The game at the sports bar is a freeroll, so it's really just a donktastic way to spend a night drinking, goofing around, and possibly flirting if you find someone to your liking.
As far as cash games go, there are casinos a little over an hour away in WV and DE (they run 1/2, 2/5 and some 5/10 NL and Omaha), MD casinos will be getting poker soon, and there are a lot of home games in DC, MD, and VA once you get to know the right people. AFAIK unraked games are fine in DC, raked games are a no no...
Anyway, to get back on topic, I'd like to give a shout out to Phil Galfond who seems like he's really been benefitting from his health kick and that fresh Vancouver air recently