Hanging on the wall, just at the glazed entrance of the premises, this message can be read in neon lights: “You're The Beer To My Pong.” You are my 'pong' beer, in Spanish. A statement of intentions that collects the philosophy of the game that is fashionable among the young people of the capital and that some only knew so far through the North American films: the 'Beer Pong'.
A small bathtub as a sofa full of yellow ping pong balls, where attendees queue to take pictures and upload them to their social networks. “Do You Speak English?” Ask the person in charge of allowing access to the main hall, accustomed to receiving public from different nationalities.
A group of seven girls, between 19 and 22, has reserved one of the private rooms for two hours. The room, also of glass, has a folding table 2.40 meters long by 70 cm wide. In the center of the board a logo that remembers that of the NBA, but in which the typical bear and Madroño appear. On both sides of the table, six glasses with a little water arranged in a triangular form, in which the opposite team must turn on the ping pong ball. The objective: be the first to turn a ball in each container and leave the rival without any. Carlota, Sara and Claudia, of the blue team, have managed to light their friends, of the red team. The winners have hit a chillo of the same intensity as the Real Madrid players when Sergio Ramos marked Atleti in the 93rd minute of the Lisbon Champions Final. “I know this site because I live here next to and I saw it when it happens. It's our first time, but we'll repeat,” says Carlota.
Lino Slegers Duarte, 30, is the person behind this idea who does not stop adding followers. Born in Gabon (Africa), of French mother and Portuguese father, eight years ago that, after finishing the tourist career in Paris, he moved to Madrid to mount Your own business around the 'Beer Pong'. First as a service that could be hired at parties, work events or bars and discos. Since October 31, 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, he decided to open his own space, located on the street of Dr. Fourquet, 20, and stop depending on others. “We are not a bar to use. Our license would be more like that of an 'escape room'. You hire a closed activity and that is where the consumptions enter. One hour for 10 euros and two drinks or two hours for 15 euros and three drinks per person. You can choose between beer, wine, soft drinks, cider … although the latter always exhausts us,” explains the owner.
The audience that usually goes to the premises is 80% Spanish and ranges between 24 and 35 years. “Although the belief is a game that men play more here we have not noticed. There are 50% of boys and 50% girls. And what works for mouth and social networks most,” he adds.
Slegers says that opening a business of this exclusive game was a 'plan B' that became a 'plan A'. “We had between seven and eight weekly events before opening the place. We were doing well offering customers this service in their homes or companies, but now I am more satisfied and I have my own team.” Among his plans, he hopes that Beer Pong Madridafter having raffled with successes the capacity restrictions of the pandemic, it becomes a franchise and extends to other parts of Spain and the world.
Without confessing addicted to this game, he considers having made his passion and a challenge. “Many people still see it as an activity to get on the garage of an American house and it is not. My intention has always been to demystify that idea since I learned to play at a university party. It is a concept that I try to change and I have determined myself a lot that it has to work,” he says.
The truth is that the place does not smell like alcohol, rather to a Squash room that brushes the nightlife. The owner says that this is one of the advantages that has found the hourly limitation for not having a bar license. They open from 17.00 to 23.00. “You avoid complications such as fights, drugs, robberies … last week was the first time we picked up a vomit,” he says.
On one of its walls, the majority of graffiti covers, you can also see what Slegers calls “the wall of fame.” Photos of 'Influencers', of video clips scenes that have been shot in the room, even a photo of him and his team on the 'Got Talent' television show which they went to promote this game. “There are many people who have even come to take pictures in the bathtub or the neon light of the entrance and not to play,” confesses the businessman. The world of networks.
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