Pennying

Pennying is a drinking game popular amongst students attending various universities throughout the United Kingdom. It is one of the International Drinking Rules, or Pub Rules. Unlike most drinking games, the rules of pennying are almost never explicitly declared to be in force; rather, by putting oneself in a social situation involving the consumption of alcohol, one is implicitly subjected to the rules should a "Pennying" situation occur. This state of affairs is most likely to be enforced at dinners known as Formal Halls where cheap wine is drunk and it is common for complete strangers to "Penny" each other. At Cambridge, pennying is especially prevalent at "formal hall swaps", or other dinner equivalent, between two dining societies- one female, one male. This is also true at Oxford, at a similar event named a "crewdate", deriving originally from rowing crews, but which has now expanded out to encompass other sporting teams. In most cases, sufficient wine will be provided so that there is enough to go round, and hence the aim is to get other people to drink as much as possible, or to avoid drinking oneself, due to the copious resources available. The occurrence is less common in pubs where drinks are larger and more expensive.