Well, as long as you are at any of the casinos gambling, they will come around and offer you drinks.
You need to be gambling?
Vegas is the worst place you can go in the US if you want to “break out” of an environment that involves any combination of drinking, gambling, whoring, womanizing and in general staying up late partying.
That was pretty much what I thought the first moment I heard where he was going – sounds like a terrible idea. And I guess he’s not getting the most informed advice, as when I mentioned the “free drinks available to alcoholics is not a good combination” idea to his sister, she said, “Jeez, I never even thought of that.” And then she insisted that no, it couldn’t be true that he could sit around and drink himself to death, which is why I started this thread.
And maybe he can’t do that, but I’ll bet he thinks he can. And who knows, maybe he can strike just the right balance of work to get enough pay to keep the cheap slots going to keep the crappy beer flowing, to kill himself slowly. It sounds complicated, but the need to stay stoned is a strong one.
I ask for a bottle of mineral water, with lime. I tip a $1 chip. However, if I am winning (I play $5 craps) I will then place a bet for the crew and my waitress with a $5 chip for each- a bet that will win for me too, of course.
They seem to like that more than just getting a $5 chip.
Free drinks. But from what I can remember from 2 years ago, I got a whisky and coke every time she came around for about 4 hours and was never any more than slightly buzzed. Whether this was due to weak drinks, bad service, or bad memory on my part I’m not sure, but I don’t think an alcoholic is really going to get what he’s hoping for with free drinks from the casino.
I was in Vegas for the first time two weeks ago, and it became apparent pretty quickly that if you just start playing one of the machines, someone will come by and take your order, and all you have to do is tip. One time I went to a bar and ordered. That was much, much more expensive. YMMV
I was drinking Bass Ales my couple times in Reno. My personal favorite. All I wanted.
True on the tip. I always gave a buck chip.
Former cocktail waitress (on the Vegas strip) here. There is no minimum. I will admit that more of us were placed around the areas that were higher dollar gambling. Tables are first priority. Slots over 50 cents have more cocktail waitresses than under 50 cents. Some of the casinos now even have penny slots (just a few) and from what I understand, they still get free drinks.
He will be very disappointed with the amount of alcohol in these free drinks.
Living in Vegas can be paradise or hell depending on your willpower, personality, and attitude.
My friend and I went on a road trip to Reno, and both got plastered over free drinks. Its pretty effective, particularly on my friend, who become completely unable to decide whether to ‘hit’ or ‘stand’ because the alcohol made him too scatterbrained.
We had fun.
I also went to a Cancun resort that was all inclusive, including alcohol. Unfortunately, I was sixteen at the time, and too scared at what my dad would do if he found me plastered. If I ever went back…they’d have to wheel me to the return flight on a stretcher. I’m not some raging alcoholic, but if the alcohol is free, it just seems easier to get overboard (like people buying rounds at bars)
I drink beer at home, but only drink Diet Coke at the casinos - and yes, drinks are “free” if you are playing slots or are at a table game…generally the tip is about a buck each, but my SO and I usually give $1.00 for both our colas (tiny glasses), but we drink a lot of them very often, so the cocktail waitresses actually like us. Over the long run, easy money. We usually don’t even need to order them…they just drop them by and pick up the (cheap) tip every time they make a tour.
As I mention on my website, only a fool goes to a casino and pays full price for a drink.
For instance - let’s say you drink martinis and one normally costs $9.00 (or more) full price. But sit at the bar, slap in $5.00 at the video poker machine - and the drink is “free” (minus the minimum tip). By putting the five bucks in the machine, you have have a chance to win back your money or far more! I have actually found that video poker machines on the bar actually do quite well! It is not unusual to plunk in the five bucks and get a four of a kind ($60 or so) and cash out. Drink was free and you got a nice chunk of change to boot. No guarantees, but better than just handing over the $9.00 without trying.
Regarding silenus’s comment about beer…at Green Valley Ranch I saw a cocktail waitress with one of the cool, rather expensive, aluminum bottles of Budweiser. I asked if that was normal and she said, “No, but a guy in the high rollers’ section only wants to drink them, so we actually had to send a guy out to the local supermarket to get them for him!”
How’s that for service - then again, if I am playing slots for $10 and up a pull, I guess I deserve those aluminum bottles of Bud too.
Oops…forgot to mention that even the local non-casino Gay/Straight bars have video slots at the bar, and they too have the same policy! Free drinks if you are playing the machines.
Whenever we go to our local Gay bar, we slap a $10 bill in the machine and drinks are free. Take your time in playing, but leave at least a buck per drink tip there as well.
Many of the small, non-casino bars are also hooked up to something called “Player’s Plus” which is a computer log-in and tracks your play - you get free games every once in awhile, plus bonuses for “cards of the day” and you also get free coupons to eat at the restaurants. Just today, we used a coupon “2 for 1” at a local pub and had a great dinner for half price.
I honestly don’t remember getting one free drink. We didn’t gamble a lot (coupla hunnert bucks) I feel so used. And it was my wedding day! Filthy bastids.
Ever hear of Leonard Tose?
You know, it’s never occured to me to ask for a Bass, thanks for the idea! We go gambling so rarely, and I’ve only ever seen them offer Bud, Bud Light and Coors, which offends me to my very soul. A couple times I’ve gotten a Guiness, but I usually stick with rum and Coke’s.
Let me clarify that when I implied they were watered down before, I mostly meant they’re just very, very weak. Between the weakness of the cocktails and the time between when they bring you another (if the waitress has a lot of orders, it may be awhile before she returns with your drink. I’ve run out of money before she’s come back before!), it’s not bloody likely you’ll manage to get sloppy drunk on free drinks in a casino, is what I meant. Apologies to anyone I may have offended.
Perhaps spending more than a few days in Vegas will open the OP’s cousin’s eyes. I’ve known even the sleaziest of folk to get a bit nauseous after only a weekend on the Strip. Wishful thinking, I know.
No, and no. But you only get free drinks so long as you are gambling, and the waitress is not going to zip right over to the nickel slots and give you a drink five minutes after you sit down. Once you have a drink, I suppose it’s possible to gamble only a little, to slow-play your gambling while knocking back the drinks, but in reality your gambling will get looser as you get drunker, which is why they serve free drinks in the first place. And when I say they do not limit your alcohol intake, I mean that like any other establishment, if you are visibly drunk they will not serve you and if you are making a scene they will remove you.
IOW, it is almost certainly cheaper in Vegas to go buy yourself a big ol’ bottle of your preferred souse and get shit-faced at home, then it is to go to a casino and try to get drunk on the casino’s dime – because you will have to be gambling with your own money as you go along.
I disagree. There are free drinks and then there are free drinks. If you are playing the tables, you are likely to get a “real” mixed drink, the same as you would get if you went to the bar and paid for it. But if you are playing low-level slots, or video poker or video keno, chances are pretty good that your free martini is not going to be of the same quality or strength as the $9 martini you could buy yourself. So the question is whether you are looking for a good martini, or a free martini. If you are looking for a good martini – if quality of the drink is important to you – then you are not foolsih to order what you want and pay for it. If you’re at the tables, they will bring you exactly what you ask for; if you’re at the machines, they may not. Though some casinos will brinkg you what you want wherever you are, because they figure the margin they lose on cheapskates trying to finagle free quality booze is made up by having a reputation as a fun place to go gamble and, yay! Free drinks! They also know that it’s pretty ballsy to play nickel slots and order Maker’s Mark, and in reality few people will do it.
$50 of slot play for free drinks? That is no kind of “free” I wish to know.
Last time I went, it seemed like it depended on the place. I mean, everyone smoked everywhere, but some places had better ventilation than others. Terrible’s at midnight? Yeah, you’re second-hand-smoking the whole damn casino’s cigarettes. MGM Grand? Not so much.
BTW, Boyo Jim, how did you get your title?
Damn, that is a cool picture. I wish I had a Wikipedia article with a picture like that.
We usually hit the liquor store in the cab from the airport and stock the room.
One trip, staying at Bally’s, we cleaned up a couple of the (really new, not all grungy) huge coin cups and used these for our 64oz whiskey and coke to ride the elevator down. A lady that was just arriving saw us with these double-handed drinks with “Bally’s” on the side and said, “Please tell me that’s the comp drinks they give here!” 
A different trip, MGM Grand. I was cashing out my chips at the cashier window, the result of a short term beating of the odds at a crap table. My buddy hadn’t been so lucky. He puts his drink down on the counter and tells the cashier he wants $225 for it, that’s what he has in it.
Same trip, different craps table. I buy in for $100 just as the waitress comes around, I order a beer. I’m stuck $40 by the time she comes back, I tip her and tell her to keep 'em coming. I’m stuck another $40 by the time she comes back, I call it quits after two $40 (plus tip) beers.
It’s not really in the casino’s interest to water down drinks…cheap generic booze, sure, but part of the goal is to impare the gambler’s judgement, so keeping them sober is counterproductive. Also, the weaker the drinks, the more will be consumed, and the more money the gambler will “waste” on tips that go into the server’s pocket instead of the house’s.
The second goal is to make sure you don’t need to leave the table, slot machine, etc. to fetch your own drink.
The third goal is to make you feel like some sort of “high roller” that gets everything comped…there is a tendancy to ACT that way when you are treated that way. It probably doesn’t work on everyone, but I’ve overheard many a gambler bragging about thier comps…being treated as a VIP is seductive for many.
Check the sticky in ATMB for the full story. He earned it.
For people who want call drinks, there are a number of “free drink” coupons in the Player’s Club books every casino gives you when you sign up. Start the evening with a couple of good drinks, then glide through the night on the cheap booze they give you at the tables. Win/win.
IME, the drinks you get from free drink coupons are not good drinks. You have to present the coupon first (usually) and then they go make the drink. From experience, I’ve learned to order the drink first and then say “Oh, I forgot! I have a coupon for that!”