I heard CET recently put a light system in their bartop VP games signifying when you've played enough to warrant another free drink. I know other places already have in place a system where the unit spits out a slip after a certain amount of play for drinks.

Anybody have any stories, info, or experience with this yet? If I'm playing max quarters, will I be able to get a drink every 15-20 minutes? Do the bartenders have any leeway in giving out drinks at a faster pace if you're a regular and/or good tipper, or are they hamstrung by the system? Does having a higher level player's card have any value here?

 

I played back in September at the Caesars sportsbook and at Flamingo while waiting to see Legends in Concert (avoid that like the plague, by the way). There were 4 of us playing and 3 of the 4 were playing at the $.25 level and we had no problem at all getting our initial drinks or refills. I'd say that we each had 3-4 drinks over the course of an hour. Flamingo was faster in getting the refills but we didn't feel like we were waiting for the lights to change at either place. I'm only a TR Gold member so I can't help with the question whether a higher level player's card helps.

 

That's good to know since I'm only a gold member as well. We were last in Vegas in April and the change over at CET hadn't started yet so I was worried about the drink situation. I packed my Jameson's and red solo cups to be on the safe side!

 

I'll be interested in following this thread along... I generally sit at a bar-top machine put $200 in and play at the .50 level to get started. I will go thru 4-5 drinks in pretty quick order and then slow down on the drinks, not the play. At the Hard Rock, I do see numerous people walk up, sit at a machine, put a $20 in and play a hand when they see the bartender coming, order and receive drink, cash out and wander back out to the floor. No tip, no play, nothing.

It'll be interesting to see how this technology changes the dynamics of things to thwart the freeloader, but more importantly, as you point out, what kind of leeway the bartenders have to keep good customers happy.

 

I haven't personally experienced it yet but I have heard that bartenders are getting less in tips. This makes sense. The bartender can't take care of you like they used to.

 

I was there in Dec, Some bar tops the bartenders were dinks, spewing out the Terms and conditions even before we sat down. Harrahs and Flamingo were bad. Cromwell and Gustav's at the Paris didn't give any flak just tip well and be social

 

I'm good friends with a couple bartenders at Ballys and they said most people shouldn't be affected. You get your initial drink and as long as you are playing max bet on quarters the light stays green. If you run away to head to the bathroom they said it only take 5 or 6 hands again for the light to go back green. I am curious with Cosmo and the ticket system. I will be able to report on both in May

 

Just got back from Cosmo and played quite a bit at the bartops, primarily Chandelier. Most of the time playing next to my wife. I'm at $1's she's playing quarters so I can compare. At chandelier and sportsbook bar, first ticket comes out at $1's at about 10 minutes in. Quarters is about 15. Then about every 15 minutes or so. At either level. Slightly faster at $1, but not really noticeable. The only difference is paytables. $1 is 8/5 job and quarter is 7/5. (we give up the paytables for the drink service). There also seems to be some sort of cap after you have gotten a bunch that they slow down. I think to limit over consumption.

We are pretty heavy drinkers in vegas, and never had a problem getting our fill. After you've been playing a while and establish yourself, most bartenders will float you a drink until the next ticket comes. Sometimes they're diligent about catching you up, other times not so much.

One change is that even though the tickets always said good for 2 hours, the bartenders said they were good for 24. We got a hard 'no', on that question. I didn't actually try it. We made sure to keep our tickets sorted in order, to use the oldest first.

In December, we noticed Bond was much slower in producing tickets. We didn't try playing there this time. I never really liked that bar.

Like I said, we always had more than enough. In fact, my wife enjoyed 'playing Santa Claus' at the end of the night by passing out our tickets to younger couples who seemed new to Vegas and were going to pay for drinks.

 

Honestly I didn't notice a difference in frequency playing quarters or dollars at max. I didn't ever have to wait for a drink. At Chandelier I had more tickets than I could use and gave them away to others at the bar.

 

My most recent trip was in November to Harrah's and that was my first experience with the light system. Bartender gave very heavy handed explanation - hard to put into words exactly but the vibe was miserable ... had one drink and left. Did not tip but that was in part due asshole remark he made about strip poker in front of and probably for benefit of girlfriend - told him he was out of line and just get the drinks - but in the past, one of the reasons I'd tip and tip well was to be taken care of right - you take discretion from the bartender and its going to affect my tipping. Maybe it shouldn't but it does.

Now retired bartender at Bally's would greet us warmly, and when gf was playing, asked me if I was her "guest" so he could comp me a drink - answered that I was not sure if I was her guest but the money in the VP was my money and we had a laugh.

I am aware there are people who slow play for quarters or cash out upon service - that's never been me and if casino cant accept that as a cost of doing business, so be it but being made to feel like a rat on a treadmill trying to "earn" a comped drink is a lousy experience. One man's opinion.