Incredibly, no! I have been led to believe by Bulgarians that the only reason I have escaped it was that I am a foreigner. It is a VERY corrupt country and I heard a lot about bribe paying, but I never actually paid any bribes.
My students offered to bribe me for good grades, though. I told them a 6 (ie, A) would cost ONE MILLION EUROS. Sadly, none of them coughed up.
In October 2007 my SO and I checked into our Vegas hotel, and as he handed the desk clerk his credit card he asked if any room upgrades were available. Lo and behold there were, and we wound up in a room with a pretty decent view of the strip. Later my SO asked me if I’d noticed the $20 bill he’d slipped the guy while handing over his card, and I hadn’t! My SO said that’s also why he waited for a male desk clerk to be available: he says that they are more likely to take such bribes than female desk clerks.
Yes, and I can’t stress this too strongly. If they do not have assigned seating (few older venues do) then it’s not a bribe, it’s a tip- thus $10+ to the maître d and $5 to the dude seating you can make a world of difference. And- dress nice, not sloppy.
I don’t think the latter counts as a bribe so much as extortion.
Good old Presidential Decree 14b. 
A motorcycle cop in Tijuana pulled me over for driving with my arm around my girlfriend. He gave me the option of paying a $20 “fine” now or going to jail.
My girlfriend was holding most of our money. I only had $13 in my wallet, but she had about $60 on her.
I said I only have $13. The cop said he would reduce the fine to $13. He took it and we went on our way.