Would You Still Visit Vegas if the Drinks Weren't Free???

Really neat to see all the differing responses on this thread. While I drink in vegas way more than normally at home which is really never, I would say no it would not change our visit frequency.

One interesting side note that may be a bit OT that may or may not be relevant is we cruise and have cruised for many years and we have seen this exact thing happen on cruise ships where there were free drinks on most cruises in the casino while gambling in years past and now if they do offer free drinks one has to hit a certain level of play during the cruise , (say 1500 points on your card) before you get a free drink card, and on one recent cruise even at our level of play which always allowed free drinks for us there were no free drinks at all.

I can see the beginnings of rated play level for free drinks happening at places like Ceasars in AC where you now order your drink on the card reader screen, I imagine it is not a far jump to implement point tracking to evaluate free drink comps or not, I think it is just the casinos worry about how that may affect visitation that keeps them from implementing something like that.

 

I think it's the CW that gets hurt in the pay for a drink plan. I know if I'm winning I step up the tip for a drink accordingly. I've always tipped a red chip for a drink, and have received great service.
When on a heater I step it up to a green chip and let the good times begin. I can't think of the number of tight wads that would just pay the cost of a beer and stiff the poor CW who is lugging those trays around for hours!!

 

if your tipping her 25 bucks a pop (when on a heater), she cant be that poor. not to mention no one is forcing her to be a CW!

 

I wonder how the locals joint would compare to the Mega-resorts in viewing this issue. When you are on vacation you are on vacation and things just cost a bit more than at home. When home is just a few miles away doesn't it make a difference? Especially when someone down the block is offering free drinks and basically the same games to the customer.

As someone said earlier, when you are the only game in town you can dictate somewhat; but Vegas has many games so competition can still be a factor.

 

How very empathic of you. Housekeeping and cocktail waitresses are the bottom rung of service for people in Vegas, and they are treated like crap. The world will never improve until people treat the least as they would be treated themselves. Somebody famous said that once.

 

People stay as CW(in vegas) for decades, if it was that bad they would move on. Every job has dignity, expressing pity for them is the same as looking down on them IMO.

 

No one has a gun to their head. They are free to move on to a different job. Bottom line, they saw a job opening, applied for it, and took it, and have stayed with it.

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Couldn't agree more.

 

I've been away a few days, but thanks for the replies guys. I feel I have a pretty good handle on the game itself, just certain protocols and etiquette maybe I'm not so brushed up on.

What I'm saying is not so much that I gamble at minimum bets. I'm saying usually we don't gamble at all. We pay full price for our rooms and drinks and food. I always wonder whether customers like us are an irritant when there's so much more money to be made off the gamblers.

Absolutely this. It's by far my favorite Vegas activity. I HATE the plastic container rule. Vegas for me is a place where we're trusted as adults to do what we want. Everywhere else in my life is restricted by rules. I go to escape all of that, and surround myself with a place where ostentatious is the norm, there is no schedule and anything is possible.

 

I see that this thread is departing from the original question, but that being said...My wife and I have NEVER treated the CW's or housekeepers like "crap". We always greet them appropriately and appreciate the role they play in making our Vegas experience enjoyable and are generous with our gratuities for their hard work.

 

I think you're overestimating the money to be made off gamblers a bit.

Also, you paying for the rooms/food makes a lot more money for them than they would have if the room remained empty.

Vegas welcomes all willing to spend money...lol

 

I suppose so! My standard answer to folks when they asked if I'd made any money while in Vegas has always been:

"There's a hotel there with a navigable indoor river. On the second floor. Believe me, no one makes any money going to Vegas."

I suppose they pay for all that amazing stuff, one way or the other!

 

I like to do things in Vegas that I don't do at home. This includes gambling, $300 dinners and drinking. No free drinks and I wouldn't go to that casino. No free drinks on the strip and I would stay DT. No free drinks anywhere and I would go maybe once every five yrs rather at least once every yr.

 

No nearly as much. Main reason I do not gamble at my local casino. I will not pay for a drink...

 

I think I tip more than what it would cost me to actually buy the drinks myself...so losing 'free' drinks might be a good thing from that perspective but it would definitely suck for the servers.

 

In my not so humble opinion, ain't gonna happen, particularly since gaming revenue is down and they need to attract players.

The only way it would happen is if EVERY casino in town would stop it. If there were only a few hold-outs, business would flock to them! The market is still too competitive (despite the Strip duopoly) for something like that to happen.

 

A few years ago the wife and I went to Caesars Windsor. The drinks were not free there ($6 ish per beer/hi-ball). We paid for each drink and tipped our normal. We had a great weekend, but when we got home and talked about it, we both concurred that it STUNG a little to pay for drinks.

At my home casino the HL room has comped drinks, so I only play in there, they know me pretty well there, so they always bring me two and I bring the beer out to my wife who normally plays LIR on the main floor ($10 table) where drinks are not comped. Thy most likely do this because I tip VERY well at my local.

I guess what I'm saying is, for us, it doesn't really matter if they are free or not, we will mostly likely partake, after all we are just having a bit of fun, right?
That being said, paying for the drinks doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies like a comp drink does

 

Don't be so sure! I know that MGM is toying with the idea of players "earning" drinks based on rate of play (this is being trialed at Mirage) and for those of us old enough to remember drinks in a sportsbook used to be free while you were in there (gambling or not) and now you have to bet certain minimums just to beg for one coupon.

Casinos in LV, IMO, are moving closer and closer to a "comp free" environment due to technology and the accountants (which I am one) who don't believe in the correlation between comps and play. As for the question, I will continue to go to Vegas for the things that I like to do there with or without drinks; however, my casual gambling on sports, BJ, craps, etc. will go away. When I am in LV for a 5 day run I probably spent 15 - 20 hours at table games drinking and gambling as my entertainment between other activities and I will not pay $5 for a beer to do that I will just go to a bar which is what I do at my local casinos when I go there.

 

I think it would cut me back on the Vegas trips that's for sure. I play mostly bar top VP to get drunk, but now it's becoming hard to find even mediocre games there. I think my issue would be the price of the drinks. I go to whitefish, MT lots and theres VP there along with $3 drinks. Tough question for me though, I hope I never have to make that decision.

 

Macker69, The BullDog still there? That was a regular spot for me anytime I was nearby Kalispell to visit.

 

I'd still go, but me buying a drink would be very rare, unless I was up a good amount, which is also rare.

I'd spend more time at Casino Royale, Stage door and downtown though, There's places to get cheap drinks, cheaper than the "free" ones