Near some of the trendiest bars and clubs in Manhattan, a crude game with unglamorous connotations is taking NYU by storm.

Just ask Chris Whitby and Jamie Kelley.

The two CAS juniors started playing beer pong, a decidedly un-NYU pastime, their freshman year and have since taken the game to a higher level, hosting some of the biggest pong events on campus.

During their sophomore year, they began hosting tournaments with multiple tables. They would have 16 teams on average with each person paying $8 to cover basic costs. The winner received a $100 cash prize.

"No one else on campus is doing anything like this," Whitby said. "We put a lot of planning into these tournaments. It's always well thought out."

Drinking games like beer pong have been growing in popularity around the country during the past few years. In various recent studies, 50 to 80 percent of college students said they played drinking games.

The rules of beer pong are simple. Two players stand on opposite sides of a table with a triangle of cups partly filled with beer. Each player tosses the ball into their opponent's cups. If a player sinks the ball, the other team must drink the beer and remove the cup from the table. The first player to sink balls into all of the other team's cups wins.

While the game was born in dirty fraternity basements, the culture of beer pong is becoming commercialized, with a new industry evolving around playing the game. Bars have started holding tournaments with beer distributors sponsoring the events and providing prizes. Urban Outfitters carries a beer pong kit called Bombed as well as other sets of drinking games.

To counter this growth and diminish binge drinking, many schools have decided to ban all such activities from campus. Schools such as the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University have imposed bans on drinking games.

However, a ban is not likely to come to NYU anytime soon, said Tom Ellet, assistant vice president of residential education.

"We don't have the same culture at NYU as other schools," he said.

Ellet said he is confident in NYU's current policy on drinking, which allows for students who are 21 or older to possess alcohol and prohibits beer kegs at all school residences.

"If students have a problem, we want to make sure they have somewhere to turn," he said. "But I'm not sure how we would impose a ban such as that."

This is good news for Whitby and Kelley, who plan to start tournaments in the coming weeks. The two see no harm in what they are doing.

"By definition, binge drinking is the consumption of six to eight beers in under an hour," Kelley said. "In our tournaments, the maximum number of beers you can drink is eight over a period of four hours."

Whitby and Kelley said no one at their tournaments has ever required emergency medical assistance because of excessive intoxication.

"We're responsible enough," Whitby said. "The key is knowing your limits. We work hard Monday through Friday, and we see nothing wrong with earning a good time on the weekend."

However, Whitby and Kelley are not the only ones playing on campus. Beer pong is often played informally in small groups as a form of "pre-gaming," or getting slightly drunk, before going out to a club or bar.

NYU fraternities also play beer pong, given the easy opportunity for such activity in the "house" setting. Groups such as Zeta Psi admitted to playing, along with other frats, although many refused to comment on the issue.

However, despite the prevalence of beer pong tournaments, it would be difficult to monitor their occurence.

"What are they going to do?" asked Whitby. "Train the RAs to listen for ping pong balls?"

He didn't think a ban was necessary.

"It's not an unfair expectation for students who are legally adults to know how to drink responsibly," he said.

Tom Ellet denounced drinking games and said there is a correlation between playing them and excessive drinking.

"Drinking in excess is never good," he said. "It doesn't lead one to accomplish any important goals."

But Whitby said he disagreed with this view.

"It's about making it an awesome night," he said.

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