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Swonkey is a drinking game created in Greenwich, CT. Swonkey is what is typically known as a quarters game, which involves bouncing quarters off a hard surface into a cup or glass. To play swonkey, you need two teams of two people, seven solo cups, beer, a generous amount of quarters, and either one normal glass or at least five extra solo cups. Setup To set up for swonkey, place seven solo cups in a line down the middle of a table on which quarters can bounce. The middle cup is elevated, either by placing it inside a glass or stacking at least five solo cups underneath it. A generous amount of quarters is placed on either side of the line of cups. Two cans of beer are opened, and one and one half beers are evenly distributed amongst the outside six cups, with half a beer poured into the middle, or king, cup. Gameplay Two teams of two players stand on the opposite sides of the game table. At the beginning of the game, which consists of either five or seven rounds, a countdown is given by a female bystander to start the first round. The countdown is typically, "Gladiators, are you ready? 3 - 2 - 1 - GO!" Both teams then attempt to bounce quarters into the six outside cups. When a player bounces a quarter into one of the outside cups, they push that cup across the table to their opponent, who must then drink the contents of that cup before resuming play. Each team of two must bounce quarters into three of the outside cups before they can attempt to bounce a quarter into the elevated middle cup, or "king" cup. Once a team bounces a quarter into three of the outside cups and then the king cup, the round is over. The losing team for that round must then drink all remaining cups on the table. To begin the next round, the losing team from the previous round removes one of the outside cups from the line. When they place their cup back in the line, this signals that they are ready to begin the round. The victorious team from the previous round then begins the round whenever they like. Gameplay continues until a team has won either three rounds (in a best of five game) or four rounds (in a best of seven game). It is widely acknowledged that 5-cup is for chotches. Penalties and fouls If a team bounces a quarter into the middle cup before bouncing a quarter into three of the outside cups first, that team loses the round automatically. If at the beginning of a round, a team who lost the previous round bounces a quarter before the team who won the previous round, that team loses the round automatically. History Swonkey was developed in 1999 at the Brunswick School in Greenwich CT. Swonkey (also known coloquially as swankee) is rumored to have originated in a famed basement within quarter-bouncing distance of a Brunswick institution of lower learning. The merit of such boasts is of questionable veracity.
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