GETTING DRUNK FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Consider it payback for all those hangovers.

A Brooklyn bar is launching a "frequent drinker program" to reward heavy - or at least regular - drinkers with prizes.

The rewards range from gags, like a glass of runoff beer collected from the drain bucket, to big prizes, including round-trip flights to California.

"There's more chance I'd use this rewards card than a supermarket loyalty card," said Colin Cheney, 29, a regular at the Pacific Standard bar on Fourth Ave. in Boerum Hill.

The bar will launch the program, loosely based on frequent flyer plans used by airlines, next month. It's already printing membership cards.

A catalogue offers dozens of prizes, including food and drink, signature glasses, T-shirts, dates with owners John Rauschenberg, 29, and Jon Stan, 27, and even a tattoo of the bar logo.

"It's the stuff that's going to embarrass us that I expect people will be cashing in their points for," said Rauschenberg, who will write a poem about the customer for 400 points. "I don't expect to see anybody saving up the 7,000 points needed to fly to California, but I might be wrong."

The scheme gives a point for every dollar spent in the bar. It was opened four months ago by the two pals, who met at the University of California-Berkeley.

The membership cards, which will feature the drinker's photo, will be scanned when the tab is settled.

An Internet-savvy friend of the owners is creating a Web site to allow customers to track their points.

"It's not so much to get people to buy more," said Rauschenberg, who collects points himself in similar programs run by US Airways and American Express. "We wanted to introduce something fun, an added experience for our regulars. We want them to think coming here is more than the standard bar experience."

The program has drawn criticism from groups that promote safe drinking.

"The only reason they would do this is to encourage people to drink more," said Robert Lindsey, president of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "The reality is that people don't need added incentives to consume more alcohol, and a scheme rewarding them for doing so is irresponsible.

"The people who will use it most will be those that already have a problem with drinking."

The program, however, doesn't break any laws, according to a spokesman for the State Liquor Authority.

"We've heard the criticism, but we don't understand it," Rauschenberg said.

"Every bar has specials. Bars are in the business of encouraging people to drink, but I don't think this program is encouraging overconsumption. If anything, it's encouraging loyalty."

buffalo wrote: Calling all alcoholics...please report for duty at Pacific Standard Bar.