Rumor: End of Free Drinks?

So my initial gut reaction is that this would never happen for all the reasons everyone has stated. But then I remember resort fees and how basically every casino on the strip has implemented them.

They could be banking on people's need to gamble being greater than their need to drink, and so people would still continue to do both, only now they'd make money off the drinking part too. Ugh.

 

I think it would push the younger crowd further away. In addition, the downtown casinos who I hope would not charge would get a big bounce.

 

Some of my locals have the "order your drink through the machine" feature. I don't mind that at all. I order what I want and it's delivered. Of course in Indiana and Illinois you have to pay for drinks. But the system itself would not be a deal breaker for me!

Now if say MGM decided to charge for all drinks while playing, I would most definitely play elsewhere!

 

Economies ebb and flow; the current good economy will at some point turn south. The only questions are when and how severe will it be. Even if MGM implemented this, and for the sake of discussion let’s say every other resort group, I imagine this would be one of the first things that they would nix to entice people back to their resorts during an economic downturn. I also tend to think that if they implemented this policy and then had to back away from it it would be extremely difficult to reimplement and an absolute PR disaster. I’d be willing to wager that free drinks, in one shape or another, will remain the status quo.

VV has been wrong about many, many rumors. I don’t take a whole of of stock in what one CW was overheard saying at Bellagio. I think this is just another case of them throwing something at the wall with hope that it will stick so they can later claim that they were the first “to get it right”.

Just my two cents......

 

I suspect paying for drinks in Wisconsin is because of the Tavern League. The tribes have local monopolies on gaming, anyway -- they don't need to give anything away.

My God, if they gave away drinks at Potawatomi the bodies would be four deep at the craps tables. You wouldn't be able to push into the front door.

 

Let's not forget the reason they started giving drinks free is because it increases gambling significantly outweighing the costs. I get that they've been corporatized and that now some major decisions that affect players are made by bean counters who dont understand gambling, or casinos, or the markets at all, but cutting comp drinks for players would cost them a lot of money.

For the lawyers in the group - wouldnt the giant corporations meeting and making a decision like this together to implement at the same time violate antitrust law? And if so, who wants to go first? And if not, who will rescind it first and take all the customers?

Only way this works is if everyone keeps their gambling and spending the same plus pays to liquor themselves up enough to keep making bad decisions. I dont see it happening. I absolutely see the bean counters tying the comps as specifically as possible to your plays even though that in and of itself defeats some of the purpose of why they became free in the first place.

 

Bingo! Fun read sometimes, but the dude has called 37 of the last three “big Vegas stories”.

That said, I’m sure casinos will continue to use technology to help them limit the free booze they give out to folks they don’t feel are worth that expense. But, as far as a blanket “no free drinks” policy...I’ll echo what many rational people on this board have said each time the topic comes up: I’ll believe it when I see it.

As far as how my behavior would change should something like this actually come to pass: I suppose it would depend on the prices. If I could get a well drink for $4-5 and some decent stuff for $7-8, it probably would have zero effect on what I would do. Okay, I guess I’d almost certainly stop tipping $5 each time the CW came around, but I’d still take as many trips. But if they were charging the $12-16 they currently charge for a cocktail made with decent booze, it’s entirely possible that I would make fewer trips. Though, I can’t say with certainty that I wouldn’t just grin and bear it. I’m a degenerate, after all.

 

Yeah, I've thought that before. If they every DO start giving away free drinks in WIsconsin, I won't be at Potawatomi after 4:00 PM on any day, or at all on the weekends.

 

Yes, but good luck proving that the Sherman Act was violated, especially when you're going up against an army of attorneys from Skadden, Boies Schiller, Covington Burling etc. when their partners are charging their customers $1,500 per hour and you're going up pro se.

As others have stated, it's doubtful this happens. But if such a shortsighted move does happen, and with MGM anything is possible as it's as cheap as they come, CET will really see a nice bounce.

 

I wasnt implying or suggesting any individual consumers should or would sue them. I'm thinking more of their concern with the FTC / federal government who have enforcement authority and an endless supply of our money with which to fight all of the above, and worse yet, the Nevada gaming commission says violation of antitrust laws are grounds for discipline re: gaming licenses, and that the gaming commission can decide whether or not they violated state or federal antitrust laws irrespective of the courts. I dont see them getting together and risking their licenses to screw the consumer worse than they already do.

 

My answer would stay the same, I doubt much if anything would happen. Think about what has happened since the advent of resort fees, paid parking, etc. they all did it and importantly, it happened around the same time for both CET and MGM, yet, nothing in terms of enforcement has happened. Suffice it to say, DOJ selectively chooses what it wants to enforce, regardless of merit.

I wish I were wrong, but so far it doesn't see that way unfortunately.

 

MGM, continuing to ruin Vegas in every way they can think of... Soon theyll start charging a fee at the door just to get in... mark my word.

 

Caesars held out for a while on parking People at Caesars had trouble getting because Mlife people started to park at Caesars properties. CET but then had to follow suit.

 

I will lol if it actually happens. People will just go to CET or other properties like downtown or Cosmo.

It wouldn't change my Vegas plans much... I'd just avoid MGM then.

My plans change when they all do it.

 

Sometimes "information" is "leaked" or "rumored" to gauge the public's reaction to an idea. Further, sometimes websites like "Vital Vegas" are compensated in some way for "leaking" the "information". In any case, saying how you feel about a "rumor" on a message board such as VMB might actually go a lot further than you think.

For me, the "free" drinks while gambling in Vegas is something that makes Vegas "Vegas". If they changed this practice it would definitely negatively effect my Vegas experience and most likely the frequency of my visits.

 

For me, it's really simple, we would go to whatever properties offered the free drinks and move loyalties there. Outside of that, if they all followed suit, we would find another place to spend our money. We go to LV and AC because the free drinks and free food basically comprise out gambling budget. If we had to pay for drinks then we would probably travel to non-casino destinations.

I would think however that a system where you actually have to be playing for drinks would make sense and I am not opposed to that.

 

I think there's about a 0.0% chance of free drinks going away in the forseeable future for people who are actually gambling. I would not be at all surprised if the casinos continue to take measures to try and prevent complimentary drinks being consumed by people who are not gambling.

 

DEVIL"S ADVOCATE here.

The cost of giving a free drink has gone up while the I doubt the average ADT has kept pace with it. The cost of the fluids, the cost of the bartender, the server, property, electricity, taxes, insurance etc(at best tied to inflation but likely higher) vs the spending power of the average patron definitely not in line with inflation.

There will be a point where the cost of a free drink is more than the ADT and then at that point you cant keep giving out free drinks. Can anyone say how close we are?

 

This was really the impetus for posting this here. I think it is important to register how foolish this direction would be for MGM.

 

What is this, fourth-hand "fact-finding"? lol

Anyway, could it happen? Yes. It could. I'd say might. Vegas purists have raged and raged at every slap in the face the past 20 years ... and they keep coming back for more. There is only one straw that will break the camel's back: They stop offering gambling.