Pong ban irks players

Huntington Beach recently passed a resolution banning drinking games, including the popular beer pong, and some residents want it known that the game isn’t just about getting drunk.

Some residents wrote to the city against the resolution, according to letters to the council.

Many against the resolution wrote that the game is primarily played with water and not with the intention to get drunk, but for the “competition,” wrote Michael Seivert.

“Everyone has the stereotype that this [tournament] we run involves heavy amounts of drinking, when in reality some people don’t drink at all during an event, but just love this game as a sport and competition,” Seivert wrote.

Police Chief Ken Small said playing the game with water wouldn’t violate the permit conditions.

Beer pong is a game in which two teams partially fill 10 cups with beer and then try to land a pingpong ball in their opponent’s cup, forcing them to drink it.

The winner is the first team to land a ball in every one of their opponents’ cups.

The new conditions for entertainment and alcohol permits are meant to “change the current nightclub atmosphere, which has created a public safety issue along with compromising the surrounding neighborhoods’ quality of life,” according to city documents.

Any new businesses, or those renewing their permits, will be banned from holding any drinking games. The Police Department requested that all businesses stop playing drinking games in a letter sent out in September.

Restaurants and bars will also have to close their doors at midnight and follow other conditions to make a safer environment.

The changes are just one step to try and make the downtown a safer place, Small said.