Game on: Bars hit bull's-eye with new games, league play

Watch out, pool. Back away, foosball.

How about a game of golf? Round of boxing? Beer pong tournament?

These are just a few of the newest games and crazes that can be found in the arsenal of entertainment provided by the local bars.

Lemon's Coin Machines Inc. rents games to the tristate area, and general manager Darrell Foeste said Golden Tee golf and Boxer are among the most popular of the new games. Both can be found in Cape Girardeau.

Shamrock's Irish Pub installed the 2008 Golden Tee Live game about two weeks ago. It lets one to four players to compete on an 18-hole golf course. At $4 per person and games lasting 30 minutes or longer, it can be an investment.

But co-owner Andrew Steger said it is already popular.

"A lot of people have been playing it just within a couple weeks of having it," Steger said. "One appeal is that it is the live edition, which is hooked up to the Internet and holds players' stats."

Players use their debit card to access their account, and they can play with people from around the country.

"There are people from Cape ranked very high on the overall board," Steger said.

Other games such as Boxer, the appropriately named punching bag machine, do not hold a log of scores. Regardless, it remains a local favorite and can be found at Shamrocks, Club Moxy, Pour House Pub and D'ladium.

Players at Shamrock's surround Boxer, each hoping to hit a score of 900 or more with the incentive of winning a bucket of beer and getting their picture on the "900 club" wall.

Ronald "Lowrider" Barnes said male dominance is the driving force of this game. Boxer "is a game of male testosterone, where each guy tries to outdo the other," he said.

Apparently it's not just for the guys. The game has also caught on with women.

"We have been considering an 800 club for women, but a girl hit 900 the other night, so you never know," co-owner Debbie Erlbacher said.

She also said she was surprised to have three all-female teams sign up for the beer pong league that started Tuesday. The league is free to enter. Players receive T-shirts, and the only cost is beer.

While the beer pong league is just getting started at Shamrock's, the National Dart Association and American Darters Association Inc. dart leagues frequent Breakaway's, Broussard's, Cue & Brew and a few other local bars every week.

Foeste is the lead coordinator of the NDA league. He said the summer session had a good turnout, drawing a total of 18 teams. The next session begins in August and runs through February.

Tim Morrison plays with NDA and has been throwing darts with a league for a few years now. He said he absolutely loves it.

"I am on a team with some of my closest friends, and I think everyone likes a little friendly competition," Morrison said.

Jim Szepanski, league operator of ADA, agreed that the social competition is one of the best things about playing darts. "People take dart league seriously, but it's more about having fun. It is not as serious as pool league," he said.

So whether bargoers are looking for a new, old, serious, sporty or just plain fun game, the possibilities keep growing.