Beer pong — the sport that melds the heart-pounding thrill of Ping-Pong with the gut-wrenching taste of warm beer chugged from a plastic cup — arrives in tournament form at the Diamond Lounge.



It\'s crawled out of suburban basements, stumbled out of frat parties reeking of smoke and cologne, and will be battled over Tuesday, Oct. 16 at the Bonney Lake nightclub. Expect 10 to 16 teams battling for $100 and a trophy. Second place walks with $50.



Now, playing beer pong with your buddies in the basement is one thing. You more or less know where they\'ve been.



But playing against a hundred young strangers, who may or may not wash their hands when they finish their paperwork, adds another dimension to the game.

It\'s exciting. The Ping-Pong ball, which you can either bounce or try to toss directly into one of four cups across the table, often careens off a lip and onto the barroom floor. During the fall, the floor is smeared with a mysterious bacterial grime festering between the treads of your shoes.



Spectators inevitably get into the action, handling the errant ball and returning it to a player who may or may not briefly half-dip it a plastic cup of water — for what that\'s worth — before sinking it in an opponent\'s cup. The shot of beer at the bottom must be imbibed immediately, while the ball bounces against your nose and people watch you.



If you contract botulism, salmonella, leprosy, or plague this way, don\'t blame me. You\'ve been warned.



[Diamond Lounge, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 10 p.m., 8701 Old Buckley Hwy., Bonney Lake, 253.862.2810]