Question: What’s even better than a barfly with a good joke?

Answer: A barfly with a good bar trick. In this case, “good” = “free beer.”

It all begins as a casual challenge to the person on the stool next to you. And the simple wager is this: “I’ll bet you a beer that I can drink TWO beers before you can drink a single shot of anything you like . . . as long as you give me a one-beer head start.”

The other part of the agreement is that he can’t touch your glass, you can’t touch his,  AND he can’t start drinking until you’ve put your first glass back down on the bar. You can ask the bartender to witness the agreement, or you can just shake on it.

It’s just that simple.

If the challenge is accepted, then you can drink your first beer as fast or as slow as you wish. 

And when you’re finished with that first beer, just tip your emptied beer glass upside down and place it over his shot glass. You might want to remind him that you’ve both agreed not to touch each other’s glass. So, that means he can't drink his shot without touching your glass.

Tastes like free beer to me.

Just keep in mind that you simply cannot do bar tricks every time that you’re in a bar, or else you’ll become a royal pain in the ass (rather than the most fascinating one in the bar). And you can’t do the same trick ever again in the same bar. You just need to know these kinds of things and to keep them in the back of your mind for when the opportunity best arises.