays most.