Casinos in Las Vegas are becoming increasingly sparse with free drinks. They try to curb alcohol consumption with receipts, apps and drink lights system.
Free drinks and especially free alcohol may not be the biggest attraction in Las Vegas, but it is a very welcome addition for many visitors to the sin city.
In all casinos in Las Vegas, cocktail waitresses walk around the slot machines and gaming tables. You recognize them by their often revealing uniform and their call: 'Cocktails! Drink!'
Unlike online gambling sites for real money or เว็บพนันออนไลน์ได้เงินจริง that don’t offer tangible freebies, land-based casinos in Las Vegas offer beer, whiskey-cola, vodka gravy, and margaritas. All for Free! However, it is polite to tip the waitress (at least $1 per drink), especially if you want to be helped quickly for the next round.
When you play video poker on one of those machines built into the bar, you can order your complimentary drink directly from the bartender. This goes even faster. The rule of thumb: first put a $20 bill in the machine, then you can order something. As long as you keep playing, the bar staff will be ready for you with a new glass if desired.
The idea behind the generous donation policy is obvious: get casino visitors slowly drunk, or at least a little tipsy, and they will gamble more and the free alcohol will more than pay for itself.
This is how it has been in Las Vegas for decades. Especially in the somewhat puritanical America, Sin City is considered the city to take in, and for free too. The Las Vegas Strip is one of the few places in the United States where you are allowed to walk on the street with alcoholic drinks.
From Now on You Have to Earn Your Drink
The era of abundant free alcohol in Las Vegas seems to be a bit over.
Since the economic crisis, the accountants of the major gambling companies have been eagerly looking for ways to save costs or earn extra money. Parking is no longer free. Nowadays, on top of the hotel room price, you pay a hefty resort fee almost everywhere. And the average casino visitor increasingly has to fork out for a beer or cocktail.
Many tourists made (and still make) a sport of getting as many drinks as possible for free. They put a five dollar bill in a slot machine, play the occasional spin (when the waitress walks by…) and they order and order.
The Mirage casino was the first gambling palace in Las Vegas to try to put an end to this devious practice. At the end of 2015, a new system will be introduced in the lobby bar.
You still get your first drink free when you put $20 into a video poker machine. But after that, you have to earn your drink. Once you have played enough for a new 'free' drink, the machine spits out a ticket that you redeem with the bartender or bartender. Playing cowards with a few dollars while drinking half your whiskey supply is no longer an option.
Light on Red? No More Booze
In 2016, Caesars Entertainment, the company behind famous casinos such as Caesars Palace, Bally's, Paris and Planet Hollywood, introduced a new system for almost all casino bars based on lights.
There are three lights on the back of each video poker machine: blue, green and red. Based on the lights, the bar staff knows who is and is not entitled to a new snack.
When you start playing and put 20 dollars into the machine, the blue light will light up. This way the staff knows that you can order your first free drink. If you then play at a sufficient pace, with a high enough bet, the green light will light up. As long as the green light is on, you can order whatever you want.
The Green Light Is on: The Next Glass of Wine Is Free
If you play too slowly, with too little money, or take a break, the light will turn red. Fancy a drink? Then you have to pay.
The light at Caesars is also initially frowned upon, but the players soon get used to it. According to Caesars, it is in any case a great success: the company says the costs for free drinks have fallen by 35 percent since the introduction of the system.
An App Determines Which Drink You Can Order
Caesars' success awakens even more competitors. Later in 2016, The Cosmopolitan casino introduced a receipts system, similar to that at The Mirage. Various other MGM International casinos will follow in 2017. And so the regulation of free alcohol is slowly becoming established in Las Vegas.
With the understanding: rationing only takes place at the video poker machines in the bars. The regular slot machines on the casino floor do not yet have receipts and lights.
At least, until last week. Casino Westgate Las Vegas (the former Las Vegas Hilton) has installed an app on 600 slot machines that allows you to order drinks via a touchscreen. The app is called BOSS and automatically passes the order to the bar staff, after which the waitress delivers the drink to the player.
Also, the app has another function: determining who is entitled to a drink. And even which drink you are or are not entitled to.
If you hardly play at all, the app will not work. If you play a bit, you can order drinks without alcohol, beer or mixed drinks with cheap unbranded rum and vodka. Are you a big player and do you have the right level of loyalty card from Westgate Casino Las Vegas? Then you will see an extra menu with premium spirits and expensive wine.
But don't cheer too early. Because whoever you are, you can only order an alcoholic drink via the app once every 15 minutes.
Are the Days of Free Drinks Over?
Are the days of free alcohol in Las Vegas over? In any case, it is becoming increasingly difficult for visitors who want to drink for a quarter of a whole evening, at least on the Las Vegas Strip.
But don't worry. In Downtown Las Vegas – always a more budget-friendly area than the Strip – the drinks are still flowing almost everywhere as ever. Only at the Golden Nugget, Downtown's most exclusive casino, drinks are rationed. At least, for now...
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