Here's a question that I'm afraid to ask, since it might make me sound dumb:

I've never played VP at the bar before since I don't drink very much.

This past trip, I chose to sit at the bar at the Fontana Lounge at Bellagio and play while listening to Jimmy Hopper and his band. I ordered a beer. The bartender gave me a beer but then put a bill in a glass in front of me, like I was supposed to pay him. Was I supposed to pay him? (I did and he took it.) Normally if I'm playing at a regular machine the drinks are free and I only give the waitress a tip. But am I supposed to pay for drinks at the bar, even if I'm playing VP?

This is one area I'm not experienced in!!

Mike,

As a bartender explained it to me, the bill is written to show management where the booze went and the customer just signs the bill to verify it. A tip to the bartender is in order the same as if he didn't write a ticket.

Bob

Bob is right. The ticket is put in a small glass and usually accompanied by a pen. In theory, you should scribble a signature on the ticket and put a tip in the glass.

As long as you walk up to the bar and start putting money into a bartop machine, you should expect your drink to be a comp. Even if you are drinking a cola. If they ask for money, give them a dumb like they should know you get compped for it.

To be polite, you shouldn't sit at the bar drinking cokes unless there are empty seats for us alcoholics. It does take away some revenue from the bar. As long as seats are available, you should not feel discouraged to sit at a bar and order water or soda, as long as you tip properly.

If you continue to play nonstop and tip at the bar, you should expect to get free drinks. The bartender usually just puts the new ticket in the same old glass. I usually offer to pay for my drink every 3 or 4 drinks. Usually the bartender will not let me pay if I am tipping good.

As JMT said, a receipt is usually put in a glass with a pen for you to sign it.

I'll usually sign the first one right away and lay it beside the glass along with a tip. As soon as the bartender sees you're going to take care of him/her, the drinks will typically just keep coming along with a slip to sign for each.

If I've taken care of the bartender well, the drinks usually keep coming, even if I've quit playing. Also if my wife walks up behind me, I've never had a problem ordering a drink for her as well.

Before bill acceptors, you'd sit down at the bar and order you drink along with a roll of coin. That would typically get the drink comped.

My guess is, the money you paid the bartender for your drink went into his pocket as a tip.

I can't remember the last time I was actually TOLD by the bartender to just sign the slip. They seem to assume that everyone's done this before.

Thanks, guys. Yes, there was a pen along with the slip and glass. I'll know what to do next time!

Mike: I am sure glad that you asked that question! I no longer drink booze but have soft drinks, coffee, whatever and there are times that I would set at the bar but don't because of ignorance on this point!! I also have the mistaken (?) idea that these bar toppers don't pay very well? I wonder if this is true? Maybe next time I will try it?.........

Sorry...Got to thinking about bar toppers and double posted........

I'll add my 2 cents here....

If I find decent pay machines at a bar, that is where I'd rather play. It's easier on the arms. Those uprights kill me after a few hours. reminds me of hanging on to a ledge. I play fairly fast, so I don't rest my arms much on those uprights.

The bar has several advantages for me. Mostly important, cocktail service is better, listening to bartender chatter you might learn something, Sports on the TV, and of course those cocktail waitresses at the service bar...oink oink.

I do not feel bad if I'm drinking cola, coffee or booze at a bar top machine. As long as I tip the same, it doesn't hurt the bartender. If he's being taxed the same as the cocktail servers for the free drink, ordering coffee or cola might actually be to his favor.

Lastly, tipping. I love the art of tiping. I think it is an art form. Some people get it, some don't all the time, some never will.
When I sit down at a place I intend to play a long time (a number of hours), when the first drink comes, I put $10 in the tip glass, with the signed receit. I make sure the bill is facing the tender and the receit is facing me. This blocks the view of the bill from my bar mates, but the tender can see it in plain view, and takes the thing away quickly. I've just tipped nicely, and bartenders aren't stupid, my service will reflect the tip. Also, even on shift change, a good tipper will normally get good service from the oncomeing shift. Good tipper information is normaly shared between bartenders, it's an ferternal order thing! LOL
Bars that I play often at, I can wait till the end and tip, however, if other players are watching I'll tip at the beginning. Because, if other players see your not tipping, then why should they, and I don't want to send the wrong signal.

I respect anyone who has to work for tips. I strongly beleive everyone in the United States should have to work for tips for atleast 6 months of thier lives, before they are allowed to go into a tipping situation, ever! I also beleive just like retesting of the divers skills at a older age, they should also re-educate older citizens, that a dime is no longer an exceptable tip....for anything! LOL

One last note, want to have some fun.....go out partying with a bartender. Your glass will never be empty, you'll have a great time....know why, bartenders take care of thier own, when it comes to tips.

Lee - great advice, thanks!

Irishmick - Glad I asked the question! That's the great thing about TalkVegas - we share a lot of good information with each other and I suppose there are many people with the same questions that we have but are afraid to ask them!

Mike,
There are no dumb questions here. Every question we ask, we get an answer to, and someone besides the person who asks learns something. I don't play at the bar and I know that I will someday, now I know the answer even before I run into that question.

I have a co-worker who exclusively plays joker poker at the bar. He said that some bars require you to buy coins from them and you must play at a certain pace (spend so much) to get free drinks?
If you put your own money in it doesn't count.
Apparently some bars are aware of people who will play one quarter at a time, slowly and drink $30 worth of booze quickly.
Have any of you experienced this?

Chris, Buying quaters at the bar doesn't work anymore because all the machines are being changed to tickets.

Yes Chris, years ago buying a roll of quarters from the bartender was pretty common. Things have changed though. Not so much due to the ticket payout as the bill acceptor to buy credits with.

Interesting that some find their play is observed by the bartender in order to receive free drinks. In all our years of playing at the bars, we have never had a bartender do any more than see us put our initial playing money into the acceptor. Then they bring all the drinks we want without any look at our games or even if we've played anything more than one hand. Some people will put a smaller bill in the acceptor, drink like a fish all night, while occasionally playing a quarter per hand. We've seen these sort of people hit a royal and sadly cash out for the 250 coins. I think I would have kittens if I hit a royal without full coin in.

I found the bartenders at The Barbary Coast with their famous "any drink for $1" to be very generous, and not care how much I was putting in the bartop game. One morning, my first drink was $2 - one for the bar, one for the bartender - after that it was like a magic glass - my drink would look a little watery and presto, another fresh drink would show up. (With an occasional buck to the bartender.) I only put maybe $10 in the vp machine - got a lot of play out of it.

Now it was a quiet time - morning in December - I think the bartender was glad to have something to do. The bloody mary's were pretty tasty. Never did see the glass with the paper & pen - I'm sure glad to know about that.

This board is a great education!

Kes

Oneboater,
Some bars do apparently observe your play. I was sitting at the bar in the Star Trek casino at the Hilton one day, playing next to my husband. I had been doing nothing but losing, and was coming to the end of my money that I wanted to play in that machine. My husband was doing pretty well, and I knew he was going to be there for a while longer...so I started playing less than full coin, just to stretch my money out. Stupid, I know, but that's what I was doing. The bartender after a little bit came over and tactfully told me that I had to play full coin in order to get any more free drinks, which I didn't really want anyway, but he did say he'd get in trouble if they saw (on the camera) that he gave drinks to anyone that wasn't playing full coin.

Susan