Bars with sports

Bocce

Chuck the big balls at the little ball. That's about the extent of bocce, a sport favoured by old Italian men for the very fact that it can be played before, after and during the consumption of a little hard liquor. The Local Taphouse has a sandy pitch beneath the floorboards, Mr Wow's Emporium offers an anytime carpet stretch, and Joe's Shoe Store boasts a roll-out pitch situation during summer. 

Table Tennis

Table-bound it may be, but we recently re-discovered the fast and furious nature of the pong. Grub Food Van in Fitzroy has a proper table with enough clearance space for rogue balls.

Mini golf

Golf can be pretty boring, but shrink that game down and add alcohol and you're guaranteed a gay old time. The Brandon Hotel boasts a fairly basic set-up involving a little Astroturf and a hole, but we'll take it.

Basketball

Come the summer the Beaufort massif will be inviting you and two of your least uncoordinated friends to engage in a little Friday afternoon three-on-three action on the Carlton North courts. 

Video Games

If you prefer not to over-excite your sweat glands while drinking, isolate your workout to the digits with a Mario Kart or Street Fighter video game session at Mana Bar. Totally counts. 

Quoits

According the Melbourne Rope Quoits Association, this sport "is a low cost, social and competitive game for the whole family". We call it chucking a ring on a stick, and we like to do it at the Victoria Hotel.