by Tom Bastek
Last updated: 11:33 AM ET, Wed May 14, 2014
Photo by Ryan Rudnansky
After working on the Las Vegas Strip for three years, I am more surprised than ever how often I hear this: "I can't wait to get to Vegas. All I have to do is gamble and I am drinking for free!"
Now there is a fundamental problem with this statement: There is a dollar amount missing. How much do you have to gamble in order to drink for free? Here is insider's guide to drinking in Vegas. Special thanks to friend, ex co-worker and Writer / Associate Editor for GameRevolution.com, Ryan Bates for keeping me honest and up-to-date on this.
Drinking for Free
Las Vegas has become a little tighter with the free booze in some places. Here is the breakdown for your shot if you are a gambling man/woman.
At the Bar
Most casinos will require you to play max bet at the video poker machines at the bar. That is normally five coins. At the local casinos and some of the smaller / older casinos you can probably get a $.25 machine which means that you are betting $1.25 per pull. At some of the trendier places (e.g. Bellagio, Wynn, Cosmopolitan, The Venetian) you will find dollar machines and some are even $5 machines.
You want to spend $25 a pull to get free liquor? Just buy your Sex on the Beach and move on. Some of the other casinos are seeing past that and will only give you free drinks per amount that you spend. Don't think that the bartender isn't keeping track. He is because his job depends on it.
Don't bust the bartender about it, either; big brother is always watching. However, it is OK to ask how much you need to bet to get comped beverages or what level of vodka they will pour you. A lot of times, it really comes down to how much you are betting.
At the Machines on the Casino Floor
The servers will see right through that little game of "betting a penny at a time to look like your gambling revenue is astronomical." The same holds true on the floor as at the bar: You have to press the bet button more than once a minute. Stationing yourself near the service bar / station entrance is good if you want to be noticed, but remember that the servers have a whole floor to cover so they are going to walk past you numerous times.
At the Tables
Bates tells me the tables are the place for him, "Put some dollars down on the tables as opposed to the slots. The drinks I've got at the tables are actual drinks, as opposed to the cranberry juice with a thimble of bleach-level vodka." The biggest thing to remember here is that you are being watched, and I don't mean by just the eye in the sky. I am talking about by everyone: the other players, the dealer, the pit boss, and onlookers.
[BLURB]"Put some dollars down on the tables as opposed to the slots. The drinks I've got at the tables are actual drinks, as opposed to the cranberry juice with a thimble of bleach-level vodka."[/BLURB]
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If you are betting reasonably, acting respectably and tipping nicely you will be given free drinks as often as the waitress can make it around. Once again, they have rounds to make so don't sit down and immediately ask the pit boss to call over the server. Unless you are dolling out $1,000s a hand, you are just another patron and no one is going to put on the rush for you.
Tipping is your best bet for strong drinks, fast service and being remembered. If you are going to be in Vegas for a couple of days, make friends with the bartender/server. Find out their schedule, play nice with them and by about day three you will start to notice a little preferential treatment.
Drinking on the Cheap
If you are not gambling, or like most, you lost your allotted money in the first 20 minutes in town and now want to take it easy, there are plenty of choices. The common thought about Vegas is that you can drink cheaper downtown or off the strip. This holds true for the most part but Bates does say, "Not always. It pays to do a little research, as even a lot of casino bars these days have happy hours."
After paying $11 for Coors Light at the Bellagio, I did A TON of research. I highly recommend the Stagedoor Casino at the corner of Audrie and Flamingo just one block east of the strip. They pour hugely strong drinks, have $1.50 quarter-pound hot dogs and even have an attached liquor store so you can take something to go.
Bates' advice, "You can't haul an ice chest up to the room bursting at the seams with beers and 40s. But there's nothing against the rules that says you can't bring a nice bottle of champagne or vodka up to the room. Another great place to get to is Ellis Island Casino and Brewery. Cheap craft-brewed beer and root beer, great food specials, and I don't know why, but I always seem to win here.
There are a lot of smaller places up and down the strip that will entice you in with a 99 cent Margarita, or a $1 daiquiri. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. This holds true to most things in Las Vegas. Just make sure to tip, be nice and do a little research. Head downtown or off the strip and grab a bottle for the pregame and you should be good to go. You may actually have some money left that you can lose at the airport on your way out of town. It gives new meaning to, "they get you going and coming."
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