Largest cornhole competition lands in Ventura

VENTURA, Calif.— What started off as just a block party outside of Spencer Mackenzie’s restaurant in Ventura has grown into the largest cornhole tournament in the world.

“In the main doubles tournament, we have over a thousand teams and over 4,000 cornhole players playing this weekend,” said Marketing Director David Garcia.

The team that places first will win $40,000.

With the American Cornhole League slogan “Anybody can play and anybody can win”, professional cornhole prioritizes inclusivity.

“You have young kids and then you have, you know, young adults and you have older people. You see people like Dayton Webber who doesn't have any arms or legs and he is out here killing it cornhole,” said Kelly Traiteur, who is visiting from Illinois.

“It's really competitive and it's not that easy to put the bag in the hole, that's for sure,” said Professional Cornhole Player Dayton Webber.

Though the objective of cornhole is to get the bag into the hole, there’s a lot more strategy involved.

“You get in tough situations and your mental game is really what takes you over the edge to get that W. I like to say cornhole is 60% mental, 30% talent and 10% luck for me,” said American Cornhole League World Champion Jamie Graham.

There will also be a car show, highlighting dozens of vintage trucks.

“My dad drove a 1968 Bronco from the time I was born until I was 15. And that's what I grew up going to Little League and soccer. And so I always wanted the same thing. My dad took me to sports in high school, took me 50 years to buy one, but I got one,” said Throwdown Cornhole Festival Founder and Spencer Mackenzie’s Owner John Karayan.

And while you can catch the tournament on ESPN, workers here say nothing beats catching the action in person.

“Each year you leave. This is just these magical experiences of all these people you've met, you hung out with, you played cornhole, or you've had a beer,” said Karayan.

Roughly $400,000 in prizes will be dispersed throughout the weekend.

The festival is going on now through Sunday at the Ventura Fairgrounds.

For more from Mina, follow her on Twitter below: