Public relations assistant Tricia Lee loves her cocktails. Free ones, that is.

In one night, the 24-year-old party animal can toss back seven Sex on the Beach cocktails, worth about $80 in all, on Ladies' Night at The Arena in Clarke Quay. She parties at least twice a month, but only on Ladies' Night when drinks for women are free.

However, nightspots are now limiting the number of free drinks they hand out. They have been hit by the twin-whammy of women like Ms Lee and the recession, which is resulting in tightwad tipplers who try to score free booze for their male and female pals.

In this ugly battle of the boozy floozies, nightspots have begun rationing free drinks to between one and five each, or offering them only within a limited time.

For example, The Bellini Grande club at Clarke Quay offers three free drinks now compared to five a year ago.

Liquor-loving women are not taking the bar wars lying down. They are resorting to cheap tricks to get free booze.

LifeStyle visited seven nightclubs over two weeks and saw first-hand what wily women did to knock 'em back for nothing.

The clubs were Powerhouse at St James Power Station; DXO Colours By The Bay at the Esplanade; dbl-0 at Robertson Walk; and Lunar, The Arena, Attica and Zirca in Clarke Quay.

At some venues, the women shoved and pushed their way to the bar for their drinks. Others roped in non-drinking friends to help them collect more drink coupons.

One such is tertiary student Tan Beeli, 20, who says: 'We can get an extra nine to 15 drink coupons, depending on where we go. We share the drinks with our male friends.'

But clubs are fighting back against freeloaders. At DXO, the men face a $20 fine if they are caught repeatedly drinking from the women's glasses. Club manager Mark Wong says: 'No one has been fined yet. We also flash the reminder on the TV screens.'

Clubs that offer a free flow of drinks use different ways to limit the alcohol.

Ladies' Night at The Butter Factory in One Fullerton runs only from 10pm to 1am, for example. And over at The Arena, free cocktails for women are served in martini glasses instead of housepour drinks in tall glasses.

Managing director Mike Lim, 29, says: 'This way, we can easily spot the guys who sponge off the women's drinks.'

And when the booze is free, do not always expect service. At DXO, those who want a refill have to wrestle their way past the crowded dance floor to the bar.

Others such as Powerhouse, which offers women five free drinks each, have a designated bar area on Ladies' Night. With just two bartenders fixing the drinks, the result is a long wait of up to 20 minutes.

On Wednesday night, when LifeStyle visited Powerhouse, one bartender was serving a 20m-long queue of women armed with drink coupons.

Those who cannot wait end up buying their own drinks. Others are more devious. They pretend to faint, so that they can place their drink orders with the staff who attend to them, says Mr Andrew Ing, 41, chief operating officer of St James Holdings, which runs Powerhouse.

Bartenders say Ladies' Night is one of the busiest events of the week, especially during the school holidays for tertiary students.

Barman S. Mohammad, 26, who has worked at a few nightspots in Clarke Quay, grouses: 'It's the most dreaded night. I work non-stop for six hours because of the overwhelming response. The girls are a nuisance as they ask for other expensive spirits.'

After midnight, the toilets are packed with women who have over-indulged themselves and are paying the price, 'face down and puking', say bar owners.

When the lights come on at 3am, they stagger out or, if too drunk, have to be carried by friends. Some pass out on pavements outside.

The recession has seen more women showing up on Ladies' Night, say bar owners. This is because consumers are scaling back on their discretionary spending such as on clubbing.

Mr Bernard Lim, 40, chief executive of LifeBrandz, which runs Lunar, says: 'Lunar has seen a 25 per cent spike in patronage in the last two months compared to the same period last year.'

When LifeStyle visited Lunar on May 20, it was packed with more women than men. It offers women free entry and five free drinks, worth $75, a person.

Ladies' Night, which took off more than a decade ago, was used as a marketing strategy to help nightspots weather the financial crisis of the late 1990s.

In 1998, the former China Jump's Babe Central night sparked the free-flow craze where female partygoers could tank on free booze all night.

And wherever there are women, the men will follow. Nightspots make money from alcohol sales and cover charges to the men.

The lure of additional business has prompted two clubs to introduce their own Ladies' Night. Next Tuesday, Movida Latin music club at St James will give women five free drinks each, while Azzucar! Latin club at Clarke Quay will offer a free flow of sparkling wine from 9pm to 2am every Wednesday.

Traditionally a mid-week party, Ladies' Night is now held from Tuesdays to Sundays.

But only a handful of clubs offer free booze all night. They include DXO, Union Square at The Amara, Gotham Penthouse at Clarke Quay and dbl-0.

Such 'largesse' also has its pluses for the clubs. Mr Ing explains: 'There is better control over costs by limiting the drinks. We know how many drinks are consumed.' Powerhouse draws up to 900 revellers on Ladies' Night, of whom nearly half are men.

Surprisingly, serving free drinks all night does not always draw the largest turnouts, say clubbers. Ms Sabrina Tan, 24, a sales assistant, says: 'My friends and I patronise only places with good music and party vibe.'

Still, that is not something female guzzlers would say cheers to.

This article was first published in The Sunday Times.