1: Set two washer boxes about 20 feet apart, each with a cup in the middle.No tape measure? Ten paces from box to box is about 20 feet.
2: A common box is 16 inches square and 4 inches deep.Its cup is about 4 1/2 inches across and 5 inches high.
3: Play one against one or in teams. Each side has its own color of washers.The washers are flat metal rings about 2 inches across.
4: Stand on, beside or behind one box and toss at the other.The throw is normally underhand.
5: One side throws all its washers, then the other side throws.Two washers each on one published sheet, four on another. Share out what you have.
6: A washer in the cup is a ringer: 3 points.The cup is the small target inside the box.
7: A washer in the box but outside the cup: 1 point.In this version a washer on the grass scores nothing.
8: The second side's washers cancel the first side's: cup for cup, box for box.Only washers that were not cancelled score, as in horseshoes.
9: A game usually runs to 21 points.Some sheets ask for exactly 21, and some for a lead of 2.
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Pit washers (cups in the ground) 9
1: Sink a cup 4 inches across in each of two pits, its rim level with the ground.A pit is about 5 feet by 3, often framed with timber. The frame is optional.
2: Set the cups 25 feet apart, center to center.One rules page calls that the official distance. Shorter and longer are played.
3: Each player throws two washers, one at a time, underhand.Stand anywhere in your pit. With no frame, no closer than one step in front of your cup.
4: To start, each player throws one washer at the far cup. Closest goes first.This throw is called the diddle.
5: After that, whoever scored last throws first.The first player throws both washers, then the next player.
6: Only one player scores in a round, and only after everyone has thrown.No washer is picked up until the round is scored.
7: A washer in the cup, a cupper, scores 5.An opponent's washer in the same cup caps it, and the cupper scores nothing.
8: With no cupper left standing, the washer closest to the cup scores 1.A washer lying completely outside the pit cannot score.
9: First to 21 wins. A side that reaches 20 first is on add, and the game is won by 2.The side on add throws last.
Three-hole boards (a Texas tournament) 9
1: Each board has three holes, one behind the other.This sheet follows the tournament rules of one festival in Floresville, Texas.
2: The closest hole scores 1, the middle hole 3 and the farthest hole 5.Closest means nearest the thrower.
3: Teams of two play to exactly 21.Not 21 or more: the score has to land on it.
4: Throw from on the board or beside it. The front of the board is the foul line.A foot past the front of the board is a foul.
5: A holed washer can be covered: the other side holes one in the same hole.A cover cancels it. The second thrower scores nothing until every holed washer is covered.
6: Go over 21 and you bust: the value of that hole comes off your score.On 18, a washer in the 5 takes you down to 13.
7: Reach 21 with washers in hand and they must still be thrown: on the board, in no hole.Miss the board and your score goes back to where the round began.
8: A washer knocked into a hole by another washer counts for the side that owns it.Even when that busts them.
9: A washer that drops through a hole, hits the ground and bounces out does not count.Washers stay where they land.
Skunks, ties and other rulings 9
1: Skunk: reach 11 before the other side has scored at all, and the game is over.The pit rules have it, and so does one sheet for the box game.
2: Whitewash: 17 points to 1 ends the game too.From the pit game.
3: Two washers the same distance from the cup: nobody scores and the round is thrown again.The throwing order stays as it was.
4: A washer nudged closer by an opponent's throw counts where it ends up.Thank them and take the point.
5: A hanger lies over the lip of the cup without being in it.It is not a cupper.
6: Bounce rule on one sheet: a washer that hits the ground and bounces in does not count.Say before the game whether you play it.
7: Three or more players: a second washer in the cup cancels the first, and a third scores.The third player's cupper is worth its full 5.
8: Teams of two: partners stand at opposite ends, each beside an opponent.Nobody changes ends during the game.
9: Short on time? Play to fewer than 21.Name the target before the first throw.
What you need to make a set 7
1: Washers: flat metal rings 2 to 2 1/2 inches across, the same weight for everyone.Paint each side's washers a different bright color so they show in the grass.
2: A cup for each end: a can or a piece of PVC pipe about 4 inches across.With both ends cut out, a can sits flush in the ground.
3: PVC keeps its shape. A tin can dents and needs bending back.A white or pale cup is easier to aim at as the light goes.
4: For the box game: two boxes about 16 inches square and 4 inches deep.Each holds one cup.
5: For the pit game: two pits about 5 feet by 3.Two 8-foot landscape timbers, each cut into a 5-foot and a 3-foot length, frame one pit.
6: Set a pit's cup nearer the back, so a washer has room to slide in.In a 5-foot pit, about 31 inches from the front.
7: A string tied between the fronts of the boxes sets the same distance every time.About 20 feet of string for the box game.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. Washers has no single rule book: the sheets give three published ways to play and say where they differ. Read on 2026-10-09: English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, in its article Washer pitching, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washer_pitching (the names of the game, the box and its cup, boxes about 20 feet or ten paces apart, the string, the underhand throw, 3 points for the cup and 1 for the box, points cancelled by the second side, the game to 21); the rules, equipment, terms and questions pages of https://www.washers.org/rules/ (the pit game: cups 25 feet apart, two washers each, the diddle, 5 for the cup and 1 for the closest washer, capping, the skunk, the whitewash, add, hangers, sliders, teams, pits, cups and washers); the washer rules of the Floresville Peanut Festival in Texas, https://floresvillepeanutfestival.org/pdfs/2017/WASHER%20RULES.pdf (boards with three holes worth 1, 3 and 5, teams of two, exactly 21, covers, the bust; that Floresville is a city in Texas was read in its English Wikipedia article); the washer toss rules of the Canada 55+ Games, https://canada55plusgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/38_CSGA_Master_Rules_Washer_Toss.pdf (two washers a team, a partner at each end, washers in the same area cancelling); and the washer toss rules of the St. Louis Senior Olympics, https://jccstl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Washer_Toss_2014.pdf (four washers each, boxes 25 feet apart, the bounce rule, the shut-out at 11). This page has no tie to any of them. The worked scores are ours. Licence: own work
How it works
Washers, also called washer pitching or washer toss, is a yard game much like horseshoes: toss washers at a cup and score for landing in it or near it. Boxes, pits and three-hole boards each score their own way.
Read the full guide
One round of box washers, scored
You throw first: one washer in the cup, one in the box. That would be 4. Your opponent then drops one in the cup and misses with the other. Their cup washer cancels yours and scores nothing itself. Your box washer was not cancelled, so the round is 1 point to you.
Box, pit or board: which game is yours?
A box with one cup scores 3 for the cup and 1 for the box. Cups sunk in the ground are the pit game: 5 for the cup, 1 for the closest washer, one scorer a round. A board with three holes scores 1, 3 and 5.
Where the ground lets a washer slide, land it flat in front of the cup and let it run in. Players call that a slider.
Say three things before the first toss: the distance, the winning score, and whether it must be exactly 21.
Questions and answers
How do you play the game of washers?
Set two boxes with cups about 20 feet apart. Each side tosses its washers underhand at the far box. A washer in the cup scores 3 and one in the box scores 1, the other side's washers cancel yours, and the first to 21 wins.
What is the washer toss game played in Texas?
It is washers, also called washer pitching, huachas or washoes. One festival tournament in Floresville, Texas, plays it on boards with three holes worth 1, 3 and 5, in teams of two, to exactly 21.
How far apart are washer boxes?
About 20 feet, or ten paces, in the common box game. The pit game sets its cups 25 feet apart, center to center, and one seniors' sheet uses 25 feet for boxes too. Keep one distance for the whole game.
How many points is a washer in the cup?
Three in the box game, where a washer in the box scores 1. Five in the pit game, where the closest washer scores 1. On a three-hole board the holes are worth 1, 3 and 5.
What is a skunk in washers?
Reaching 11 points before the other side has scored at all, which ends the game on the spot. The pit rules add the whitewash: a score of 17 to 1 ends it too.