A new drinking game is swimming into sports bars: goldfish racing.

Bars in Seattle, Kentucky, The Hamptons and elsewhere have drafted ordinary orange goldfish to compete, spurred by drunk patrons and water guns.

A photo posted by Risa Rylin (@rocknrylin) on Mar 31, 2015 at 7:44pm PDT

At Tailgaters Sports Bar and Grill in Antioch, California, the first Tuesday of every month brings out at least a dozen contestants who compete on a college basketball style playoff bracket. Feeder goldfish are raced along a 10-foot track using straws or squirt guns to motivate the fish, in a tournament that spans anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes, explained owner William Lohr via email. Tailgaters’ competitions are free to enter and the winner gets a $25 gift certificate. The goldfish are released in a private pond after the races.

Competitors range from about 21-30 years old, and can win hundreds of dollars, depending on the size of the weekly pot from the $5 draft fee incurred from each racing goldfish.

Goldfish racing, while evidently completely legal in the U.S., operates more or less underground (er, underwater), following the end of Seattle bar Harmon Tap Room’s goldfish racing night. This was apparently due to emails and phone calls from PETA, which made enough waves for the establishment to cease the racing.

PETA is openly against goldfish racing as well as the giveaway of goldfish as a common carnival prize, saying on its website, "They deserve better than to be doled out as trinkets."

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Though the origins of fish racing are mysterious, the rise of goldfish racing in the U.S. is traced back to the now-shuttered Gypsy Bar and Velvet Lounge in Portland, Oregon. In 2010, a chef reportedly saw goldfish racing online and brought a 9-foot track with runway lights into the bar, which also served cocktails in fishbowls.

In order to keep animal rights activists from shutting down their operations, many bars don’t openly promote goldfish races, and several goldfish racing organizers and competitors refused to comment for this piece.

Isaac Price, manager of winter-themed bar Woodsky’s in Seattle and bartender who works the Tuesday night goldfish races, doesn’t believe that racing the fish is harmful. “The act of spraying water into water at a fish doesn't seem as if it harms the goldfish,” he said. “The fact that most goldfish are sold as feeder fish and fed to bigger animals [means] I feel we are providing another venue for the fish to live a longer life.”

At Woodsky’s, anyone mistreating or “messing with the fish” is kicked out, and fish that grow too big for the track are retired from racing.

Price, who has never actually raced a goldfish himself, describes the tournaments as fun and exciting. “Everyone is rooting on the person they want to win and cheering for their favorite named fish,” he said.

Revving up for the first heat.

Mike Maguire, a 23-year-old Microsoft employee who lives in Capitol Hill, Seattle, competed in Woodsky’s goldfish racing one night after hearing about it from a friend.

“It was strange form of entertainment,” he said. “I did some research before so it wasn’t so surprising.” Maguire said he wouldn’t go back, as regulars appeared much more skilled and knew the “tricks” to win the grand prize in the tournament style racing.

Goldfish racing isn’t just for your basic bros. In June 2014, retired NBA champion Scottie Pippen won at his first round of goldfish racing at Two Keys Tavern in Kentucky, but couldn’t keep up in the second round, reported TMZ.

Nothing can replace belting out “Don’t Stop Believing” into a microphone at your local bar, but as interest rises in goldfish racing across the nation, don’t be surprised if a few descendants of your childhood pets swim into your favorite bar.