Stand, sit, stand I agree with Tom but I feel I should highlight the risks associated with beer-arm fatigue, as these are often underestimated. The particular danger arises when you are stuck without anywhere safe to put your pint. This often leads to attempts to secure your pint somewhere unsafe (top of jukebox, thin window ledge etc). Disaster awaits.
The other option of just hanging onto your drink all night is possibly worse, as it always results in fast drinking. Chat, sip, chat, sip, sip, chat, sip, sip, sip, sip, sip… next pint! If you’ve got no table or bar space, it is not possible to count how many you’ve had by looking at your empties.
A huge faux pas is to stand next to someone else’s table, then rest your pint in their space. Grrr! If this happens to you when you’re sat down, you are well within your rights to knock their pint “accidently” off the table. Or at least say to the glass-collecting staff ; “no, this drink doesn’t belong to anyone, go ahead and take it away”.