4 Bars Designed for Kicking Ass and Taking Names

I am an extremely competitive person. I literally salivate at the thought of being better than someone else at something. I don’t even care what it is, I just want to be the best at it. Even if that means I’m better at perfectly flipping an omelette or crushing someone in Mario Kart. The only thing I like better than a challenge is downing a glass of bourbon while watching my competition writhe on the floor in misery, their pain only enhancing my pleasure. The issue is this: I’m not really good at anything. I have a false sense of confidence and enter every bet thinking I’ll win, then end up a sore loser and pout while I buy the winner shots.

Regardless of the fact that I’m terrible at literally everything and have yet to admit this, I still love entering a challenge. That is why I love billiards. I don’t care about pool at all, but you will find me dominating the shuffleboard or throwing darts at innocent strangers. Here are the top four places to win (or in my case, lose) a bet.

Rocketbar
rocketbardc.com
Yes, Rocketbar is sort of creepy. You are in a basement, it smells like vomit, and if you’ve ever been there sober it looks like something that Marty McFly designed. And I don’t mean that in a good way. However, they have so many things that you can win at! Skeeball, Buck Hunter, pool, shuffleboard and so much more. Once you get past the stench (by drinking three shots of Jameson in quick succession) this place is awesome.

H Street Country Club
hstreetcountryclub.com
INDOOR MINI GOLF! Yes, you heard me right. This bar has a mini golf course. It’s typically $7 to play, but it’s free with dinner on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The bar is always running deals on sites like Living Social and Scoutmob, so keep an eye out for those. The bar also features skeeball, shuffleboard, and even Xbox Kinect.

Continental Modern Pool Lounge
continentalpoollounge.com
My favorite on this list for one reason: Jenga. It’s not just any Jenga. Each piece is covered in dares and questions that drunks have scribbled on it over the past several years. When I was 22, I wrote, “Call Andrew and tell him he’s a dick” on one of the pieces and included his number. After too many drunk dials, he eventually changed his number. The bar also has an excellent selection of board games from Sorry to Connect Four. Each game is yours for the night for just $1.

Carpool
gocarpool.com
I love Carpool and not just because Brett Hannons hates Carpool, although that helps. Carpool offers pool, shuffleboard, darts, Buck Hunter, all of the typical bar games. However, it’s massive. They have nine pool tables, four shuffle boards and seven dart boards, so unless Ballston has a sudden surge in popularity, you’ll never be waiting for an opportunity to play.

There are dozens of other places in DC and Arlington that offer games, but this is a pretty good start to the list. If there is one you think I should check out, please tell me in the comments and challenge me to the game of your choice. You will probably win and I’ll end up buying all of your drinks the entire night.

- Suzie Robb
@suzierobb