It seems that the best games are often the simplest. Tic-tac-toe, hangman, checkers, solitaire: all games that have only a few components.

At the First Ward House on Mondays, they play another simple game, only this one’s not for the kids. With only a table, some cups, ping-pong balls and a pitcher or two of beer, people can play hour upon hour, and pitcher upon pitcher, of beer pong.

Like all classics, the game is simple. Each team stands at opposite ends of the table with an arrangement of cups in front of them. The teams take turns trying to throw ping-pong balls into the other team’s cup. If they get the ball in, a member of the other team has to finish the beer in that cup. The first team to clear all of the other team’s cups wins.

“I would say it’s a cross hybrid between bowling, darts and quarters,” says Mike Bransfield, manager of First Ward. “No matter how the ball goes in, it counts as a score.”

Playing with some friends on a recent Monday night are Nathan Guskos and Daniel Salcedo. They’ve been playing beer pong at First Ward for about four months. On this night, the guys begin their game of beer pong with a round of rock, paper, scissors to decide which team will throw first. As they prepare to take their first turn, Mr. Guskos gives a few pointers.

“It’s like shooting a basketball, keep your elbow tucked in,” he says. “Plant your foot, look at your cup and let it go over the top.”

Sounds easy enough, but it takes some luck to get the ping-pong ball to land precisely in the rim. In fact, Mr. Bransfield says, luck is one of the main keys to winning.

“I think it’s 99 percent luck over skill,” he says. “I’ve seen people walk in and ask how to play it and kill everybody four games in a row.”

Beer pong takes some concentration, too. When a team goes to take a toss, the opposite team usually tries some distraction tactics — making faces, dancing around or waving body parts directly behind the cups the player is focused on.

As the beer is drank and the cups dwindle, Mr. Guskos requests a rearrange. Once a team gets down to three cups, they can move the cups closer together in a triangle or a straight line, he says.

A few more turns, a few more tosses, and the guys have won their round. Their opponents must not only finish the beer in their cups and the pitcher, but also buy the pitcher for the next round of beer pong (or a round of shots, if so preferred).

The guys don’t feel too sorry for their losing opponents. Beer pong is one of the rare games that doesn’t have losers, not really.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Mr. Salcedo says. “If you lose, you drink more beer, if you win you drink more beer (because you get to play another game).

“If you lose you win, if you win you win.”

And you can’t beat that.

Lifestyles reporter Lacey Storer can be e-mailed at lstorer@npgco.com